Swapped out to LEDs in the shop

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
12/13/2018 at 00:50 • Filed to: None

A few of my old t12 fixtures were starting to get flickery, so rather than screw around with ballasts, I figured it was time to take the plunge into LED lighting. Bought a bunch of fixtures from amazon and put them up tonight.

HOLY CRAP! What a difference! It’s like daylight in there. Going in to it dark and flicking on the switch actually hurts for a second. But the biggest difference... silence. I had no idea how loud 10 2xT12 fixtures had been until it was gone.

Right now it’s sitting at around 35000 lumens in the space , and I’m going to add at least 3 more smaller 2200 lumen elements on the ceiling to fill in a few areas in the front of the garage that never got great lighting. Going to try to figure out how to put at least a strip or two on the floor near the lift so I don’t have to mess with drop lights any more as well.

DISCUSSION (16)

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 00:53

I forgot you got a 1.8. Also, do you have a helmet for e ach bike? And if so, is that normal?

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion
12/13/2018 at 00:59

You have to match the helmet to the bike right?!?

No, I really like the Bell RS-1, it fits me, is quiet, affordable, and pretty light. When I heard they were getting discontinued, I found a sale and bought a bunch. O ne of the ones up there is an old RS-1 and should probably get tossed, another I picked up just because it came with a auto darkening lens for cheap, the next two are still unused RS-1s, and the final one is a Auto racing helmet.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 01:56

good improvement

JMKarstetter > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 04:47

Those look great! Which ones did you end up getting?

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 07:46

It’s amazing how much light the newer fixtures put out. I made the swap a few years ago and I’m hooked. Instant on in the cold too. I did my moms garage last Christmas too. Needless to say, the led fixtures are making the move to the new house as well. Costco has been running a sale on some dual bulb 4’ shop lights. They end up being $20 a fixture. And they put out a ton of light. My Wife just picked me up another 10 fixtures last night. Our new house has a huge unfinished basement with about 10 single bulb fixtures. So the shop lights should make a marked improvement.

Welcome to the club. Now get some more lights. The best part about those amazon ones is how light they are, you can mount them nearly anywhere.

Lokiparts > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 08:09

That’s awesome. I am a big fan of LED lights. They have gotten so good in the last couple of years that I have literally replaced every incandescent bulb in my house with LEDs... including the one in my refrigerator.

Urambo Tauro > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 10:03

That is one MASSIVE upgrade! Stunning improvement.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 10:21

This is a project I need to do in my garage sometime. I’ve got a double 8 foot florescent fixture that has seen better days. Someday after I’m done with the master bathroom, living/dining room area, kitchen and laundry room I can spend some time and money in the garage.

Decay buys too many beaters > JMKarstetter
12/13/2018 at 10:48

I ended up going with the Barrina brand from Amazon, pretty cheap and well reviewed. Right now it’s 4x 45W elements and 6x 20W elements all at 6500K color temp. Planning to add a couple more of the 20W elements in dark corners

Decay buys too many beaters > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
12/13/2018 at 10:51

Yeah! I noticed that. T he mounting on the little ones, they didn’t even have drywall anchors. I was planning to go out and pick up a few packs just to be sure everything is securely mounted, but them I actually lifted one of the lights and realized they basically weigh nothing.

Decay buys too many beaters > Lokiparts
12/13/2018 at 10:55

Agree! was never really a huge fan of all the CFL home incandescent replacements due to color temp differences, flash, and a few other things. But swapped all the internal lights over to LED a few years back (Oregon has an awesome program that made LEDs basically the same price s CFLs even a few years ago) and it made me a believer. Only reason I wai t ed so long in the shop was laziness, didn’t want to bother with mounting a bunch of new fixtures.

Lokiparts > Decay buys too many beaters
12/13/2018 at 13:24

Yeah I know how that goes. In my garage I still have the original single bulb holder in the ceiling with a couple bulb splitters and three regular LED bulbs. One of these days I am going to upgrade it to some proper led shop light style fixtures like yours. But u nfortunately my garage is small enough that this actually works rather well for now .

Kinja'd!!!

But hey, this goofy setup still uses less power than the 60w incandescent it replaced.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Decay buys too many beaters
12/14/2018 at 17:15

Can you shoot me pics of your Miata with Antlers to add to my Autotrader article I am working on? You can email them to me jacob . auernheimer at gmail

Decay buys too many beaters > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars
12/14/2018 at 17:34

Sure thing! I’ll shoot out a couple of the one s I have

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Decay buys too many beaters
12/14/2018 at 17:42

Is that Miata for autocrossing? I want to get the description right/explain the condition haha

Decay buys too many beaters > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars
12/14/2018 at 17:59

It’s done a few auto crosses and track days, but really now it’s just a fun silly street car. Makes people smile/ laugh because it’s so far out there . With the condition I got it in, it was never going to be “nice” so I decided to go hard the other direction.