The Best Light Fixture Ever!

[Jarjarbinks]

I find that spec sheet rather suspect since it also states 50,000 hr. rated life. What did MI to Washington State shipping cost?

Shipping was $124 fedex ground. Shipped today and scheduled to arrive Tuesday.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Platonic Solid]

Cost/Value Comparison:

$1283.40 + $124 = $1407.40 for 14410 lm 110W 50,000 hr. fixture life
90,000 hr L70 = 12008 lm @ 50,000 hrs.| 13209 lm @ 25,000 hrs.
vs
$1020 for 16406 lm 110W 50,000 hr fixture life
≥50,000 hr L70 = 11484 lm @ 50,000 hrs.| 13945 lm @ 25,000 hrs.

If we assume both fixtures LED drivers will fail at 50,000 hrs, I can't justify the 38% cost difference for a 4.6% lumen output difference at 50,000 hrs.

 

[Utahcarguy]

FYI...

www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com has the Maxlite LSS2XT8USE4803 on sale for $12.50 each, but they charge for shipping and overweight.

I contacted www.shineretrofits.com and they priced matched the $12.50 AND free shipping. Saved me $70 on 20 units!

 

[Platonic Solid]

Good call Utahcarguy Thanks for sharing.

 

[bczygan]

*********************************************
Best bang for the buck LED 4ft 2-lamp strip light as of 3/14/2018:
(UL Listings verified for all bulbs)

To make one 4ft strip light, you need 2 LED Bulbs and 1 LED Ready Fixture Housing:

LED BULBS

LUMEGEN LG-4T8-22WBB-SM50K(5000k)(4000K)(3000K) 48" 22W LED T8
2640 Lumens per bulb, 120° Beam Angle
Single Ended Power
5000K, 4000K or 3000K - 120-277V - 120 Lumens/Watt - Frosted Lens - Extruded Aluminum Body
$7.99 ea. (link) - no minimum - Free Shipping $50
$7.19 ea. after below discount applied at checkout.


Greentek Energy Systems GT-T8-18W1200 BIXX(5000K)(3000K) 48" 18W LED T8
2520 Lumens per bulb, 120° Beam Angle
Universal Ballast Compatible / Ballast Bypass via Single End or Opposing End Wired
5000K or 3000K - 120-277V - 140 Lumens/Watt - Frosted Lens - Extruded Aluminum Body
$7.99 ea. (link) - no minimum - Free Shipping $99
$7.59 ea. after below discount applied at checkout.


GLLUSA GL07103-3M(5000K) 48" 18W LED T8
2664 Lumens per bulb, 120° Beam Angle
Universal Ballast Compatible / Ballast Bypass via Single End or Opposing End Wired
5000K - 120-277V - 148 Lumens/Watt - Frosted Lens - Extruded Aluminum Body
$8.99 ea. (link) - no minimum + Shipping from Brighton, MI 48116 (bulbs do not qualify for free shipping)
$8.36 ea. after below discount applied at checkout.


LEDMyplace WEN-T8-4FT-18WF(4000K) 48" 18W LED T8 *** OUT OF STOCK ***
2400 Lumens per bulb, 120° Beam Angle, Single Ended Power
4000K - 120-277V - 133 Lumens/Watt - Frosted Lens - Extruded Aluminum Body
$7.34 ea. (link) - no minimum - Free Shipping $49

LED Ready Fixture Housing

Maxlite LSS2XT8USE4803 (link to data sheets) 2-Lamp T8 LED Tube Ready 4ft Linear Utility Pre-Wired Strip Light Housing:

ProLighting $15.00 ea. - no minimum + Shipping from Brighton, MI 48116 (Same distributor as GLLUSA GL07103-3M Lamp above)
$13.95 ea. after below discount applied at checkout.


Bee's Lighting $15.96 ea. - no minimum - Free Shipping over $99
(site states: Free shipping Excludes items over 42", but some still received free shipping.)

LED Lighting Wholesale $14.50 ea. - no minimum + Shipping from Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (free over $1000) Watch for additional charges at checkout.

Shineretrofits $15.96 ea. - 10 piece minimum - Free Shipping over $95


Alternate Housing:
PLT TXFC232X1 2-Lamp T8 LED Tube Ready 4ft Linear Utility Pre-Wired Strip Light Housing:

1000Bulbs $12.99 ea. - no minimum + Shipping from Garland, TX 75041 - Watch for additional handling and/or high shipping charge at checkout.




*********************************************
For an excellent deal on 1x4 5000 lumen flat panel LED edge lit

For an excellent deal on 16400 lumen high bay
*********************************************

Yes, the title was meant to get you here. There are way too many threads about the exact same: “What light fixture should I buy for my garage?” question. Should you go LED or Fluorescent? Strip Light, recessed cans, screw-in bulbs of any flavor, … the options never end.

Disclaimer: I have been designing lighting products for over 30 years, primarily for the military and specialty markets. I do not design consumer grade residential lighting. Designing a 200 Lumen per watt fixture is easy, but not cost effective (yet). I have no affiliation with any company mentioned and I have nothing to gain by sharing my research. Everything stated is my opinion. I am human.

Typical Garage/Workshop Lamp options:

• Bare F54T5HO lamps produce too much glare when mounted below 15 feet. If you like them, put them in a wrap style or louvered fixture to cut down the glare.
• 400W Metal Halide can be quite efficient, but also produce too much glare when mounted below 15 feet. Additionally a 20,000 hr. 36,000 lumen 400W MH lamp will only produce 25,000 lumens after 8,000 hrs. = 30% light output loss.
• All T12 and T12HO Lamps should be considered obsolete. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some very efficient T12 options out there.
• Recessed Can type fixtures do not have the beam spread necessary to produce high lumen shadow free lighting unless you use a ridiculous amount of them.
• LED ballast-bypass 4ft retrofits are your best bang for the buck option. Long life, excellent efficiency and immediate full brightness in cold temperatures. Just be aware that there’s no shortage of no name Chinese LED bulbs and fixtures with questionable specifications and no third party certification.
• F32T8 Lamps are designed to be mounted below 20 feet and there’s quite a head spinning variety out there. Some are capable of lasting 84,000 hrs., providing 100+ lumens per watt and a reasonable 85 CRI.
• You can have higher CRI in both fluorescent and LED, but you will sacrifice efficiency and light output. I’m not going to address that here as the vast majority of people do not need CRI higher than 85 in their garage.

Here’s the original comparison spreadsheet, though as of this post edit (7/12/17) it's now almost 2 years old so all links and data are questionable: Lighting System Comparison. (I'll have to get around to making it mostly LED related.)

Here's an Excel viewer if you don't have Excel: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10
Spreadsheet was created in Excel 2010 and has xlsx extension.
You can also open and edit in Google Sheets.

Just ordered these 8 fixtures and 16 lamps for my 9.5 x 19.5 x 9 garage/shop. Should get 96FC at 3'.

Used their charge and will pick up Wed. so no shipping.

Existing fluorescent fixtures will go in basement.

$260!!!

Thanks Platonic Solid!

Bill

 

[saltfever]

I have been subscribed to this thread from the beginning. It just dawned on me that I have had no email notice for the past few months! Went back and checked my email and surprise! . . . my last notice was August of last year! Not sure what is going on but this is just a "heads-up" to subscribers.

As always, a big THANK YOU to Platonics for starting this thread!. . . and all that have contributed.

 

[aka Larry]

FWIW, I was in Lowes yesterday and they had their Utilitech 48" T8 6500K LED retrofit tubes on clearance for $2.49 each. At that price I decided to go ahead and buy enough to retrofit my entire shop.

 

[saltfever]

Due to the photobucket fiasco I can not see any of your construction pics from the link at the bottom of your post! Not sure of what to do.

Thanks for the Lowes heads-up.

 

[gemniii]

Well I went back to about late February in the thread and didn't see any mention of my recent "favorite" - the LED T5 Integrated Single Fixture 4FT,20W linkable fixtures.
And apologize if this is not the place to discuss them.

A little background - I've 4 windowless "workshops" in Mississippi comprising about 5,500 sq feet. All metal buildings with open ceilings ranging 9' to 14'. They came with aging fluorescents, a mix 8' 2 bulb and 4' 4 bulb T12's, many of them with fixed wiring at the ends of conduit . Maybe 50 or 60 fixtures total. Failing ballasts were and are numerous.

About 6 years ago I tried a 4 bulb, 4' T5 flourescent fixture as my first replacement. Light was good and still is. Price was high.

Then LED prices plummeted. I bought a bunch of 8' no-ballast LED replacements. Light and price were better.

I then went through replacing some 4' bulbs the same way, one of my key things were using the old fixtures when the ballasts burned out.

Then I found a lot of 4' 2 bulb LED fixtures for about $30@.

Then lately I've found the 4FT,20W linkable fixtures (single bulb) to be the best bang for my buck. Basically about $8/tube, no fixture needed

So with the vast expertise gathered here I'm wondering where are the best 4' LED lights -
Best meaning reliable, most lumens/$, most lumens/watt, linkable,

 

[Platonic Solid]

gemniii - I avoid any fixture/bulb in this thread that I can't confirm is UL (or ETL, CSA) Listed and can't be properly hardwired. There are plenty of threads about plug-in linkable Feit and similar discount fixtures. The single lamp/fixture linkables you're talking about are just regular LED bulbs often sold on Amazon and eBay from Chinese resellers with no NRTL certification.

 

[HellaFab]

any idea where to get the lights in the OP, delivered to Canada? (Ontario Canada) or locally?

alternatively there is a a few electrical supply shops around my office... is there essential criteria to look for in the fixture or tubes if buying from a local supply shop? the supply shop wouldn't be allowed to sell non CSA approved fixtures from my understanding.

 

[Platonic Solid]

HellaFab - Just going by the bulb spec sheets I see the LumeGen and GLLUSA bulbs are CUL = Canadian UL (or CETL = Canadian ETL) as is the Maxlite housing. Have you contacted any of the distributors to see if they ship to Canada?

 

[HellaFab]

I haven't contacted a supplier beyond the links in the OP and putting them into a cart and trying to ship.

international shipping usually kills anything close to a good deal. those $10 fixtures will be nearly $40 by the time they are at my door. if there was a criteria I could choose to compare what the local supply house can get or has on hand I could do a little leg work to get some specs, even if the housing is more expensive online it could be cheaper locally.



but I will ask about the LumeGen and GLLUSA bulbs or maxlite housings when I swing by tomorrow on my lunch break.


Will these bulbs and fixtures be too intense for task work lighting? ~30"-40" away from the work surface.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Will these bulbs and fixtures be too intense for task work lighting? ~30"-40" away from the work surface.

Depends on the task. It will put you in the 100fc range on workbench surface.

 

[HellaFab]

Depends on the task. It will put you in the 100fc range on workbench surface.

I mostly do medium duty TIG welding at the bench. If these bulbs are dimmable I will toss a dimmer on my task lighting and have all the power but not need it I suppose.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Bulbs are not dimmable. Could wire each lamp to it's own switch.

 

[Banucopaf]

Cost/Value Comparison:

$1283.40 + $124 = $1407.40 for 14410 lm 110W 50,000 hr. fixture life
90,000 hr L70 = 12008 lm @ 50,000 hrs.| 13209 lm @ 25,000 hrs.
vs
$1020 for 16406 lm 110W 50,000 hr fixture life
≥50,000 hr L70 = 11484 lm @ 50,000 hrs.| 13945 lm @ 25,000 hrs.

If we assume both fixtures LED drivers will fail at 50,000 hrs, I can't justify the 38% cost difference for a 4.6% lumen output difference at 50,000 hrs.

The luminous efficiency is quite high (14410/110=131lm/W)

 

[wstephens1249]

https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/EHB2-13-p/ehb2-110.htm

https://greenlightdepot.com/collect...0w-with-lens-and-w-o-lens?variant=36041819012

https://www.prolighting.com/commerc...igh-bays/linearhighbays/et-hbl1500040wh1.html

Platonic, I have a 30x35x15 that I've been doing research for lighting on. I was planning on using the LED strip lights and bulbs from you "best fixture ever" thread until I came across these last few posts about the linear led high bay lights. Im looking for insight as to what would be my best option.

If I use the strip lights I was planning on using probably 13 strip lights hung by chain to about 12'.

bradleykd mentioned that he had 4 of the 90w linear high bay lights in his 25x30 garage. Would 4 lights be sufficient in my garage if I use the 110w from greenlightdepo? A set up with 4 of these would be a little cheaper than the strip light set up I was going to go with, not to mention 1/4 of the effort to hang and wire.

Also, what is the pros vs cons of a strip light compared to the linear high bay lights.

 

[Platonic Solid]

wstephens1249 - Qty.9 of the GreenTek 3x3 layout spaced 10'x11'8" center to center yields 97fc @ 30" workplane. It would take Qty.28 4x7 layout of 2-Lamp strip lights lowered to 12ft to hit 94fc @ workplane. Your height is best with the 9 linear high bays.

 

[sreeb]

I'm sure this is in here somewhere but I'm looking for somewhat accurate reflectance values for some common shop materials.

1) white steel barn siding used for ceiling
2) naked OSB walls
3) concrete floor

I'm guessing around 80,25,20.

 

[Red Devil]

Any alternative to the LED fixtures found in post number 1? The ones listed in post one from my research can only be found in the US and not Canada. TIA

 

[raco232]

I noticed on the James Industry, High Bay, 2 Foot, 110 Watt led lights, in the pdf file under the “Caution” section at the bottom, it says that a dimmer is required. Is this really true? Do all manufactures require this or is it just James? I like their lights & price, but if I have to put it on a dimmer, i’ll find another manufacture.

Another question, i’m Looking for 110w led high bay lights, is their really any bad things about the different manufactures, other than price? Am I just as well off looking for the lowest price or is there something else I should be on the lookout for?

The website link for light:
https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/ZY-H2-110W-p/zy-h2-110w.htm

The pdf file link: https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/v/vspfiles/Erythin/559620104.pdf

I thank you folks!

 

[Platonic Solid]

Dimmer is not required. I'd chalk it up to bad spec sheet editing. GreenTek is relabeled James fixture for $10 less. To the best of my knowledge, no one has done any side by side comparisons of the various budget linear high bay fixtures. If you actually follow the rebranding chain, odds are they're all made by a small handful of Chinese manufacturers. The next step up in quality will more than double your fixture cost which is not justifiable for most applications.

 

[raco232]

Dimmer is not required. I'd chalk it up to bad spec sheet editing. GreenTek is relabeled James fixture for $10 less. To the best of my knowledge, no one has done any side by side comparisons of the various budget linear high bay fixtures. If you actually follow the rebranding chain, odds are they're all made by a small handful of Chinese manufacturers. The next step up in quality will more than double your fixture cost which is not justifiable for most applications.

Thank you Platonic Solid! I wish this site had a “Thank You” and a “Like” button to push like Greentractortalk.com has. Makes it much more easier to communicate without having to post.

I just got done looking at the GreenTek link and it also states that a dimmer is required. It is located under the Caution section. Are these companies just trying to make an unnecessary sale?

Does anyone know if the GreenTek high bays come with chain and hooks? I can only see it comes with lense.

 

[raco232]

I just got off the phone with GreenTek. Their high bay lights do not come with any mounting hardware to mount/hang the lights. She said they expect you to use existing hardware from the old lights in order to hang them. Since mine will be a new installation, I’ll have to make my own, go with different manufacture or order a chain/bracket kit from elsewhere. I just wanted to make everyone aware that not all lights come with a mounting kit.

Oh yea, I asked if they sell any mounting kits, she said no.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Interesting. So there's the $10 difference. I'd just order them from ledlightingwholesale then. Unless their shipping is over the top.

 

[raco232]

Ledlightingwholsale wants $31.47 to ship to Memphis. I want to order 2 fixtures to try out at this time, but that shipping quote killed that order for me.

Question about color.......I would like the 4000k but I see that it really isn’t that popular. Does anyone see it becoming obsolete? The 5000k is more plentiful, so should I order that? I am just thinking in the future if I need to add onto my lighting or having to replace a fixture, that I won’t have odd lighting colors. I always look in buildings at their fluorescent lights, just so I can notice how many mismatched color of lamps they have. Very unprofessional and it drives me nuts!

 

[Platonic Solid]

4000K will be available forever. Higher lumen output looks more natural at higher CCT.

 

[IMC]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the wealth of information. Really useful!

Ended up buying:
12x MaxLite fixtures from ShineRetroFits for ~$195 shipped
24x GLL 48" LED T8 bulbs from PROLighting for ~$230 shipped
(I don't need anything else, right? The ballast convos had me a bit confused)


Excited to start throwing them up in my garage. Dialux wasn't working on my Mac, but found a similar sized garage that Platonic_Solid did, so I'm going off of that one and hoping for the best!

 

[777mechanic]

im looking for eight high bay lights , 2x4ft led strip light panels that are around a 100watts 4000k-5000k . 10,000 - 11,000 lumen . where can i get the best price on line . getting confused on all the models .

 

[Platonic Solid]

Ended up buying:
12x MaxLite fixtures from ShineRetroFits for ~$195 shipped
24x GLL 48" LED T8 bulbs from PROLighting for ~$230 shipped
(I don't need anything else, right? The ballast convos had me a bit confused)

You're all set. Nothing else to buy.

 

[blair683]

I am about to pull the trigger on 20 of the 4’ Maxlite fixtures. It seems the best deal is from Shineretrofits. They are free shipping and are offering 10% off your first order for new customers. Anyone else order from them? How was the delivery time? I plan to order the fixtures, hang, and wire them. Then order the bulbs. This will give me time to get the extra cash for the bulbs.

My new shop is 30’ wide by 27’ deep with 12’ ceiling. I plan to have 4 rows of 5 fixtures. Will this be enough light? The primary use for this building is to work on my vehicles and other hobby related stuff.

 

[biggziff]

I just mounted 9 of my 12 LumeGen LED panels as suggested by PlatonicSolid. New shop has 13' ceilings and I wanted at or over 100fc at 36". All I can say is wow...the amount and quality of the light from these is fantastic. I'm so glad I didn't go with the 4' units.
Thanks PS for the help!

 

[blair683]

What size are your lights and where did you order them from?

 

[biggziff]

What size are your lights and where did you order them from?

https://www.lightup.com/2ft-led-lin...ZPPrAvGPl76vuZGsit2j8wmNAkuS_06MaAiGQEALw_wcB

 

[blair683]

At $70 a fixture that is a little out of my price range. I’ll have to stick to the 4’ t8 fixtures.

 

[biggziff]

At $70 a fixture that is a little out of my price range. I’ll have to stick to the 4’ t8 fixtures.

I thought so as well. I ended up spending only a little more than what I'd need for the T8 lights. I got a 5 year warranty and had much fewer lights to hang.

 

[biggziff]

At $70 a fixture that is a little out of my price range. I’ll have to stick to the 4’ t8 fixtures.

You're going to spend $650-ish plus shipping on the lights and bulbs you mentioned. You'll likely need 12 of what I used to get similar or better fc output. There are 10% coupons for these if you look and shipping is free. That's around $750 all done.

 

[wsmithduramax]

https://www.lightup.com/2ft-led-lin...ZPPrAvGPl76vuZGsit2j8wmNAkuS_06MaAiGQEALw_wcB

I can’t tell from the pic but were you able to mount those directly to th ceiling or did you have to hang them from chains?

 

[blair683]

You're going to spend $650-ish plus shipping on the lights and bulbs you mentioned. You'll likely need 12 of what I used to get similar or better fc output. There are 10% coupons for these if you look and shipping is free. That's around $750 all done.

I also like the idea of swapping out a 7 dollar bulb when they go bad. I’ll have to stick with the 4’ fixtures.