Lighting

[Johnny chaos]

The place I work recently replaced two bulb t5's with single bulb t5's with reflectors......sooooo I got a bunch of free lights.....I installed a bunch a few days ago, totaling around 50 bulbs. I thought it was going to be like the surface of the sun.....not so much so I think white reflectors are in my future? The lights currently have just white ballast covers.

I looked online as I thought it would be simple to find them Inexpensively but all the reflectors I find are either polished (very expensive) or plain white stamped steel for almost as much as a whole light assembly??? What am I missing? I figured these would be $5-10 dollars a piece? Anybody have any diy ideas? Adhesive Mylar or something? I'll upload a pic in a bit I'm currently sitting at the dmv

I have no idea why the pics are inverted!!!!!

 

[ctfjr]

Here in CT there is a substantial rebate offered commercial electric accounts who upgrade their lighting to (the current) high efficiency units, leds. On the last go round, several years ago, the company I work for replaced a ton of troffers. I took about 15 home & installed them in my workshop. They all have reflectors & recently I converted them all to leds. You might try & find some company doing the same thing. They throw the old ones away (and have to pay for the dumpster emptying).

 

[cybrdyke]

.....I installed a bunch a few days ago,

Installed them in what?
CD

 

[Johnny chaos]

"garage journal"............ I installed them in my garage.

 

[Shiftless]

I think CD was asking into what kind of fixture did you install your LED replacement tubes.
Also, how may tubes in each fixture? How may fixtures? Mounting height? Size of your garage area?

It looks to me to be lots of fixtures with lots of tubes in a relatively small space. Although not equivalent to "the surface of the sun" I'm surprised that you feel the resulting illumination is not adequate. Are you able to measure the resulting lux at 36 inches above the floor?

 

[Jack D]

The place I work recently replaced two bulb t5's with single bulb t5's with reflectors......sooooo I got a bunch of free lights.....I installed a bunch a few days ago, totaling around 50 bulbs. I thought it was going to be like the surface of the sun.....not so much so I think white reflectors are in my future? The lights currently have just white ballast covers.

I have a couple of T8 fixtures in my attached garage and and the amount of light I get is dependent on the garage temperature and the age of the tubes. Looking at your tubes they have dark spots on the ends and in my experience, those tubes were well used. I am currently under construction on a detached garage and will use only LED based fixtures for exactly the same reasons you are disappointed with the fixtures you installed. Last summer I put new tubes in mine at a substantial cost and it did not make much difference this winter. The next option is to replace the ballast with a modern one but the more money I put into the fixtures won't necessarily fix the real problem, which is old technology.

Once I finish the new garage I will tackle the attached garage and I might just scrap the old technology. Sometimes free is expensive

Jack

 

[CNGsaves]

Those bulbs won't last long since you installed them on the floor !!

IrFanView is free software that you can rotate and manipulate pictures. If your Ipad, goo-diddly, or Hog-tablet does strange things to Pics that upload to GJ, then figure out it's madness and compensate.

EDIT 1st post . . . Go Advanced, Manage Attachments, Choose File (up to 7), Upload, Close window, Save.

 

[34 Ply]

The ceiling looks like a dark color, paint the inside ceiling and wall white and get some reflection.

 

[Shiftless]

The ceiling looks like a dark color, paint the inside ceiling and wall white and get some reflection.

That will make a HUGE difference!
I recently change our kitchen from a dark color to almost pure white, including the upper and lower cabinets. I used to have 10 fifty watt halogen bulbs doing most of the area lighting. I tore all of them out and replaced with just two LED fixtures using 18 watts each. I now have way more brightness in the room with way less electricity consumed. Over a 90% savings.

 

[Johnny chaos]

The lights are t5's, the ceiling is white unfinished drywall, there's 4 bulbs per fixture with a total of 40 bulbs on the ceiling and another 12 bulbs on the wall. The ceilings are 12'.

It's a lot brighter than it was with just temporary construction type incandescents on a strand and they were free!!!!!......I just thought they would be brighter.......I was mostly hoping for some DIY recommendations to make them brighter....."Paint ceiling" Or look "here" for really inexpensive reflectors, etc???

 

[fastevo9]

There has to be something wrong with those ballasts is my guess. That is a ton of fixtures yet the garage is extremely dim. Reflectors or paint wont fix this issue you may want to try troubleshooting by ripping apart and testing. if you cant figure it out get new fixtures. The amount of energy those units waste is large compared to what a few led fixtures can do.

 

[xyster101]

Can't really judge the light by the photo as the camera is adjusting for the bright lights and making the rest of the place look dim.
I would also suggest painting the ceiling white. Although time consuming it will help a lot.
You could also look into white metal roofing and cut pieces that you bend into a "U" shape to act as reflectors and place them behind all the fixtures. Maybe house flashing would do the same thing and just slide it behind the light from each side.