Jon_E
Well-known member
So I had posted a thread last year about getting a whole bunch of free 6-tube T8 fixtures from a friend and planning on installing them in my garage. As of today they're still sitting in the corner of the garage, I have not installed anything and am still lighting the (unfinished) space with a set of 10-bulb string lights.
Last week I saw these at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain-74104-HD/206665638
They're a very basic, cheap LED strip. 4000K and 3000 lumens per strip. 5' cord, linkable and they plug into a receptacle. I wouldn't have bothered except that the local HD has them for $9.97 each. Yep, a 4' LED strip for less than ten bucks. I bought four just to test them out, figuring that if they sucked, it wouldn't be a big loss and I could always use them for task lights or over a workbench or in a closet. Well they light up the area pretty well, and claimed 50,000 hours (45 years according to the packaging). Even if they last 10 years, I'd spend more on T8 bulb replacements than a whole garage full of these things. So I bought 16 more.
I spoke with more than one electrician who said I should just scrap the T8 fixtures. I have ten of them and while I realize that 60 T8 bulbs will light up the garage like an operating room, I just don't need the hassle of installing these monsters and then changing dozens of bulbs during their lifespan. However I might keep three, one for the center of each garage bay, and use the LEDs everywhere else. Does anyone else have mixed light types in their garage space, and if so, what do you think of this idea? Or, should I just install the 6-bulb fixtures and save the cheap LED strips for task lights or other spaces? I could always ditch the ballasts in the big fixtures and use LED T8 size bulbs but I have about 40 bulbs to use up too.
Last week I saw these at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain-74104-HD/206665638
They're a very basic, cheap LED strip. 4000K and 3000 lumens per strip. 5' cord, linkable and they plug into a receptacle. I wouldn't have bothered except that the local HD has them for $9.97 each. Yep, a 4' LED strip for less than ten bucks. I bought four just to test them out, figuring that if they sucked, it wouldn't be a big loss and I could always use them for task lights or over a workbench or in a closet. Well they light up the area pretty well, and claimed 50,000 hours (45 years according to the packaging). Even if they last 10 years, I'd spend more on T8 bulb replacements than a whole garage full of these things. So I bought 16 more.
I spoke with more than one electrician who said I should just scrap the T8 fixtures. I have ten of them and while I realize that 60 T8 bulbs will light up the garage like an operating room, I just don't need the hassle of installing these monsters and then changing dozens of bulbs during their lifespan. However I might keep three, one for the center of each garage bay, and use the LEDs everywhere else. Does anyone else have mixed light types in their garage space, and if so, what do you think of this idea? Or, should I just install the 6-bulb fixtures and save the cheap LED strips for task lights or other spaces? I could always ditch the ballasts in the big fixtures and use LED T8 size bulbs but I have about 40 bulbs to use up too.