i know many rave about the costco LED shop lights, they must go quick bc they had a 2 pallets this saturday and where out of them today. my question is, how does the shop light compare to the LED replacement tubes they also offer for existing florescent housing? are the prewired shop light typically better?
Costco LED
- Thread starter stupidjet
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driftpin
Well-known member
None on the website.
Cougar
Well-known member
I got a couple, don't think they're very bright.
archy99
Active member
I'm loving mine. New garage build, roughly 20x35 with 14' walls and vaulted ceiling in 60%. I have about 3/4 of the total 28 fixtures mounted currently (some temporarily while I work on a better mount system for the vaulted portion of roof), on two switched circuits. Circuit 1 switches rows A, C, and E...and B and D are on the second switch. I rarely need to turn both sets on, but it allows be to have light levels at 40%, 60%, or 100%.
Just the fact that I can have seventeen 4-foot fixtures on a single circuit is enough reason for me.
On a recent project, this exact discussion came up...retrofit tubes vs integrated LED fixture. Owner wanted long term cost analysis between the two. His comment was that you are still dealing with old parts in the rest of the retrofit fixture, and will have failure (ballasts, connectors and fittings, etc) earlier than you would with the integrated fixture....so cheaper up front, but more costs in the future, both in parts and labor to repair it.
Just the fact that I can have seventeen 4-foot fixtures on a single circuit is enough reason for me.
On a recent project, this exact discussion came up...retrofit tubes vs integrated LED fixture. Owner wanted long term cost analysis between the two. His comment was that you are still dealing with old parts in the rest of the retrofit fixture, and will have failure (ballasts, connectors and fittings, etc) earlier than you would with the integrated fixture....so cheaper up front, but more costs in the future, both in parts and labor to repair it.
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Reality..........light output when actually measured the Costco LED and standard T8 in “shop fixture” with shade are very similar.
Lux measured 48” down from the fixture to the bench for each fixture was about 700 lux. The Costco LED does consume about 30% less power to produce almost the exact amount of light.
The T8 two bulb 32 watt each and the Costco LED 42 watt total are about two years old.
Obviously the measured light output will vary by tube age, fixture style, fixture quality, beam spread, dust and dozen other variables.
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matt_i
Well-known member
Was this in relation to the T8-replacement LED tubes or the full LED shop-light fixture?
hiredgun58
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I put 4 of these in the Grooming room at our dog boarding facility
They are a vast improvment
They are a vast improvment
They are great for their intended use, which is add a task light or two where you need more light for a task. Putting a couple connected over a workbench where you can turn them on with the chain when you want more light. If you need light a lot of hours every week, you can do a lot better. BUT they are inexpensive to setup quickly with the cord and the daisy chain feature. Light and easy to mount. Also, they don't seem to completely fail very often.
They go downhill pretty quickly over time. The light output decrease and color shift is faster than good T-8 fluorescents, closer to good T-12 that doesn't see excessive on/off cycles.
I added a few temporarily where I knew the lighting was getting reconfigured later after some racking changes. They are used 60 hours a week and after 2 years they are noticeably off, more than the T-12 next to them.
Light output is way below a good T-8 2 bulb fixture but they do draw less current. You do get more light down since they are directional. Directional light does mean they seem bright when you look at them.
If you don't understand their strong points and insist on using them for area lighting then the narrow beam angle will mean that they need to be mounted higher. At that point you will need a ton of them as they are only 3700 lumens.
If you are measuring the same amount of light as you get from a good T-8, then you aren't measuring correctly. Just measuring light level below the fixture isn't going to do it. When testing lighting for my manufacturing businesses, we always test hung several fixtures and tested them how they would be used. Can you see parts inside the bins? Can you see well inside the machines? Can you read the micrometer quickly? etc. etc.
They go downhill pretty quickly over time. The light output decrease and color shift is faster than good T-8 fluorescents, closer to good T-12 that doesn't see excessive on/off cycles.
I added a few temporarily where I knew the lighting was getting reconfigured later after some racking changes. They are used 60 hours a week and after 2 years they are noticeably off, more than the T-12 next to them.
Light output is way below a good T-8 2 bulb fixture but they do draw less current. You do get more light down since they are directional. Directional light does mean they seem bright when you look at them.
If you don't understand their strong points and insist on using them for area lighting then the narrow beam angle will mean that they need to be mounted higher. At that point you will need a ton of them as they are only 3700 lumens.
If you are measuring the same amount of light as you get from a good T-8, then you aren't measuring correctly. Just measuring light level below the fixture isn't going to do it. When testing lighting for my manufacturing businesses, we always test hung several fixtures and tested them how they would be used. Can you see parts inside the bins? Can you see well inside the machines? Can you read the micrometer quickly? etc. etc.
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My Old Tools
Well-known member
I had 16 of the fixtures in the old shop for 4 years without noticeable degradation and zero failures. They are far brighter than T12 shop lights and better to my eyes than T8. I have 20 in the new shop and still love them. These are all used for general lighting from 9 feet off the floor to 20 feet off the floor.
Cougar
Well-known member
I hung it next to a Sam's Club led shop light.
Sam's Club is a brighter white.
What is the color temperature of the Costco light.
The Costco LED are 4000k.
Not sure the Sam’s temp but the Sam’s lens is NOT frosted creating individual bright hot spot LED. As mention in the forum many times Lack of frost creates a harsh white light unacceptable to many.
Also discussed at length color temperature is a personal preference but has no effect on the LUX ( amount of light) reaching the Work sutface.
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metlmunchr
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You use bypass tubes on a retrofit and the ballast goes in the trash can. At that point, the fixture housing is nothing but a wireway. You can also replace the tombstones at the time of retrofit if necessary for less than a dollar apiece. No reason for the retrofit to be any more problematic than the integrated fixture, and a failure in the retrofit involves a $7-$8 tube where a failure in the integrated one means you throw away the fixture and hope you can buy a matching one. As with all Chinese stuff, finding a matching product even 6 months down the road isn't a given.
cory58
Well-known member
Exactly why I chose the recommended fixture/tubes from the Best Light Fixture sticky instead of an integrated fixture. It's all Chinese junk and I'd rather be changing tubes instead of fixtures when things start to fail early at 2-3 years.
Cory
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Some members actually measured the light output.
It’s not difficult to get repeatable and accurate FC or LUX measurements. The T8 and LED were tested under the exact same location and setup.
If you think T8 actually deliver the lumens printed on the label .....you do not understand the losses involved in the fixture, ballast and placement.
Lumens rating on the box is completely different measurement than Foot candle or LUX measured at the surface.
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Cougar
Well-known member
If you already have fixtures, could go with the LED tubes that bypass the ballast.
I would think it was pretty obvious from my original post that I have light meters and know how to use them. We even had continuous reading & recording light meters in our QA department so we could prove to vendors that their parts were being QCed in proper lighting.
Each different type of fixture has its own challenges depending on its application. It helps to choose the proper fixture depending on your application.
A simple example: I have one Costco LED in a row of parts storage. Next to it is the rest of the row with the original single 75w 8' T-12 without reflector but with aluminized tape covering the fixture directly above the single bulb. Each light covers exactly 8' of bin width. Costco LED is more irritating to look at directly. Light measured on the floor directly under the lights is higher on the Costco LED. Light level in the bins where you are trying to read labels on parts was about the same with the 2 year old LED and the 4 year old T-12 bulb. Now with new T-12 it is dramatically better. I installed the rows of single bulb T-12 fixtures 38 years ago so it isn't surprising they could use some updating but haven't found anything worth updating them with yet.
Costco LED says 3700 lumens, T-12 is 3975 avg, 4400 initial.
Ultimate "best" is going to probably be when a T-12LED is introduced with two rows of LEDs at 120 degrees apart or when Carson Tech finally releases their 3 row 0-120-240 degree bulb. That seems to have been shelved with the two row 180 degree bulbs for dual sided signs. There do seem to be some dual row at 120 degree apart LED for cold storage.