Best option for 4ft LED hardwired shop lights?

[ben5243]

Hi, I've been lurking a bit and now making my first post.

The original wiring in my attached garage only has 2 lights which I'm leaving in place for "just need a tool" lighting. I plan to add 10 4ft shop lights but I'm having a really hard time finding what I want.

Requirements:
-Must be hardwired. No cords visible, I hate that.
-Must be LED. I haven't decided on 4000k or 5000k yet. I plan to buy 2 bulbs of each today and compare.
-3500 lumens or more per fixture
-UL Listed
-Can be flush mounted to ceiling or hung by chains (needs knockouts)

I'd prefer the type where the bulbs are hidden in a diffuser like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071DN16HK/?tag=atomicindus08-20
These would fit the bill perfectly but they only have one strip of LEDs inside for only 2800 Lumens from 40W which is only 70 lumens per watt.
I'm also not sure this is a good way to go because if one fails in a year or two, a matching fixture won't be available and i'll end up with a mix of different style fixtures with probably a slight color temp difference.

Similar all-in-one fixtures seem to be difficult to find and only made by companies I've never heard of with very few reviews.

The T8 retrofit LED tubes seem to be everywhere but I don't already have florescent fixtures.
Is it possible to buy florescent fixtures without the ballasts? This seems like the best option because then I can replace just the bulb if one fails.
Where can I find decent T8 fixtures without ballasts?

Thanks in advanced!
PS please don't suggest Costco shop lights. I don't want exposed dangling cords and hardwiring those into a ceiling box isn't proper.

 

[mikebike]

Which lights did you end up using?

Michael

 

[ben5243]

I went with these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073WZ9DBN/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I finally got to ordering them about a week ago and installed the first circuit (4 of them). I ordered two 4-packs and two 1-packs for a total of 10.
My phone camera makes these look very blue in contrast to the warm bulbs in the garage door opener but they are very white in person and I'm happy with the 5000k

They were more than I was hoping to spend but the only thing I could find that had every requirement. So far I'm pretty happy. With just the 4 in there it's plenty bright enough for most things but I'd like to eventually get set up to do some woodworking and I don't think you can have too much light.
(although these are mounted to 8ft ceilings and looking straight at them from close range isn't recommended)

I will be hanging 3 of them and they don't come with chain or cable so I'll be making or buying those soon.

First 2 mounted using my most favorite tool. The lights right next to the fixtures are just regular bulbs on the original circuit.

With the low ceilings I put the fixture boxes right where they wouldn't be covered by the garage door. The other lights are for the garage door opener (wireless liftmaster ones). There will be 3 more - one on each side hanging down just below the door tracks and one hanging between the tracks in the center.

You can see one of the outlet boxes beyond the far track. My plan is to use a knockout plate with FMC to the knockout on the back of the fixture.

It may be a few weeks before I get the other 6 up but I'll try to post some pictures

 

[ben5243]

Some pictures of the fixture

 

[cory58]

Photobucket disabled free photo hosting a while ago. I switched to Flickr - easy and free. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in seeing the pics of your install.

F Photobucket with a 10 foot pole.

Cory


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mrramsey]

The T8 retrofit LED tubes seem to be everywhere but I don't already have florescent fixtures.
Is it possible to buy florescent fixtures without the ballasts? This seems like the best option because then I can replace just the bulb if one fails.
Where can I find decent T8 fixtures without ballasts?

FWIW to others - I did find 4' and 8' strip fixtures without ballasts for LED replacement bulbs. I found them at 1000bulbs.com . the 4' started at $11 I think full wraparound fixtures were about $20.

 

[ben5243]

Photobucket disabled free photo hosting a while ago. I switched to Flickr - easy and free. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in seeing the pics of your install.

F Photobucket with a 10 foot pole.

Cory


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sorry, I finally fixed the links.

Photobucket is still free but the bandwidth they allow for hosting is basically nothing. I guess GJ threads get a lot of hits and it maxed out my account. I'm infuriated with them, I have a decade of forum posts on various forum sites that link photobucket photos to share information. I feel like it's all being held hostage for ransom.

 

[cory58]

Sorry, I finally fixed the links.



Photobucket is still free but the bandwidth they allow for hosting is basically nothing. I guess GJ threads get a lot of hits and it maxed out my account. I'm infuriated with them, I have a decade of forum posts on various forum sites that link photobucket photos to share information. I feel like it's all being held hostage for ransom.

Thanks for updating the links. I am slowly downloading my pics from photobucket and updating my posts on various forums, but it is definitely time consuming. Can’t wait to close my photobucket account forever.