Shop Lighting

[Ben]

So when I had my shop wired, I wanted some, "light enough not to trip over stuff" lights installed for the switch by the man door, and then figured  I would just put task lighting where I needed it - basically my workbench and reloading room. He ran two banks of 4 lights each along the rafters that just use regular 100 watt equivalent LED bulbs. It does what I originally wanted, but I found it's not enough illumination on the end of my shop where I have my rollaways and also do maintenance on my vehicles/ small equipment.

So Amazon had these as a Lightning Deal a week ago for 25 ducats, and I gave them a go:

https://www.amazon.com/Garage-Lighting-Deformable-Ultra-Bright-Adjustable/dp/B07KPDFM4B/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Falive+Garage+Lighting&qid=1578319330&sr=8-4

I'd never seen this kind before, but I put two of them in the sockets on the "maintenance end" of the shop, and man, what a difference! They use 60 watts each (6000 lumens) instead of the 10 or so that the regular bulbs do, but totally worth it, especially since I don't keep the shop lights on for long periods of time. I'm almost thinking of just springing for six more and doing the whole shop, especially since there's no wiring to do - just unscrew the old bulb and screw these in. They also make them in a 100 watt/12,000 lumen configurations.

[K Frame]

I've seen those, and considered one for my basement, but I went with 4 LED shop lights. I've put three of them up and they do a better job of lighting my basement utility room than the 3 fluorescent fixtures did.

[Ben]

I've seen those, and considered one for my basement, but I went with 4 LED shop lights. I've put three of them up and they do a better job of lighting my basement utility room than the 3 fluorescent fixtures did.

Yeah, for my workbench and reloading room, I have those LED shop lights that Costco sells. Got them both on sale for I think 30 bucks each. I have them mounted so they're just a couple of feet over head height, and they really light up the area.

As I've aged, I've been losing some night vision, to the point that  I really need stuff, most especially small stuff, well-lighted for me to be able to work with it.

On the tangent regarding the above, I also just bought this light for the "gun and other stuff" tinkering bench in my hobby room:

https://www.amazon.com/Brightech-LightView-PRO-Magnifying-Magnification/dp/B016LTTS8S?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

The magnifier has a cover, so you can use it as either regular task lighting, or else flip up the cover, move the lamp between you and your project, and have bright, magnified lighting. Really nice.

[Brad Johnson]

I saw one in real life recently. Impressive light output. I think the one I saw was a permanent fixture, not a retro edison mount.

I looked at something similar when I was redoing lighting in our master closet. The two-lamp fluorescent fixture just wasn't cutting in in either quality or quantity. The panel unit like the one you have wasn't sufficiently adjustable so I eventually settled on a simple three-head retro fixture stuffed with high CRI 100w equivalent LED floods. SWMBO loves them, mostly because she no longer worries about getting to work and discovering that her socks don't match. (Apparently silly things like matching socks and complementing colors are a big thing for women. Who knew?)

Fixture:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N5CL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Lamps:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GNVW1SH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Brad

[K Frame]

My master closet is on the smallish side for a master, so I don't need a very powerful fixture. I went with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9LQ33L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

100 watt equivalent motion sensor light. More than enough light to see which shirt or shoes I'm grabbing.

I was so happy with it that I put a similar one in my walk in pantry off the kitchen.

And, over Christmas break, a friend put one in his pantry to replace the pull chain light.

[Brad Johnson]

Cool fixture. Is there any annoying delay on the sensing or is it pretty much instant?

Brad

[K Frame]

It's pretty rapid, but it's really hard to tell exactly where the threshold is for it sensing motion.

But, most times when I start opening the closet or pantry doors it pops on and is lit when I step in.

One thing I did NOT like about them, though, are the wire connectors that were included. They're simple plastic blocks with springs, essentially a free floating backstab that doens't have nearly as much holding power as a typical outlet backstab.

Very similar to, perhaps identical, to these: https://www.newegg.com/p/0SV-004A-01TD6

I tried using them, and every time I tried to push them up into the box the wires popped out of the connectors. And you can't wrap them with tape to help hold the wires in place. If you do, the pressure pushes down on the little levers and releases the wires.

Worst products every and even less than useless.

I threw them out and went with actual wire nuts.

[Brad Johnson]

I haven't had to deal with spring connectors but I've heard our electricians complain about them. Essentially the same things you said.

I keep a stash of misc wire nuts, mostly culls from other projects or extras I've picked up and pocketed before they were tossed. That being said, I've threatened on more than one occasion to get a selection of Wago lever nuts. Saw them first on BigClive.Com's youtube channel. Looks much easier than dealing with a wire nut in difficult-to-reach spaces, especially when dissimilar wire types are involved.

https://www.amazon.com/Lever-Nut-Connector-Assortment-Conductor-Connectors/dp/B07871V4L8/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?keywords=wago+lever+nut&qid=1578331211&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTE9MSlVZNUJXMzdPJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTE1NTUyMVQxMlZJNU1SSURVVSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzc3NjMyMVg1QzI2STVURzM3RSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Brad

[K Frame]

I've heard good things about the Wagos, actually, but have never used them.

I'm eventually going to be doing some rewiring in my basement and the one bathroom and I may use Wagos.


Castle Key has been putting a lot of low profile recessed LED lights in his house. The ones that he's using come with terminal blocks that look something like the Wagos and they seem to hold just fine.

[Nick1911]

I've been using Menards LED shop lights.  They've had them for $10 on and off over the past year or so.  Great for over the workbench, lathe, etc.  I've been making the switch over from 4 foot florescent tube lights, and am mostly there.

In the barn, I wanted some high bay fixtures for general lighting.  I tried a 500w LED "UFO" highbay fixture, which was, I think $90 or so.  It was useless, and I returned it.  I found three used 400w MH hubbell fixtures on craigslist, with bulbs, for $30.  They work much, much better.

[K Frame]

These are the ones I've used in my basement utility room to replace the three fluorescent shop lights I had down there...

I think a single tube is heavier the entire LED shop light.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TM97LWY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The light quality is very good and they do a much better job of spreading the light to the sides than the fluorescents did, meaning that the corners of the room that had been dark before are now fairly well lit.

I've got 3 of the 4 installed. When I install the 4th one I might have problems with jets trying to land on my house.