The Best Light Fixture Ever!

[Shdwfx]

I’m tempted by the Barrina 8’ fixtures mentioned above. The price is great, but is see in the amazon Reviews there are complaints about them “burning out” over time. Anyone have any firsthand experience with that? For my shop I probably need 25 fixtures. That’s pretty affordable, unless they start randomly failing after a few months of usage, then it’s a giant hassle

I've had the Barrina lights for about a year now and very happy with them. I have a roughly 900 sq ft 3-car garage with a 14ft ceiling. Ended up installing 11 of the 4 ft-5000k-5k lumens whereas previously had 6 standard light fixtures with 2-100W bulbs in each. Some of the Amazon reviews said their LEDs burned out relatively quickly but I haven't had that issue. Also, others mentioned that the lights interfered with their garage door opener signal but I haven't had a problem my 2 Liftmaster garage door openers with MyQ. So overall very pleased with these as they were relatively easy to install and for only about $120, they were low-risk. It's also easy to add more by linking them together if you need even more light (before-after shot below).

 

[Tbender78]

I went with 15 of these. https://www.primelights.com/collect...-highbay-fixture-88-watt-clear-pl-4srhbld88fm
They're not installed yet but hopefully soon!

I'm thinking of going with the same lights. Have you installed them yet? Are you happy with them? Any installed pics to share?

 

[ojh]

The LED units you bought appear to have a finned black heat sink on their topside. By covering that up with the green shade, the airflow would be cut off. And the LED units overheat and burnout. You mentioned they get very hot..... yup..... heat is the enemy of most electronics.

Heat is an enemy, no question. I took heat readings with temp gun and there was a 40deg difference with or without the shade, I took the fixtures back apart and removed the shades. I had purchased 6 fixtures, installed 4 of them with the warehouse shades, when the fixtures started failing I replaced them with a new fixture and removed the shades from the ones that were still working. Of the 6 lights I purchased the only one still working is one that had a shade and I removed it, the 2 fixtures that never had a shade have burned out as well. The fixtures are defective and are no longer offered. I have purchased 4 of the newer design and there are 3 of them working. I'm still trying to figure out how to get restitution.

 

[twouvakind]

LED Wholesale gave me free shipping on a dozen MaxLites (now $21.25 ea.). Had to call to get it and saved over $33.

 

[Chillydog]

Did you have a good experience with them? I'm considering a spending a significant amount with them, but hard to get a feel for them, not many reviews that I found.

Is this the place you used? https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/

 

[twouvakind]

Sure is, call them. Guy was helpful and did ask if I needed tubes, I declined as I have them already (GreenTek's)

 

[iSpark]

I'm thinking of going with the same lights. Have you installed them yet? Are you happy with them? Any installed pics to share?

Hi Tbender78
Sorry for the delay, not sure why I didn't get a notice.
Yep, installed 12 in the main part of the shop. 10' walls with a vaulted ceiling up to 17'
They light up the place that's for sure!
I like them, a little pricey. I got the clear tube, not sure how the frosted would have looked.

 

[laser3kw]

I like the ceiling style and the light layout ^^^^^^

 

[Disney]

While they do seem to be putting out a lot of light,I can't stomach the thought of over $2,000 for LEDs in my shop. I think I have about $300 ******* now. I do want more, but i'll probably stay with the lower upfront cost units for now.

 

[Entropy]

PrimeLights Wildcat 165 x6. Plenty of light, easy to install. Dropped them down from boxes about 5” IIRC. Set up on three separate feeds to individual switches which allow sectioned lighting. Quick shipping from Austin, TX and very helpful on the phone. I also bought some LED exterior wall packs for illumination at both vertical door.

 

[IBEME]

Has anyone seen this review of garage lights? He compared several that were available on Amazon and came up with the following:

Best Hardwired LED Shop Light: Hykolity SL4FT40W5K​

Best Plug-In LED Shop Light: Hyperikon HyperFixture 4C-50S​

The Best LED Shop Lights For Your Garage 2024

I purchased several of the most popular LED garage lights on Amazon. Then I tested them all to find the best LED shop lights. Click to see which LED lights won!

garagetransformed.com

 

[cybrdyke]

Has anyone seen this review of garage lights? He compared several that were available on Amazon and came up with the following:

Best Hardwired LED Shop Light: Hykolity SL4FT40W5K​

Best Plug-In LED Shop Light: Hyperikon HyperFixture 4C-50S​

The Best LED Shop Lights For Your Garage 2024

I purchased several of the most popular LED garage lights on Amazon. Then I tested them all to find the best LED shop lights. Click to see which LED lights won!

garagetransformed.com

Obviously written by someone that has no concept of what lighting is or how it works. The premise is flawed...."best of the most popular on Amazon". That's like reviewing the cheapest diet cola from Sam's Club vs. the cheapest diet cola from Costco.
They're both horrible. All of the products in the article are garbage. Heck, Hyperikon even went out of business because their stuff was so bad.
There's so much misinformation in the article that it's better to just skip it.
CD

 

[LA1]

i just bought an HFT LED fluorescent looking tube and fixture. I bought it for my computer area / small engine repair area. Very mobile and i can hang it from chains or hooks. I also found a really good use too since it's virtually unbreakable

 

[RonRock]

What is an acceptable way to couple two 4' fixtures together to make them 8'? knockouts on both ends that align, my first thought was a short ****** with locknuts on both sides. But there are other options that are new to me that I've seen plastic snap in fittings. Is a ****** a good way to go?

 

[Toomanytools?]

What is an acceptable way to couple two 4' fixtures together to make them 8'? knockouts on both ends that align, my first thought was a short ****** with locknuts on both sides. But there are other options that are new to me that I've seen plastic snap in fittings. Is a ****** a good way to go?

Yes a ****** is always a good way to go.

 

[Terra Nova]

This thread has been a HUGE help. Thanks to all who have contributed and in particular the OP.

Through some of the links I have found these TechBrite brand fixtures locally and think I'll be going with them - 5,200 Lumen, 5000K T8 LED strips

https://www.prolighting.com/t442ssubcxx00p0-18w5k.html

I'm stuck a bit on quantity though. They're going in a 22x24 garage with 10 foot ceilings. Walls and ceiling will be painted drywall (white ceiling, light grey walls). Do typical garage type activities out there with some metal fabrication, bit of wood work, and wrenching.

Per the Lithonia Lighting the calculator the OP linked recommends 12 5000 Lumen fixtures if I'm understanding it correctly.





Per the Lumen calculator on the Prolighting website (supplier of the fixtures I'm looking at). They are recommending a total of 52,000 Lumens for 100 fc. 12 of theses fixtures would give me 62,400 Lumens. Will that be too much? What would be a good layout to do 10 fixtures in that same space? The garage door is on the 24' wall.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[cybrdyke]

This thread has been a HUGE help. Thanks to all who have contributed and in particular the OP.

Through some of the links I have found these TechBrite brand fixtures locally and think I'll be going with them - 5,200 Lumen, 5000K T8 LED strips

https://www.prolighting.com/t442ssubcxx00p0-18w5k.html

I'm stuck a bit on quantity though. They're going in a 22x24 garage with 10 foot ceilings. Walls and ceiling will be painted drywall (white ceiling, light grey walls). Do typical garage type activities out there with some metal fabrication, bit of wood work, and wrenching.

Per the Lithonia Lighting the calculator the OP linked recommends 12 5000 Lumen fixtures if I'm understanding it correctly.
Whenever you try to use a "similar" fixture in the Lithonia calculator instead of the exact fixture you want to use, there will be mistakes. The Techbrite fixture uses LED tubes by Keystone that have a beam angle of 240 degrees. This is a pretty wide distribution which will be great for a 10' ceiling. The Lithonia strip has a beam angle of about 120 degrees (guesstimate because Lithonia doesn't provide this basic information), which is not as ideal.

Per the Lumen calculator on the Prolighting website (supplier of the fixtures I'm looking at). They are recommending a total of 52,000 Lumens for 100 fc. This is an indication that the internet seller doesn't understand lighting. Total lumens is not a figure that means anything in lighting photometrics. Do they think you could use ONE 52,000 lumen fixture and that would be OK? You can safely disregard any information provided by this supplier as useless. 12 of theses fixtures would give me 62,400 Lumens. Will that be too much? What would be a good layout to do 10 fixtures in that same space? The garage door is on the 24' wall.

Thanks for any suggestions!

So, the Lithonia fixture puts more light straight down than the Techbrite. The floor will be brighter with this fixture. The Techbrite spreads the light out better, uses reflectance off of vertical surfaces and will reduce shadows and contrast. The
Techbrite will look better overall.
12 of them is probably overkill, 10 would be good. 2 columns of 5.
Good luck,
CD

 

[Terra Nova]

So, the Lithonia fixture puts more light straight down than the Techbrite. The floor will be brighter with this fixture. The Techbrite spreads the light out better, uses reflectance off of vertical surfaces and will reduce shadows and contrast. The
Techbrite will look better overall.
12 of them is probably overkill, 10 would be good. 2 columns of 5.
Good luck,
CD

Thank you for the feedback! Extremely helpful. Went ahead and pulled the trigger on 10 of the Techbrite lights. Local pickup is nice and bonus that they are made in the USA.

I'll play around with the layout some, want to have the lights split between two switches. One for general lighting and when the garage door is open. The second switch would be when the garage door is closed and need additional light. Thinking either two rows of 5 like you mentioned or three rows in a 3-4-3 orientation.

 

[OrneryDuck]

So, the Lithonia fixture puts more light straight down than the Techbrite. The floor will be brighter with this fixture. The Techbrite spreads the light out better, uses reflectance off of vertical surfaces and will reduce shadows and contrast. The
Techbrite will look better overall.
12 of them is probably overkill, 10 would be good. 2 columns of 5.
Good luck,
CD

I may piggy-back off this information as I'm currently working on improving lighting in my modest two-car. The wide light spread sounds ideal to to my 9.5" ceilings, with an approx. 22x20 dimensions. Thinking two columns of 4 fixtures centered over the vehicles. Alternatively three columns of two fixtures, with a 4' space between fixtures.

The original post was from 2018/2019 regarding the maxlite and strait fixtures. Given this thread has gone 60+ pages, have there been any new developments on these specific fixtures or opinions on alternatives? The Techbrites sounds promising for their wide angle, which seems rare on LED fixtures.

 

[Jesse69]

Hi Tbender78
Sorry for the delay, not sure why I didn't get a notice.
Yep, installed 12 in the main part of the shop. 10' walls with a vaulted ceiling up to 17'
They light up the place that's for sure!
I like them, a little pricey. I got the clear tube, not sure how the frosted would have looked.

So with your light installed for some time now how do you like them? Would you change them out for something different lay out quantity . My shop is 42x96 17‘ high ceilings i still looking into lights, i want i bright. Thanks jesse

 

[Toyo72]

Currently at the point where I need to order lighting for my workshop garage build. It is an insulated (white backing) steel building, need lighting for the space that is 35’ wide, 40’ deep, with 14’ walls and 4:12 roof that is 20’ at the peak. It has two 10x10 insulated white garage doors on the 35’ front wall and they follow the roof so no room to put fixtures above them. I can hang the lights anywhere from 15’ down to 12’ so I have flexibility there. Thinking that 12’ would be better than 15’.
Any thoughts on whether integrated LED fixtures would be better than 4’ led-ready 4 or 6-bulb T8 fixtures? Trying to decide which way to go, certainly the T8s would be nice to be able to replace if a bulb goes kaput. Space is mainly used for auto work, also some fabrication on the work benches.

 

[Richsoucie]

Anybody have any experience with these. https://www.gecurrent.com/indoor-lighting/suspended/lumination-lis

About to order 10 for my garage

 

[iSpark]

So with your light installed for some time now how do you like them? Would you change them out for something different lay out quantity . My shop is 42x96 17‘ high ceilings i still looking into lights, i want i bright. Thanks jesse

Hi
I like them, I would still use these same lights if doing it again.
Yeah, it's bright enough to work in, even on the smaller "benchtop" things.
However, If I were to do it again, I would add a few more lights, maybe 5 per row, instead of the 4. I too also like it very bright.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

I installed "Lux."

It may not be a great one, but what it shows aligns with what PS calculated.

There are half dozen light measuring apps named LUX... I just installed Lux Light Meter Pro, by Doggo Apps. It's free but it seems decent so far

 

[Terra Nova]

Got the 10 techbrite lights installed. Describing it as stupid bright barely scratches the surface of them in a 2 car garage . Very happy with the outcome, can’t wait to see once the drywall is up and painted.

Very little in the way of shadows and the light is not one bit harsh. Don’t know that I could be any happier with the setup. Looking forward to some winter time projects (once insulation, drywall and heat go in of course).

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

Got the 10 techbrite lights installed. Describing it as stupid bright barely scratches the surface of them in a 2 car garage . Very happy with the outcome, can’t wait to see once the drywall is up and painted.

Very little in the way of shadows and the light is not one bit harsh. Don’t know that I could be any happier with the setup. Looking forward to some winter time projects (once insulation, drywall and heat go in of course).

Nice! Can you share details about these lights? And garage size? (mine is 21' wide and 26' deep, 8' ceiling)

 

[Terra Nova]

Nice! Can you share details about these lights? And garage size? (mine is 21' wide and 26' deep, 8' ceiling)

These are the lights I ended up with. Found them locally so that made the decision pretty easy.

Garage is 22x24 with 9'-6" ceilings. According to cybrdyke the bulbs used have a wider spread of light and are a good choice for our lower ceiling heights. After seeing them installed I agree with his opinion on that one.

https://www.prolighting.com/t442ssubcxx00p0-18w5k.html

 

[RonRock]

Any change in the 4' LED tubes recently? I have purchased the Maxlite fixtures mentioned in the first page.

LSS2XT8USE4803

www.maxlite.com

Now it is finally time to order my tubes. I have done some research and found a couple choices. Not sure which is best.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/fil/products/211953#detail-tabs $178.67 Case of 25

https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/L48T8-8-17P-G7R-DW-p/l48t8-8-17p-g7r-dw.htm $138.25 Case of 25. I "think" I can get free shipping with a phone call. Not certain on that.

The ones from 1000bulbs have a higher Lumin number @2200 as compaired to the LEDlighting @2400 lumins. Also 40.00 higher priced, not much if the higher lumin number matters, but no sense in spending more than needed.

Are either of these choices good, better, best? Or is there a better deal out there?

Fixture has power on single end. No ballast. 120v

 

[cybrdyke]

Both those brands **** and all the other brands on those two websites do, too. Go to prolighting.com . They carry GE, Keystone, RAB, and more which are actual manufacturers.
Good luck.
CD

 

[Toyo72]

I bought 4' Greentek LEDs from greenlightdepot. 18w bulbs, approx 2520 lumens in a T8 fixture w/o ballast. Can be bought individually (not a choice with 1000bulbs) or boxes of 30.

 

[RonRock]

I bought 4' Greentek LEDs from greenlightdepot. 18w bulbs, approx 2520 lumens in a T8 fixture w/o ballast. Can be bought individually (not a choice with 1000bulbs) or boxes of 30.

Dang I was ready to buy. They are sold out. I messaged them to see if they have any idea when will be back in stock.

I apreciate the reply cybrdyke and checked out the prolighting.com. I do apreciate better quality, but they are much higher priced than the others. I don't know the quality difference, I may regret going cheaper. Seems like I have read good things about Greentek though. We'll see when they are available. Unless someone has another source.

 

[Toyo72]

I've had great service from Greentek (GreenlightDepot). Talked to the rep there as I needed some more and the plastic bulbs are being replaced with glass bulbs, at a slightly lower price.

 

[RonRock]

I received a case of the Greentek tubes. I opted for glass tubes, glass just "seems" better. Not sure if that is correct or not. But one of the tubes the glass is cracked. I can see the crack coming out from under the sticker. Most likely was part of the assembly and not from shipping. I haven't taken time to contact them yet, too many other irons in the fire. But so far I am very happy with the light they provide. I need to install more of the fixtures and wire them up.

 

[cybrdyke]

I received a case of the Greentek tubes. I opted for glass tubes, glass just "seems" better. Not sure if that is correct or not. But one of the tubes the glass is cracked. I can see the crack coming out from under the sticker. Most likely was part of the assembly and not from shipping. I haven't taken time to contact them yet, too many other irons in the fire. But so far I am very happy with the light they provide. I need to install more of the fixtures and wire them up.

It will probably still work. If the crack is small enough so that the tube doesn't fall apart, then you should be OK.
CD

 

[Toyo72]

Call or email them, they will either refund you for the broken tube, or will send out a new one. I had the same issue with the glass ones. They were packed well, and the package looked fine from the outside, but the glass tubes are fragile for shipping.

 

[Lofty]

I've had the Barrina lights for about a year now and very happy with them. I have a roughly 900 sq ft 3-car garage with a 14ft ceiling. Ended up installing 11 of the 4 ft-5000k-5k lumens whereas previously had 6 standard light fixtures with 2-100W bulbs in each. Some of the Amazon reviews said their LEDs burned out relatively quickly but I haven't had that issue. Also, others mentioned that the lights interfered with their garage door opener signal but I haven't had a problem my 2 Liftmaster garage door openers with MyQ. So overall very pleased with these as they were relatively easy to install and for only about $120, they were low-risk. It's also easy to add more by linking them together if you need even more light (before-after shot below).

Wait another year, they're all going to burn out. It's really depressing.

 

[hammer22]

Hello all. Is platonic still around? Haven’t seen him post in awhile, saw others ask. Although admittedly I’ve been jumping around in this thread some and didn’t see if he showed back up?

 

[rd65]

I have these in my shop, are they dimmable?

Green Light Depot 4ft 18W VersaT8 LED Tube - Ballast Compatible or Bypass - (UL)​

MaxLite LSS2XT8USE4803

 

[cybrdyke]

I have these in my shop, are they dimmable?

Green Light Depot 4ft 18W VersaT8 LED Tube - Ballast Compatible or Bypass - (UL)​

MaxLite LSS2XT8USE4803

No.

 

[beelsr]

Hello all. Is platonic still around? Haven’t seen him post in awhile, saw others ask. Although admittedly I’ve been jumping around in this thread some and didn’t see if he showed back up?

if you click on his username, it takes you to his profile page where it says: Last seen Apr 24, 2022