Plug in Fluorescent lights for renter.

[mojo_13]

I just got transferred with my job and the place we are getting has a garage with terrible lighting. I am wanting to get some light in it for general working. As I am renting I am wanting to get the plug in type instead of hard wired so I can take them with me to my next place when I get moved again.

I have looked around and found an all weather model at Home Depot. I live in Iowa where it can get very cold in the winter and so a fixture that can handle that is something I'm looking at. I'd also like to keep them on the cheaper side. The model I was looking at is Lithonia All Weather T8 Shop Light. Seems to get good reviews and is cheap enough I can get a few to put around the garage.

Has anyone used these specific ones or have any experience with any of the plug in type of lights. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[n2ocamaro]

A friend has a bunch of these and just recommended them to me. He purchased them over a year ago and has no problems. He likes the plug in style because they are easier to replace/move. As soon as I get my sub panel installed I will be picking up some.

 

[787B]

I don't have any experience with these specific lights, but all the fluorescent lights in my shop are plug-in. I'm a perpetual renter and have to keep the lights moveable. They are a mish-mash of 4-foot fixtures I've accumulated over the years, all T12 unfortunately.

With the landlord's permission, I replaced the six existing overhead lamp holders with these lamp holders with outlets. I plugged the fluorescents into those. With those and 150 W-equivalent CFLs in the lamp holders, I have all the light I need.

 

[SMKS]

I bought 4' T8 fixtures from Walmart. They claim to be made (or at least assembled) in the USA. $10 each and they have electronic ballasts, so they work pretty well in the winter. I'm in Kansas, so it gets pretty cold here in the winter.

My last two garages have had two ceiling fixtures for standard bulbs controlled by a wall switch. I just plug the flourescents into the regular fixtures using one of these screw in adapters:

I have also used a splitter to put two 4' dual-bulb fixtures on one regular bulb outlet. I looked at the bulb wattage and it was 28W or 30W each. So, with a total of four bulbs that's only around 120 watts. I think that's a safe load for the socket, but I'm sure if I'm wrong many people here will let me know.

 

[Brad S.]

I just got transferred with my job and the place we are getting has a garage with terrible lighting. I am wanting to get some light in it for general working. As I am renting I am wanting to get the plug in type instead of hard wired so I can take them with me to my next place when I get moved again.

I have looked around and found an all weather model at Home Depot. I live in Iowa where it can get very cold in the winter and so a fixture that can handle that is something I'm looking at. I'd also like to keep them on the cheaper side. The model I was looking at is Lithonia All Weather T8 Shop Light. Seems to get good reviews and is cheap enough I can get a few to put around the garage.

Has anyone used these specific ones or have any experience with any of the plug in type of lights. Any help is greatly appreciated.

This is what Im rocking in my shop. And have been for at least a year. No complaints. There are some cheaper T12 setups, but go for the T8.

 

[jamesemery728]

I have these same fixtures from HD in my basement and in my attic. They work great and no radio interference. The attic is unheated and gets very cold in the winter, no problem for these lights. I had the cheapo T12's from HD before I got these and they were absolute garbage. They would not work even at 60 degrees. The T8's are great and you will like them.

 

[ishiboo]

I just got transferred with my job and the place we are getting has a garage with terrible lighting. I am wanting to get some light in it for general working. As I am renting I am wanting to get the plug in type instead of hard wired so I can take them with me to my next place when I get moved again.

I have looked around and found an all weather model at Home Depot. I live in Iowa where it can get very cold in the winter and so a fixture that can handle that is something I'm looking at. I'd also like to keep them on the cheaper side. The model I was looking at is Lithonia All Weather T8 Shop Light. Seems to get good reviews and is cheap enough I can get a few to put around the garage.

Has anyone used these specific ones or have any experience with any of the plug in type of lights. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I believe Menards is running a sale as we speak (bought some on Sunday, not sure if it ended Sunday or started).. the "performance shop light" units are $14.99 with a $5.00 mail in rebate. I buy these whenever they run the sale/rebate and have about 30 of them in 3 different garages. They work great and start in the Wisconsin cold just fine with T8 bulbs.

Link: http://www.menards.com/main/lightin...erformance-utility-light/p-1385009-c-6354.htm (Different price/etc. in store)

 

[mojo_13]

Well looks like I'm on the right track, I will for sure be checking the ones out at Menards too don't think I saw them in the ad this week. Also I have never seen those adapters to plug into a light socket. Any idea what they are called technically, I have been looking around the lowes, HD site and can't seem to find them. May just have to go look. Thanks for all the experiences guys we just signed the lease so looks like I'll be picking some up.

 

[mojo_13]

I found the adapter I may have to get some of these depending on where the outlets are.

 

[brewchief]

You can buy CFLs that screw right into existing bulb holders and put out a lot more light, we have some in a friends building that are 85W and put out close to 400 watts worth. 4 of them light up a 50x100 building enough for friday night beer drinking. IIRC they are about 20$ so it may not save any cash but it may be an option worth looking at.

 

[VHF]

I believe Menards is running a sale as we speak (bought some on Sunday, not sure if it ended Sunday or started).. the "performance shop light" units are $14.99 with a $5.00 mail in rebate. I buy these whenever they run the sale/rebate and have about 30 of them in 3 different garages. They work great and start in the Wisconsin cold just fine with T8 bulbs.

Link: http://www.menards.com/main/lightin...erformance-utility-light/p-1385009-c-6354.htm (Different price/etc. in store)

I'll second the American Florescent lights from Menards. I've currently got 8 and plan to get some more. For a $10 fixture I am very impressed. They start just fine at sub-zero temperatures. I use 4100k T8 bulbs with 85 CRI (IIRC)... the highest CRI that Mendards had on hand. (You can get better if you order the bulbs from an on-line vendor.)

 

[ishiboo]

Well looks like I'm on the right track, I will for sure be checking the ones out at Menards too don't think I saw them in the ad this week. Also I have never seen those adapters to plug into a light socket. Any idea what they are called technically, I have been looking around the lowes, HD site and can't seem to find them. May just have to go look. Thanks for all the experiences guys we just signed the lease so looks like I'll be picking some up.

Looks like they ended Sunday, sorry. They'll be on sale again, I've bought them at least 3-4 times this year for $9.99 after MIR.

Note you can use the 10% Lowes discount cards at Menards for anything which is not on sale as well. You can buy them cheaply on eBay.

 

[mojo_13]

Well thanks for the info it is very much appreciated. I am going to have to keep my eyes out for sales now. Any idea how often they come up on sale? Like once a month or every couple of months?

 

[mojo_13]

Well I went and checked out HD and Menards today and saw that Menards had those lights on sale for $15 with the $5 MIR until 8/20 so I picked up 4 and am going to try them out. Thanks for the heads up and just thought I would let everyone know in case they were in the market for them. Will be moving next thursday so hopefully get them up and working soon.

 

[D.J.]

Guys: Just a heads up on the electronic ballast type lights with a cord attached. Make sure you read the instructions very carefully and follow them to a "T". I recently purchased a corded "Good Earth Lighting Inc 5260 Capitol Dr Wheeling IL 60090" flourescent fixture for replacement of a fixture over my sink in the kitchen. My experience was a bunch of ****. I cut the cord off of the light and hard wired it into my electrical above the sink. Well guess what, about a month into it wife says the light isn't working, sure enough I check it out and it isn't. I then remove it a return to my local TV and purchase a new lamp tube for it. Luckily I'm a pack rat and had saved the old fixture. Have both the old and new fixture when I return to the store and the newest fixture is junk. So I call Good Earth and being the honest person I am when they ask me what happened I told the truth and told them I had cut the cord and wired it hard into my house. Well guess what they said, the instructions say not to cut the cord off = warranty void also our fixture is not recommended in humid locations = warranty voided X2. So my suggestion is read and follow all directions and never the manufacturer the truth when trying to get a product warrantied. Just my $ .02