Off topic shop lighting

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Off topic shop lighting
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 01:02 am:

I did not want to highjack the other thread.
But I need to learn about some options for lighting for my shop I built a couple years ago.
I opted for some recessed can lights the electricain had that were cheap priced.I also dislike hummy,buzzy flourecent lights and I am also afraid they could cause me to sezuire again since it was never determined for sure what caused them after my wreck.What I didnt know till recently,when my eyes started failing me,that these lights do not do a good job.
I cant see closeup work.
I have 2 outlets in the ceiling for garage door openers.I had considered hanging something from the ceiling with chains and haveing a pull switch on them.But I was concerned about amp draw.
I saw LED lights mentioned.Tell me more about them.Are they exspensive?
Do they work?Do they blind you if you look into them?Say,you are laying under a car and you roll out and WHAM! Blinded?here is a photo that shows 3 of the lights I have.I have every kind of bulb in there you can imagine tryin to find something to light up the place.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Keith Townsend ; ^ ) Gresham, Orygun on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 01:24 am:

Mack-
I wired my shop with outlets all over the ceiling. That way I could screw any wattage of incandescent bulb into one of those plug-in sockets and put a light anywhere. You could hang yours by a short extension cord if you wanted them lower and closer to your work.

I also have some fluorescent tubes I can move anywhere I want to as well. All the light outlets are wired together, so they are all on or all off, but only where I have them plugged in.

: ^ )

Keith


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Bergmann Sydney - Australia on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 01:47 am:

Mack I've got moveable Fluoro Tubes all over my garage and the noisey ones I just toss. If I had to do it again (read - what I am going to do next)I would use a mixture of CFL's and Fluoro Tubes . Heres a link - wrong country - but good info http://www.todae.com.au/LED-Lighting/Compact-Fluorescent-Light-CFL-Globes. LED's are pricey and directional. In your case I suggest white paint on the ceiling as a first step. CFL's are the way to go. imho Tom


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Shawn Hayward on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 08:31 am:

Mack
LED on the right (5k)
T8 electronic ballast on the left (daylight)
LED are much more energy efficient, will start in cold weather , have much longer life


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 10:13 am:

When I built my house and shop in '89 I used only fluorescent bulbs everywhere including using CFL bulbs in my victorian fixtures which were built new to accept CFL bulbs by St. Louis Antique lighting. Now they make them regularly but at that time it took some coaxing ($$$) to convince them. In my work shop areas I used T12 fixtures since the power draw was about 1/3 that of incandescent (standard filament type) bulbs. It paid off big time through the years. 2 years ago I decided it was time to look again at efficiency and decided that T8 would be the way to go since T8 tubes fit perfectly in old T12 fixtures so no need to change fixtures just ballasts and tubes. My plan was to change them out as the T12 tubes failed. After doing the arithmetic and computing the power savings I decided it was in fact cheaper in 2 years to simply toss the existing T12 bulbs immediately and replace everything with T8. LED's were coming along great but they were not the dream light and are somewhat oversold. No question they will replace all Fluorescent some day. LED's are very efficient but are they more economical and are they more efficient than T8? Most of the efficiency results in a lower power cost but most of that savings is taken from you when you buy them. It is just like prepaying your power bill. I found this video on Utube and the guy has it correct except for one small detail - he bought the wrong ballast. Notice in the video how black the end of the old T12 bulb is. T8 or T12 bulb life is affected a bunch by the number of times you turn the bulb on and off. If you turn the bulbs on/off a lot then the cathodes begin to sputter and the ends turn black and the bulbs don't last anywhere near as long as if you left them burning continuous. That of course makes no sense power wise. The solution is something not mentioned in the video. That is an electronic ballast with "program start". If the bulb is carefully lit by a smart ballast with program start then the start up sputtering is greatly reduced and you get very long tube life - up to 3 times longer. My tubes were swapped to T8 about 2 years ago - use the shop all the time and have yet to replace any tube anywhere and none of them have turned black on the ends. Remember that T8 light fixture comparison to LED may not include the power supply efficiency of the LED power source and that has a big effect on it all. Viewing angle is a big problem for LED as is repeatable light output from device to device. I think if going LED then you would be better off buying a complete LED fixture that in fact uses an LED layout that offers best light output for the intended fixture purpose. LED style replacement devices that plug or screw into standard bulb sockets do not help LED lights work very well because LED lighting is so very pointed with a vary narrow viewing angle without diffusing lens' and that gets into another whole discussion.

Program start ballasts are very expensive if you buy them at a lighting fixture place but many cartons of them have sold on Ebay but you have to learn the part numbers of the ones that work for you. I bought several cases of program start ballasts on ebay for cheap mainly because the seller had no clue what they were and I did. Electric supply houses had them at that time for over $50 each. I'm a T guy so you gotta know I stole them. Lots of choices out there. The main thing is to factor in fixture and bulb cost over the life of the fixture and then look at the power costs over that same time. The Lumens/watt number tells you how much light you are getting for your buck from COMED. When I did my comparison the best LED's were doing about 60 lumens/watt while best T8's were doing 100 lumens/watt and they gave the best overall light too due to wide area viewing angle without any fancy diffusing lens. I have about 15 fixtures in my shop and each of them has 2 tubes.

Watch this video but also remember it was made about a year ago but still very relevant.

T12T8LED discussion

Using only today's power bill in Northern IL I can give you a simple number to use. ONE watt of power will cost you about $1 per year total if the power draw is continuous. Thus a 20 watt night light that burns constantly will cost you $20 total for the year. Burn it 12 hrs out of 24 and it will cost you $10 total for the year. Thus rough computational estimate is base on $0.11 per KWH. You can find the cost/KWH on your power bill and multiply up or down to increase or decrease the $1/year number accordingly.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 11:24 am:

Edison here charges up to 35 cents a kwh if you get into their high residential tier.

Another whole spectrum in lighting, so to speak, is color. White is harsh. Yellow is warm and comfortable. Think of those danged HID lights on newer cars.

Edison is supposed to be sending me some LED bulbs to evaluate, and keep after I report on them. Even at .35/kwh, I won't live long enough to save the money they supposedly cost.

You guys should also look at skylights. My neighbor has one on each apex of his 3 unit house, and they give good, free light all day.

rdr


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Baker on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 02:02 pm:

I Have the T8 8ft units very inexpensive and excellent light for old guys, have had no problems, the only problem is with the steel walls and the T8s it will affect your FM radio went to a outside antenna to correct that problem.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Hughes, Raymond, NE on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 02:36 pm:

Mack,

Looks like most of your questions have been answered except one. No there is no problem with them blinding you if you look into them. They are "Light Emitting Diodes" not "Laser Diodes". It is the laser beams that you have to watch out for.


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