Looking at changing fluorescents to Led's......

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just a heads up for any body wanting led lights, lidl are doing 12w led philips circular fittings . they are about 12 ins in diameter so might be handy above benches etc. £11.99 each.
there seems to be a few different designs offered some thinner than others
 
Hello, I've come late to this conversation, but by profession I'm a lighting design engineer. I design lighting for universities, schools, hospitals and other commercial projects. Mostly what I work with is LED lighting these days.

Before you change your lights you should look at what you already have and see if you can improve it.
If you have really old fittings with BIG fat fluorescent tubes, with fittings that probably hum or buzz, then quite frankly there is 1 course of action - change to LED now. The fat lamps are going obsolete and the lamps probably aren't giving much light anyway compared to what they once did.

If you have fluorescent fittings with middle-sized tubes; probably 36w, 58w or 70w (4ft, 5ft or 6ft long respectively) These may have small, drum shaped starter switches. If they do, then the fittings are old and inefficient. There is also a risk of "stroboscopic effect" on machinery. - This is where the light flashes at a rate that can make moving parts in machines appear as if they're not moving. This is not good. So, again; change the fittings.

If you have the same tubes as above but they don't have starter switches you will possibly find you can improve light level by doing one of 2 of these:
1 - Paint the ceiling, walls etc of the workshop, white. This helps reflect the light back onto your work and gives you more light.
2 - Change the tubes, clean diffusers on the fittings and clean the fittings generally.
You may not believe this, but it's a fact that ALL lighting loses brightness over age.
After 20,000 hours fluorescent lamps will be only giving out about 70% of the light they originally put out.

Most LED lights, depending on the design of the electronic circuits, may be down to 70% after 50,000 hours. So, again, LED lighting isn't forever. If you buy cheap fittings they will depreciate faster than better built fittings.

LED tubes - these are never great for workshops. LED lamps may fit in the same length fittings as fluorescent lamps, but won't give the light that the fluorescent lamps did: AND we NEED light!
Don't chance your arm with LED tubes that need you to take out the ballasts. Fluorescent lamp holders are designed to take spikes of high voltage to start them and then low voltage applied to the tube to keep it going. They are not designed to take 230v AC constantly. If you wish to take the risk, good luck to you.

LED lighting - there are cheap fittings. There are fittings that can be 3-4 times the price.
You get what you pay for. The cheaper fittings will have fewer LEDs. The circuits will be designed to run the current through the LEDs faster and they will come to drop in output faster. But I'm not saying "don't buy them".
If you're a "weekend warrior" and you're going to take years to use them 20-30,000 hours, then they could be exactly what you're looking for.
If you're a professional, working all week in the shop, you may want something with a longer life' especially as with LEDs, you'll need to change the fitting, not simply the lamps - so it will be hassle.

"High power LEDs; ** Watts" - don't fall for this. Watts isn't a measure of light. What you want to know is the "Lumens". Compare Lumens, not watts.

Also, don't be fooled by being shown dazzling white, cold, blue light and think it's brighter than yellower light. Colour isn't bright, but it may be harsh on the sight. Also, be aware of glare. Light that is bright and distracting as you work could be dangerous too. If you want to avoid glare there are fittings that can do this.

And a final point - when you're 80 you see less than 50% of the light you would have seen as a 30 year old. Your eyes get dimmer and your sight becomes more yellowed. Be aware that just because the light in the shop was good enough for you 25 years ago, it mat not be enough now.

I hope some of this may help someone.
Richard
 
Inspector":3mjfeqky said:
Richard what workshop light levels do you recommend?

Pete
For the area where you're doing detailed work you should have at least 500 Lux. Really 750 or 1000 lux would be better.
The truth though is nobody here will have a light meter.

I was in a church a few weeks ago and the guy there got out his cheap light meter and compared readings to mine. His was 50% out. So, apps and cheap meters will only be good for measuring relative levels between 2 places.

So the best test of seeing you have a good level is to take a bible to the workbench and see if you can read it for any length of time.

You don't need 700 Lux everywhere. Just the dangerous parts. Once you've lit the band saw and lathe to 500 even the corners of the workshop will have enough light to see to find things and sort the wood out.
 
phil.p":1zbslnh2 said:
I've just bought one of these for outside and I'm very tempted to get a couple more for the 'shop.
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel009 ... dp/LA07315
IP65 so dustproof, and neat enough.
Farnell sell some good gear. At 4000 lumens from 50w this isn't the most efficient of fittings.
IP65 is good as it'll keep the dust out and you can wash it over with a hose, if you ever felt tempted.
The face of the fitting is small and there's a lot of light coming out from that. Don't expect to be happy working with that in the corner of your eye as you're feeding a table saw or router.

Yet, when all is said and done, its £10!
It won't last forever, but for £10, it's worth a go. :D
 
As already posted I have 5 of these in useful places all individually switched and a couple fitted on the end of salvaged flexi arms from old standing lamps. Each light is IP65 rated, only 8w and from memory were stated around 850 lumens. I paid less than a fiver per lamp, a couple from Lidl and the others from Yorkshire Trading. I saw similar 10w lights yesterday in Aldi. at less than £5 each
Pics are of the lamp over one of my lathes and another ( on a flexi arm ) fixed to my pillar drill.

Cheap as chips to buy and run, what's not to like?
 

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Hi Lons, you asked, "what's not to like?"

Looking at your 2nd and 3rd pictures you can see thr intense source is casting shadows. This might be exaggerated by the camera, but your light is illuminating the other side of the lathe beautifully. The side you're standing on is in shadow.
You also need to be careful about glare distracting you from your work.
But if it suits you, good luck with it.
 
RickG":uhvgs198 said:
Hi Lons, you asked, "what's not to like?"

Looking at your 2nd and 3rd pictures you can see thr intense source is casting shadows. This might be exaggerated by the camera, but your light is illuminating the other side of the lathe beautifully. The side you're standing on is in shadow.
You also need to be careful about glare distracting you from your work.
But if it suits you, good luck with it.

Hi Rick
The camera does indeed give a false impression. pics were taken on my 'phone and the intense light from the floodlights affect the overall photos. I didn't have all the shop lights on at the time either.
Lights over the lathes are almost directly above not behind and the one on the drill press is on a flexi arm that I can pull lower so no shadows there either.

My workshop is very well lit via fluorescent tubes, enough to operate all the machines without additional lights so I'm not in shadow at any time however If I'm turning, cutting or drilling I prefer as much light on the work piece as possible so use the separately switched floods as required. Works extremely well for me, enough so that after a trial fit of the first light I bought another 5 and I think that after more than 6 months of use they're pretty much tried and tested for me now.

I don't find them at all distracting, quite the opposite and I although I use reading glasses for close work my normal vision is 20/20. We're all different though and I can see how others might not like my set up so fair comment on your part.

cheers
Bob
 
Sounds good Bob.
Pleased to hear it's working well.
At that price the floods are good value. They seem to give about 100 Lumens per Watt too, which is about what you should get from LED these days.

Cheers
Richard
 
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