My garage (actually bike store/workshop) has one standard light fitting at the moment and, frankly, it’s not enough for indoor/evening maintenance activities. I was thinking of installing some strip lights to spread the lumens out a bit more evenly but what is the best low energy solution?

Cheers

watching with interest as i look to replace the workshop lighting this wok.

I fitted LED panels in my workshop – really nice light and loads of it. Not a lot of wattage either.

Edit – these ones – https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401578854750

I just purchased these. Cheap but are really bright and do the job. I replaced two old bits of fluro’ strip lighting.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174497773799

Got three LED strip lights offset on the roof and two, if needed, LED floods mounted on the dexian shelving at about 2m heigh. Plenty of light for bike fettling

Yeah, I’m thinking a couple of floods will be in the mix too.

I’ve got 4 of the led strips like mrwhyte above. They are great. Really nice even light. Got a few task lights on the benches too.

Can daisy chain these and I’ve got a couple;
https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-twin-4ft-led-batten-white-43w-4400lm/6481v

Brilliant although I don’t really know what makes light low energy LOL.

These are 43w

I fitted 4 LED battens from Screwfix (replacing 4x old 5 ft fluorescent tubes). The difference in brightness is phenominal. I retained an existing (more recent) twin 4 ft twin fluorescent fitting too.

x2 5ft Led strip lights down the length of the workshop x2 3ft Led strips across the middle and a LED floodlight at one end if needed.

Has anyone come across “thin” led strips? My garage has a low ceiling height, so I want minimum depth lighting. Those panels, they’re only for suspended ceilings?

I recently fitted two of the battens mentioned by @simono5 to replace a single 100w bulb; the difference is literally night and day, they are so much better. 86W of LED is a lot of LED, and with the two battens spaced out I haven’t had any problems with shadows.

After that I put two more in the loft; should have done that ages ago too.

Can daisy chain these and I’ve got a couple;
https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-twin-4ft-led-batten-white-43w-4400lm/6481v

Brilliant although I don’t really know what makes light low energy LOL.

These are 43w

I used these low profile LED batten fittings instead of flourescents.theyre less than 25mm tall/deep.

Super cheap – I was dubious, but they use Samsung electronics and LEDs and are super easy to fit, supplied with all the brackets and block connectors.

Really quite impressive.

Led batten

Following this….

I bought 2 led panels that are meant to be fitted in suspended ceilings and mounted them using a couple of bits of U profile alu.

Daisychained Screwfix LED battens here – does the job with minimal fuss to install.

Recently got one of these for a bit less than the price shown, it’s very

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deformable-Adjustable-Workshop-Workbench-Warehouse/dp/B07XNNCVD2/ref=pd_lpo_79_t_2/260-8427642-3613545?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07XNNCVD2&pd_rd_r=64d784ed-bb57-43cb-ac0f-dfe9203cca75&pd_rd_w=dMFt9&pd_rd_wg=ul4bw&pf_rd_p=7b8e3b03-1439-4489-abd4-4a138cf4eca6&pf_rd_r=667NZBZAP0A1VP6F6QFK&psc=1&refRID=667NZBZAP0A1VP6F6QFK good.

spread the lumens out a bit more evenly

If you’ve not already done so… paint makes a lot of difference. White walls / ceiling for definite but I’m amazed at how much brighter my workshop gets when I repaint the floor.

I recently got two of these LAP Oxbo Single 4ft LED Batten White 22W 2100lm (590CC) circa £20 each versus £30 on 43W
44w in total is better than daylight for me, very limited shadow too

Although I then got a smaller under shelf light that plugs 3 pin electric.

1 x LAP YKT5BF1-L90 Linear LED Linkable Cabinet T5 Striplight 12W 1000lm 220-240V (5766R

Freshly painted walls Plymouth grey sandtex has really brightened it up too

got a couple of 5ft battons to replace the old tubes.

cheap from screwfix and brill.

Same as oreetmon but with 5 arms, not 4. Just screws in a standard fitting. Nae fuss and grat spread of light.

Very timely thread as I’m about to upgrade the dismal lighting in my garage/workshop which has loads of stuff suspended from the beams in the roof.

I’m still dubious about benefits of LED batten lighting – high frequency T5 fluorescent tubes efficiency is 100lumens/watt which is better than most LEDs, similar life (supposedly 16k hours) and good quality replacement tubes are cheap as chips, high CRI and reliable colour temperature.

Even if the LEDs in your fitting are high quality and will last 20k hours, the driver for them probably won’t and it will be more difficult and expensive to replace than a fluro tube (at less than £3).

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GLSW135HF.html

Katie’s workshop has 6 of these fittings with daylight bulbs. One has failed in 5 years.

Any other type of light fitting LED is definitely superior but long batten lights are the one exception

If I had fluorescent tubes I would have smashed them at least 10 times by now moving 8×4 sheets or long steel tubes around. I’ve winged the LEDs and dislodged them from the mounting enough times and they are much lower profile. Still all running fine. The quality of light is much better too. I haven’t done the maths but LEDs win hands down for me. Zero failures in 4 years, almost daily use.

fruitbat
Full Member

I fitted 4 LED battens from Screwfix (replacing 4x old 5 ft fluorescent tubes). The difference in brightness is phenominal. I retained an existing (more recent) twin 4 ft twin fluorescent fitting too.

Never mind the lights, loving the round top Colchester Student lathe

LED panel for me too. Was a huge improvement. About £50. Go bright.

Never mind the lights, loving the round top Colchester Student lathe

😊 Cheers. You need good lighting when pottering about on a lathe. It’s a 1953 model that I got for free from work. It had been left outside, uncovered, for 3 years. Cleaned up and converted to single phase. Keeps me out of mischief 😁

I replaced a single bulb fitting with two 6ft led battens. So much better light spread and colour. I was going to put another smaller strip directly above the workbench, but it’s not required, the others are so good. That’s in a 15ft x 15ft cellar.

Cleaned up and converted to single phase. Keeps me out of mischief

Wow – fantastic restoration!

Have you checked your mains powered leds don’t have a high frequency flicker in the same way as fluorescent tubes (so potentially dodgy strobe light with a rotating lathe). Maybe just get one filament bulb in there for safety?..

Have you checked your mains powered leds don’t have a high frequency flicker

Not noticed it all. I do have a local light on the lathe anyway, but even with that off it isn’t an issue with just light from the ceiling LEDs.

Have you checked your mains powered leds don’t have a high frequency flicker

Not noticed anything untoward so far. Was 100% fluorescent tube before upgrade and never had an issue with them either.

Lathe only goes to 1000 rpm  (and rarely used there) so probably too slow for anything to show.

I’m using V-TAC LED battens. Stupidly bright, excellent colour rendition and spread. Slightly too bright, if I’m honest (that’s with 2 x 5ft lights in a garage – 12,000 lumen).

They feel flimsy but no problems so far. Only complaint is that the tail from the light is annoyingly short and the only way to replace it is to desolder it from the power supply inside. Otherwise you might need to extend your existing wiring if installed or vary the light position.

4000K is the best colour, IMHO.

I’ve just fitted 3 of the led strips as suggested by Scienceofficer and they are superb. Literally night and day in comparison to the fluorescent they replace.

Cheers. You need good lighting when pottering about on a lathe. It’s a 1953 model that I got for free from work. It had been left outside, uncovered, for 3 years. Cleaned up and converted to single phase. Keeps me out of mischief

Are you running it via an inverter? If not beware the strobe effect that might make it appear stationary if the LEDs are your sole light source when working.

I have also put LED panels in. LEd battens are good, but essentially it new tech in an old format.

Panels really make most of what LED can offer. Specifically the light spread is loads more even.

I’ve got a few Aldi (I think) led floodlights. They were about £5 each & you can place a few of them around your workspace to minimise shadows.