insight on e-conolight LED?

[hemiallen]

My electrician showed me 9 of these mounted in a neighbors new shop, 40' x 60', same design as my shop only smaller, and they looked good. My phone- fc meter shows they are 20% brighter than my James 4' 225 watt lights. ( 255 FC on my James- econolights 311 FC) Both seem to be enough light to my eyes.
https://www.e-conolight.com/led-linear-high-bay-e-hle43-series-white.html#235=205

These lights are supposed to be 43,000 lumen, mounting height of these in his shop are at 20', the same as mine. They are also $264 vs James $113, and the spacing I saw and light output tell me they would not reduce the number of lights I need, nor any better than either my James or my HD 1800 lumen industrial lights which are $99. Fc's don't lie, but my eyes see a small increase, but if I never saw these I probably wouldn't be wanting these over the James lights, lol.

I just don't see the 2x + additional cost of these being worth it, but I would love any input on why the e-conolights linked might be worth changing directions. They do have a 15% off that ends tomorrow night, but they still are very expensive, and unknown on their customer support for problems down the road.

Now that said, one of my 2 James 225 watt lights has a dead strip, and Scott at LED lighting warehouse says James will send me a replacement.

Any input appreciated

Allen

 

[alfredeneuman]

I've been an econolight fan for some time now.
I've never used the particular one you posted, but their quality is as good or better than some major manufacturers, at a much lower price.
As a lifetime electrician I've ordered them time and time again and they have never failed me a single time.

 

[cybrdyke]

There's a lot for you to consider....
First, 43,000 lumens at 20' is way too much. At that height, you should be using fixtures around 18,000-21,000 lumens and spacing them out so that you have even coverage. Anything over 130fc is ridiculously too much. Heck, most people are impressed with 75fc. Anything more than that and you're ******* away money and power.
Econolight is a mid-grade product, engineered to a price point. It's good enough for most garages and some commercial use, but a professional lighting person wouldn't use it. It's better than the James, though. At about 130 lumens per watt it's moderately efficient.
Finally, Econolight's parent company was just purchased by another company, which leaves their future as a question mark. Probably nothing will change much, but now you know.
My advice would be to look at the 13,000 or 21,000 lumen version of the econolight. Play with their layout tool on the webpage you linked. Depending on the criteria you input, it will show that you need 9 of the 43,000 lumen fixture to achieve 100fc, but you need 20 of the 21,000 lumen fixture. Of course, the big difference is that the space will look contrasty, shadowy, and weird with only 9 fixtures, and it will look even and comfortable with 20.
Hope that helps.
CD