Thread: LED batten lights?

Go to TLE or Turks electrical supplies, I got 4 LED with diffuser set to daylight in a shed 7.5 x 6.0 and its like working in the mid day sun

How high up on the ceiling? I guess that's what I'm concerned about re. power rating/lumens - there's a fine line between good working light and being dazzled by searchlights ! I don't want to have to wear sunnies while chiseling dovetails.

I have no idea what light output I should be looking at from diffused LED battens; 10W 1000 lumen or 20W 2000 lumen, for example?

I prefer the sealed weatherproof style so the insects dont get inside and dirty up the diffuser, they were only a few bucks more.

Alternately you can bypass the fluro ballast and fit LED tubes to your existing lights, I have several like this and find them to be brighter than the LED baton lights.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Existing lights are >20 years old, the workshop was filled with ash and other crap when it survived the bushfires (even though the house didn't ), so they are in a pretty crappy state. I need to adjust the height by fitting new suspension chains down from the roof beams, so may as well change the entire fitting while I'm at it.

The only remaining question is what power LED batten do I need for good light if the batten is ~1.5m above the bench. I'm leaning towards the lower powered 10W/1000 lumen type (with diffuser).

I purchased a corded version of the LED batten lights with the diffuser as a trial. It's been a revelation when compared to the standard twin flouro ceiling batten units, even with new tubes in them. It's mounted on a backing board then suspended from the ceiling by chains so I can transfer it to other positions in my workspace. I'm now looking at replacing the flouros.

You'll never be dazzled. Go the brighter then what you think you need.

Without seeing the shed i probably wouldnt consider anything under 2000 lumens

Im planning a similar upgrade for 6X6m shop with pitched roof and 4 pairs of ordinary double fluros (1200mm) more-or-less equidistant from all sides (about 2m in) plus one over the workbench - all about 1.6m above bench height. With failing eye-sight these are pretty useless. Looking at the many LED choices, I tend to over-engineer so favour 1200mm over 600mm, but maybe not with LEDs? What about something like this Arlec 3700lms @ 32W from Bunnings for $29?
Arlec 120cm 32W DIY Multi-Power And Tri-Colour IP20 LED Batten Light

I use these and I find them to be the best value and easiest to install for a non-electrician:


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They come with a normal 240V plug, have an on/off switch at the end so you don't have to switch it on and off at the power point (i.e. great for under overhead cabinets), has a selector switch to choose between cool/natural/warm, and it's super slim at about 26mm.


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I only had about 75mm of clearance between my overhead cabinets and the panel lift door. I needed clearance under the light for the cabinet doors to open, and I needed to allow for the thickness of the cantilever arms. Luckily these lights are so light that the cantilever arms don't need to be so beefy to support them. I think I used 30mm hardwood. I probably could have gotten away with thinner arms but I still had 10mm of clearance to spare so erred on the side of caution and stuck with the 30mm.


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I have six of these lights so far. I replaced the original fluro batten and terminated its power on a 4 gang GPO which the above pair of lights are connected to. These can still be turned on and off at the wall switch. The twin fluro batten at the bottom of the pic will get replaced eventually when I get around to refurbing that corner of the workshop.



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The single GPO for the garage door opener got replaced with a 5 gang outlet. 3 are being used by another 3 lights and the last spare outlet will probably be for an extension cord suspended over the workbench. These are not operated by a wall switch but it's easy enough to switch on and off with a length of stick. I find this is better as it allows flexibility as I don't always need to have all the lights turned on. I also have 4 gooseneck LED lamps that are mostly above machines and can be directed to wherever I need more light.

These lights are not cheap. IIRC, I paid $70 each at Bunnings but I reckon they provide the best value and you don't need a sparky if you already have a socket to plug it into.

I should probably clarify that when I said "I replaced the original fluro batten and terminated its power on a 4 gang GPO", what I meant was I got a sparky mate to replace and reterminate the original fluro batten.

EDIT: The cords will get tidied up later once I've decided the path for my dust collector ducting after which I will run then in sone square cable ducting.


Cheers,
Mike

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This is my current light set up above the bench. One of those batten lights is directly above the RH side but is out of the picture. There's another running longitudinally just in front of the bench but it is obscured by the garage door when it is up. It's very tricky getting enough lighting over the bench with the garage door up. I may install another batten cantilevered above the RH side overhead cupboard similar to the L side, or I may cantilever it perpendicular to the bench.


Hopefully this has given you some ideas.


Cheers,
Mike

I did my garage shed with linkable plug in battens. I've been very happy. Can move them around as needs change.

Like these
LEDVANCE LEDVALUE 1200mm Linear Linkable Batten 12W 220-240V 4K | 6.5K — The Light Guys

No electrician needed.

I have rafters to mount straight to. These would not be directly suitable for chain mounting - would require some sort of connector / plate.

I would warn against putting LED tubes into existing fluro fittings, i was told by an electrical wholesaler that it would be fine but the balast in each fitting blew when the LED tubes were fitted.

Thanks guys for all the useful responses - a couple of the pics people have posted are pretty much what I'll be doing. I think you've all just about pinned down what would be a good power/light output, and getting the tricolour ones sorts out the question of colour temperature. I'll check out Bunnies and our local TLE, who between them have most of the brands/models that people have suggested.

Cheers

KahoyKutter - that is one very sexy workbench, deluxe model with purpleheart drawer handles??

Originally Posted by double.d

I would warn against putting LED tubes into existing fluro fittings, i was told by an electrical wholesaler that it would be fine but the balast in each fitting blew when the LED tubes were fitted.

You can't use a ballast with LED. Different technology, just disconnect the ballast and the LRD tubes will work fine.