LED lighting

[Paul1956]

I put one of these...

http://www.lowes.com/pd_411150-3-78...L=?Ntt=sylvania+100+watt+led+light&facetInfo=

...in my 20' x 18' garage with 9' ceiling yesterday.

Lights up the place enough that I can work in there, but clearly still
not enough light.

I am reconsidering my fluorescent plan in lieu of these. Any online
site I can go to determine how many of these I would need for
decent lighting in the space?

 

[Stuart in MN]

Here's one you can try: http://www.gelighting.com/LightingW...sistant-toolkit/lighting-layout-estimator.jsp Plug in the size of the room, the lumens of the lamp and the footcandles you want.

 

[ForceFed70]

At 1600 lumens, One of those lamps roughly puts out the equivalent of 2' of T8 "tube".

So you would need 4 of them for the same output as a single 2 x 4' lamp T8 fixture. You could use this formula if looking at what other people have done with a similar sized building at T8's.

At 20W for 1600lumens they are about 25% LESS efficient than standard T8 lighting.

 

[gatchel]

There are 100's of threads in the Electrical forum where fluorescent and LED are compared.

LED's, while cool, isn't quite there yet for a garage environment, especially when the garage is limited use.

 

[Highbeam]

Wow, they are significantly less efficient than tubes AND cost significantly more to buy. Hmmmm. Why would you do this?

 

[ddawg16]

Wow, they are significantly less efficient than tubes AND cost significantly more to buy. Hmmmm. Why would you do this?

Wrong....

They are more efficient and more expensive.....and last longer.

 

[ForceFed70]

Wrong....

They are more efficient and more expensive.....and last longer.

More expensive yes. Last longer...maybe (failure rates before advertised life expectancy are VERY high). More efficient... only when talking $500 fixtures.

 

[Highbeam]

Wrong....

They are more efficient and more expensive.....and last longer.

Look again, FF70 just showed a 25% loss by using the LED vs. tube. Are you disputing his numbers?

 

[ForceFed70]

Wow, they are significantly less efficient than tubes AND cost significantly more to buy. Hmmmm. Why would you do this?

For new construction it makes no sense to use this style of LED lighting.

Would make more sense in a retrofit application (Incandescent lighting already in place) but even then it would be a bit of a tossup between this lamp and a CFL lamp.

 

[ForceFed70]

Look again, FF70 just showed a 25% loss by using the LED vs. tube. Are you disputing his numbers?

FYI: A typical 4' T8 lamp consumes 32W of electricity and produces between 2800 and 3200 lumens depending on manufacturer, color, etc. Some are even more efficient but you're getting into more expensive specialty lamps at that point.

T5 is even more efficient, but not by a heck of a lot.

The math is easy and the numbers really can't be disputed. Only the VERY expensive (As in $500 each) LED fixtures are actually more efficient and even then it's not by much. Certainly not enough to ever pay for the additional purchase cost. Gatchel was spot on with his summary.

 

[Paul1956]

Ok, I'm going back to fluorescents for the garage.

But, I am going to replace some of the bulbs at my mom's
place with the new LED bulbs. The incandescent are always
burning out and she cannot reach many of the bulbs I will be
replacing.

 

[ForceFed70]

Ok, I'm going back to fluorescents for the garage.

But, I am going to replace some of the bulbs at my mom's
place with the new LED bulbs. The incandescent are always
burning out and she cannot reach many of the bulbs I will be
replacing.

Sounds like a couple of wise decisions. Good luck with the garage!

 

[gatchel]

Ok, I'm going back to fluorescents for the garage.

But, I am going to replace some of the bulbs at my mom's
place with the new LED bulbs. The incandescent are always
burning out and she cannot reach many of the bulbs I will be
replacing.

THAT is a perfect location for an LED bulb at almost any cost. Less work for you to in the future