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COSTCO LED VS. HD T5HO (and.... go!)

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86turbodsl

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I need to get new fixtures for my 40x64 shop. 14' ceilings.
Currently 400W metal halides.

I had been planning to go with the Home Depot T5HO 8' fixtures for $70 ea,
but now i just saw the Costco FEIT electric LED fixtures and wonder if that might make more sense?

Fixture cost alone on the building would be 1100ish for the T5's.
Fixture + bulb cost on the LED would be 800, if i assume one per each 125ft2 as seen in a previous thread. I don't know how many of the LED's i'd need for sure, looks like maybe 20? The T5HO, needed 16 to make 100fc at the ground.

Any wisdom?
 
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Banjorear

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I don't have T5's, but I did put in a tandem T8 over my workbench and 6 Costco Feit LED lights. The T8 bulbs are the 6500 daylight + bulbs. The LED's, even though they list at 3700 lumens each, are brighter.

The T8 is whiter light, but the LED's put out a brighter light. Just an FYI...
 
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padstack

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Usually LED bulbs will technically give off fewer lumens overall, but the usable light is greater or equal. TO accurately know, I think you'd need to measure the foot-candles in the location that's being lighted. The T5 bulb gives off light in all 360 deg of the bulb. THe LEDs give off more directional light. Yes, there are refelctors, etc in the fixture, but it will never reflect 100% usable light. Plus, there are a lot of studies out there in regards to flourescent lighting and potential damaging effects on your eyes.
 
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swedish_chef

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86turbodsl said:
I had been planning to go with the Home Depot T5HO 8' fixtures for $70 ea,
but now i just saw the Costco FEIT electric LED fixtures and wonder if that might make more sense?

Fixture cost alone on the building would be 1100ish for the T5's.
Fixture + bulb cost on the LED would be 800, if i assume one per each 125ft2 as seen in a previous thread. I don't know how many of the LED's i'd need for sure, looks like maybe 20? The T5HO, needed 16 to make 100fc at the ground.
Click to expand...

I am trying to make a similar decision right now. I have the Home Depot T5HO's in one garage. They are great -- I love them. I put them in after reading recommendations here. The other garage (the 'family' garage) just has a couple type-A bulb sockets which I have CFLs in, and the door opener light. I am going to upgrade the lights, and intended to go with the same T5HOs, but I've recently started replacing my indoor floods with Cree LEDs from Home Depot and have been really happy, so I'm thinking about using LEDs instead of the T5HOs. My Costco has a bunch of the FEIT LED shop lights in stock.

I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest option, I'm more interested in quality of the light and performance when cold (it is 9 deg F right now).
 
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tomd

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just to add:

a buddy of mine is a commercial architect, he recommended not the T5 because in the future (say 10 years) the bulbs will be harder to find (and likely more $$). He felt there is a large demand for T8 since they have been the 'standard' for quite a few years. While T5 demand will be short lived as many will 'skip' that technology and go to LED.
 
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danb35

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sz0k30

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Seems that when these lighting questions come up you never get a good, straight answer. Just a bunch of opinions and every opinion is different.
 
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86turbodsl

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So is that T5 54w per bulb? So the HD fixtures will **** down around 200W each when operating? That seems quite high. Even if i double the fixtures for LED, that's half or less of the consumption of the T5's. Also, it seems like the lumens on the LED's are all directed downward, and that's not like the T5, which is 360deg. So half of the lumens are wasted upward on the T5's. At least i think that's how this works.
 
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Platonic Solid

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sz0k30 said:
Seems that when these lighting questions come up you never get a good, straight answer. Just a bunch of opinions and every opinion is different.
Click to expand...
Reason: Right now is not the best time to be making the LED vs Fluorescent or HID decision. Wait another year for quality LED fixtures and lamps to come down in price and up in efficiency.
 
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dakotart1984

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I agree. I did all the math and I went with T5 HO and I am glad I did. With the lights on over the T8's I had in there, its a considerable difference. Even in the sub zero temps right now they get to max brightness quick.
 
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Charles (in GA)

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tomd said:
just to add:

a buddy of mine is a commercial architect, he recommended not the T5 because in the future (say 10 years) the bulbs will be harder to find (and likely more $$). He felt there is a large demand for T8 since they have been the 'standard' for quite a few years. While T5 demand will be short lived as many will 'skip' that technology and go to LED.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a lot of BS. Many industrial settings that used either sodium or MH lighting have already converted to fixtures such as the Lithoina I beam using the T5HO. The facility I work in has, literally, thousands of these fixtures in mostly 8 bulb, with the hallways lit with 4 bulb version. T5HO technology is not going anywhere in the near future. Yes, T8 is quite common, but so is T5HO.

********

86turbodsl said:
So is that T5 54w per bulb? So the HD fixtures will **** down around 200W each when operating? That seems quite high. Even if i double the fixtures for LED, that's half or less of the consumption of the T5's. Also, it seems like the lumens on the LED's are all directed downward, and that's not like the T5, which is 360deg. So half of the lumens are wasted upward on the T5's. At least i think that's how this works.
Click to expand...

Most of the upward light is reflected off the fixture, or the ceiling, so it is not wasted. Having reflected light off the ceiling is good, as it helps eliminate "cave effect" of having a dark unlit ceiling.

Charles
 
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86turbodsl

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So Charles, then i can assume i'll get a majority of the ~20,000ish lumens per fixture on the T5HO's? That kind of says that the T5's are still much cheaper than the LED's at purchase cost. Of course the cost to run may still be cheaper, so i guess there will be a payoff time, depending on how long they run.
 
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DHCrocks

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I just put up a home depot T5HO ($39) double bulb ($10 each) 4' fixture and holy **** that is the brightest single fixture I have ever seen. Costco had the LED setup for a display and it was nowhere near as bight as the T5HO. I have no measurements or data to show but I can honestly say the two T5HO bulbs are easily brighter then four T8 bulbs. A standard T5 bulb is brighter then a T8. LEDs are great but its a newer tech that still needs to be proven, I don't believe their stated lives as I have seen LEDs burn out rather quickly. I say go with the T5HO if you want a bright light.
 
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Platonic Solid

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86turbodsl said:
I need to get new fixtures for my 40x64 shop. 14' ceilings.
Currently 400W metal halides.

I had been planning to go with the Home Depot T5HO 8' fixtures for $70 ea,
but now i just saw the Costco FEIT electric LED fixtures and wonder if that might make more sense?

Fixture cost alone on the building would be 1100ish for the T5's.
Fixture + bulb cost on the LED would be 800, if i assume one per each 125ft2 as seen in a previous thread. I don't know how many of the LED's i'd need for sure, looks like maybe 20? The T5HO, needed 16 to make 100fc at the ground.

Any wisdom?
Click to expand...
None of the above. You should buy F32T8 fixtures. I'll be addressing this in a new post in the near future.
 
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86turbodsl

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Long warm up times, and high operating costs for the light they make. They also hang down too low now that i'm adding metal ceiling panels.

I don't really want T8's because it's a ridiculous amount of fixtures to hang for the light levels i want.
 
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86turbodsl

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I have 6 MH400's right now. I want better light. It was fine 20 years ago, but i'm much older now, and want much more light than current. Don't even try and convince me that i need to stay with MH lighting. That ship sailed. I'm so tired of the long warm ups and tripping on everything all the time. The fine detail work and woodworking i tend to do requires more than what i'm used to. 100fc is based on all the lighting articles i've read over the years doing the research on shop lighting.
 
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joshgn

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I would go the t5 route...

my shop is 40x60 16ft sidewall 23ft to peak...in the front 40x40 area I have (8)4ft 4 bulb t5ho high bay lights with 5000k bulbs in them...its bright.

I bought 14 of the costco leds...and i'm not overly impressed...the 4100k light output of them looks yellow and dingy in my shop, compared to the 5000k t5s

I was going to hang them(costco leds) under my 20x40 loft, but instead bought (3)8ft 4 bulb t5 fixtures...

I'll try to get some side by side pics of the 8ft 4 bulb t5 and 2 costco leds
 
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Platonic Solid

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86turbodsl said:
I have 6 MH400's right now. I want better light. It was fine 20 years ago, but i'm much older now, and want much more light than current. Don't even try and convince me that i need to stay with MH lighting. That ship sailed. I'm so tired of the long warm ups and tripping on everything all the time. The fine detail work and woodworking i tend to do requires more than what i'm used to. 100fc is based on all the lighting articles i've read over the years doing the research on shop lighting.
Click to expand...
I would never try to convince you to keep the MH. Just wanted a baseline for how much light you have now vs what you're seeking.
 
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knobby

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86turbodsl said:
I have 6 MH400's right now. I want better light. It was fine 20 years ago, but i'm much older now, and want much more light than current. Don't even try and convince me that i need to stay with MH lighting. That ship sailed. I'm so tired of the long warm ups and tripping on everything all the time. The fine detail work and woodworking i tend to do requires more than what i'm used to. 100fc is based on all the lighting articles i've read over the years doing the research on shop lighting.
Click to expand...

Just a little heads up
MH lamps have a steep lumen maintenance curve,simply put lamps with some age on them while they still illuminate they are not putting out anywhere near the light that they did new
Might be worthwhile to try relamping one fixture just to see how much it brightens things up and if it works out changing out the rest of the lamps
 
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86turbodsl

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That won't help the warm up or vertical height issues though. Back on topic, the thread is comparing the cost / payback / performance characteristics of these cheap T5HO's vs cheap LED fixtures. That's the real question.
 
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Charles (in GA)

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86turbodsl said:
That won't help the warm up or vertical height issues though. Back on topic, the thread is comparing the cost / payback / performance characteristics of these cheap T5HO's vs cheap LED fixtures. That's the real question.
Click to expand...

No, not the height issue esp if you have metal reflectors. The warm up would improve somewhat however. Sounds like the light bulbs have reached the end of their life. Another issue is that you only had 6 MH fixtures. Probably needed nine to get good light and coverage.

I have a dozen 400w MH in a 60x60 but they are mounted with the bottom of the light at 15 ft on 6 of them and about 16+ on the other 6, following the roof line. They are not my sole light, as I have 500w quartz floods for lighting of short duration. My warm up is less than 5 min and when I turn them on they will be staying on for a couple of hours or more usually.

attachment.php
 
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knobby

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86turbodsl said:
That won't help the warm up or vertical height issues though. Back on topic, the thread is comparing the cost / payback / performance characteristics of these cheap T5HO's vs cheap LED fixtures. That's the real question.
Click to expand...

I was trying to give you another option is all
14' I would use dual tube t5 HO with 65k/DL lamps
The cheap LED fixtures still have reliability issues that is compounded if your utility is like most with spikes and "dirty" power
The T5HO fixtures have progressed as far as reliability in the last 5 years if LED does the same they will be taking over as the standard in 5 or so IMHO
I sell lighting and the one big difference between consumer grade LED fixtures and industrial/roadway fixtures is that the industrial has built in surge suppression while the consumer models do not
 
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Charles (in GA)

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I did my lighting 6+ years ago. If I had to do it today, I would be installing T5HO Lithonia I beam fixtures on the downrods and hooks (unless something else suitable fell into my lap). two ballast per fixture on the 6 and 8 bulb fixtures, and each fixture would have two plugs, so the lighting would be set up so I could turn on half or all of it.

However its going to take a bunch of free or near free fixtures to get me to switch. I have 75 T5HO 4100K bulbs stored away for a good start, but someone has gotta give me the fixtures.

Charles
 
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BirdHunter

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DHCrocks said:
I just put up a home depot T5HO ($39) double bulb ($10 each) 4' fixture and holy **** that is the brightest single fixture I have ever seen. Costco had the LED setup for a display and it was nowhere near as bight as the T5HO. I have no measurements or data to show but I can honestly say the two T5HO bulbs are easily brighter then four T8 bulbs. A standard T5 bulb is brighter then a T8. LEDs are great but its a newer tech that still needs to be proven, I don't believe their stated lives as I have seen LEDs burn out rather quickly. I say go with the T5HO if you want a bright light.
Click to expand...


This, very much this.

I have these same fixtures and bulbs in my 30x40 set up as four rows of three fixtures. I literally spent hours and days trying to decide how to light my shop and I am more than thrilled at the outcome. I can't imagine anyone not being happy with T5HO
 
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86turbodsl

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BirdHunter,

Have you noticed your energy usage up or down from what you had before? Not sure if you retrofitted or not. Do you find 12 lights to be too much or just right in that space?
 
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jgorm

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Metal halides kick ***. It will be hard to match the quality and quantity of light they have and will cost you do much to retrofit with either the t5 or led that the ROI will be many many years if not a decade our more. If you have mute that 5 years of moderate use, then new bulbs will be nearly double the brightness.
 
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