LED bulbs

[AmericanMechanic]

If you still have CFL bulbs in your shop, consider trying LED. Its a massive upgrade in ability to see things easily and clearly if you get a daylight version. 5000k, or maybe 4000k. (I've only tried the former, but 4000k migh be a good middle ground if 5kk is too bright for you).

 

[Garett]

I'd like to switch from florescent tubes to LED tubes. I don't want to ebay or amazon 80 suspect tubes from overseas so I'm waiting for namebrand to drop in price.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I'd like to switch from florescent tubes to LED tubes. I don't want to ebay or amazon 80 suspect tubes from overseas so I'm waiting for namebrand to drop in price.

I purchased all my LED bulbs and 4’ shop light fixtures at Costco, Feit Electric brand, 4100K. I only have a 35x20 3 car garage, I’m running nine 4’ pairs on the 9 foot ceiling, plenty bright. The shop fixtures commonly go on sale for $20 and I’ve seen the 4’ tube replacements on sale for $12.

 

[AmericanMechanic]

I'd like to switch from florescent tubes to LED tubes. I don't want to ebay or amazon 80 suspect tubes from overseas so I'm waiting for namebrand to drop in price.

Obviously up to you, but if you have an area you work in most of the time, it may be worth trying a few for that area. I wish I'd swapped much earlier.

 

[Bert_]

4000*k vs 5000*k has nothing to do with brightness...

It refers to color only.

 

[GRB]

If you still have CFL bulbs in your shop, consider trying LED. Its a massive upgrade in ability to see things easily and clearly if you get a daylight version. 5000k, or maybe 4000k. (I've only tried the former, but 4000k migh be a good middle ground if 5kk is too bright for you).

5000K vs 4000K vs any other color temp has NOTHING to do with brightness.

Looks like Bert and I post the same thing at the same time......

 

[AmericanMechanic]

Lol. Install a 4k temperature bulb, then 5k. Obviously lumens are brightness but its way easier to see in 5k than 4k.

 

[Bert_]

Lol. Install a 4k temperature bulb, then 5k. Obviously lumens are brightness but its way easier to see in 5k than 4k.

There are many 4000*k lamps that are 10x brighter than another 5000*k lamp.

It's like saying a red car is faster than a blue car. Sounds stupid doesn't it...

Color is personal preference only.

 

[GRB]

A bit more than personal preference. I ran the technology for a high end manufacturer with a killer electric bill to run lighting. We ran extensive testing on color and light intensity for efficiency particularly when doing inspection and quality control.
There was a mild but consistent better result at 4000K over 5000K. Not terribly significant. There was a significant drop in productivity in detail work below 4000K and above 5000K. The real important thing we learned is that the customers looking at the QA lab and clean room production thought it looked better at 6000K or more. We used blue flooring to make it look cleaner/brighter while using 4000K & 5000K lamps.

 

[Platonic Solid]

A bit more than personal preference. I ran the technology for a high end manufacturer with a killer electric bill to run lighting. We ran extensive testing on color and light intensity for efficiency particularly when doing inspection and quality control.
There was a mild but consistent better result at 4000K over 5000K. Not terribly significant. There was a significant drop in productivity in detail work below 4000K and above 5000K. The real important thing we learned is that the customers looking at the QA lab and clean room production thought it looked better at 6000K or more. We used blue flooring to make it look cleaner/brighter while using 4000K & 5000K lamps.

Interesting, but this comparison isn't complete without including color rendering comparison via CRI, TM-30-18 and/or CQS for each CCT.

 

[k i c k e r]

I switched to LED tubes recently, the instant light was nice instead of them needing a few minutes to get to full brightness.

 

[CJ7VFR]

I switched to LED tubes recently, the instant light was nice instead of them needing a few minutes to get to full brightness.

This is why I replaced all my fluorescent shop lights with LED's.

My old shop lights still worked, but the colder it was in the basement or garage, the longer they took to get full bright.

And the fact that it seemed like every time I turned on the lights, at least one fixture would have a light tube in it that would either not come on, or that would blink on and off. This drove me nuts, having to flip the light switch On/Off/On again to get it to stop.

The LED's cured that part for me.

Jim

 

[gpiggaz]

A bit more than personal preference. I ran the technology for a high end manufacturer with a killer electric bill to run lighting. We ran extensive testing on color and light intensity for efficiency particularly when doing inspection and quality control.
There was a mild but consistent better result at 4000K over 5000K. Not terribly significant. There was a significant drop in productivity in detail work below 4000K and above 5000K. The real important thing we learned is that the customers looking at the QA lab and clean room production thought it looked better at 6000K or more. We used blue flooring to make it look cleaner/brighter while using 4000K & 5000K lamps.

Have you ever heard of the "Hawthorn effect"? Western Electric did lighting studies in the 1920s and determined that light levels had less to do with productivity- it was a ground breaking realization that paying attention to the workers had more of an effect than the light level (within reason of course) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect