Thread: Shed Lighting

Pete, I know that I am going to get howled down by the purists, but I think that you basically have two choices:

LED Panels: These use less than half the electricity of fluoros but cost around $50 each, and

Fluros: Second hand twin tube fluros with tubes are available from salvage yards at around $5 each. It will take at least 20 years to recoup the difference in capital costs from the electricity saved.

Whatever you choose, put in more than you think you need - eyes fade with birthdays!

If you are electrically capable there are super bright (100W/10,000 lumen) LED panels available on Aliexpress for about $15.
They need an extension cord and plug fitted.

Here is a technical post about shed lighting you might find useful.
Some actual shed illuminance measurements.

The link for the LED panels I mention above are in that thread as is a link (by Chris Parks) for the $50 panels

Thanks i have fair bit of shed to light up, 50 a panel aint happening. if there is still nothing more cost effective and good as the old fluros i will stick with them.

I havent had much luck with cheap electronic from ali, i tried led globes for other stuff and many failed pretty quick.

I found some on facebook, all converted to LED with 5 tubes each. They bright and cheap!

20220216_043718379_iOS.jpg

Originally Posted by Pete99

I found some on facebook, all converted to LED with 5 tubes each. They bright and cheap!

20220216_043718379_iOS.jpg

Looks good. How about a bit more info, Pete, and a reference.

I started with heaps of those LED strip lights that cost bugger all on ebay (ie, $5 for 5 metres). They were good to start with but they slowly fail and the light output reduces (over 8 years). Since then I have slowly updated to LED style battens, so much better.

I have also put LED tubes in the old fluro battens in my garage, but they are no where near as good as the LED battens that I have bought for the shed.

I like to buy used where possible, esp without a really strong recommendation for a specific product. You just end up buying twice, perpetuating more plastic and production of junk. So without being able to determine the best buy it once version I bought from facebook used. They are almost new condition. I don’t know much about them, they are pro converted fluro. They are sooo bright. Maybe too bright as the light fitting catches my eye sometimes…but having has terrible light for 15 years in here I will see if I get used to it. They have 6 LED tubes not 5. They have this sticker, but don’t know much else



led.jpg

It's good that you got the professionally converted ones.

Not all traditional fluroro fittings will work efficiently, or at all, by simply replacing the standard tubes.

Some fittings will work by just removing the old starters but even then if they have old electromagnetic ballasts the old ballast can consume more power than the LED tubes so energy is wasted. Newer fluoro fittings wth some electronic ballasts will not work at all. In bth cases the ballasts can be removed but that's not really a DIY operation.

If you have the head room, maybe high-bay lights would work for you
something like https://www.lighting-wholesale.com.a...mercial-light/

- - - Updated - - -

If you have the head room, maybe high-bay lights would work for you
something like https://www.lighting-wholesale.com.a...mercial-light/

Thanks they do look nice, but a little spendy for me.

The ones i have are approaching extreme lighting...i almost need to wear sunglasses in the shed now But i dont mind as my eyes appear to ageing faster than the rest of me.

I got 10 mini LED tubes from ALDI about 4 years ago. They transformed my wee shed. Best thing I ever did to my workspace apart from build the initial table to work on.
My advice to anyone is to light it up like a Christmas Tree with LED and you'll never go back.
In future I'd rather go without some tools and projects than do the lighting half hearted. Worth every cent.

Originally Posted by DaveVman

... My advice to anyone is to light it up like a Christmas Tree with LED and you'll never go back. ... .

I did that years ago but with fluoros - now I think the shed is starting to look dull. even dark.

Think it has something to do with birthdays.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I did that years ago but with fluoros - now I think the shed is starting to look dull. even dark.

Think it has something to do with birthdays.

I can confirm. It has something to do with birthdays.

Posted elsewhere but this is a good fit for here too if people are looking up luminance in sheds...

Searching about to find the calculations for workshop lighting and I fell into a forum and found this on a UK site so it looks like it translates okay:

the degree of illumination is called illuminance, and it's measured in lux (that's lumens per sq M). Fortunately the eye can accomodate to a wide range of illuminance, as daylight provides about 100,000 lux in sun, and moonlight 0.2 lux. Of more practical use, minimum illuminance needed for critical tasks like sewing or reading or woodwork is about 300 lux at the task. People over 50 may need up to twice this level.

Light fittings vary in practical effectiveness according to room size, mounting height and overall wall and floor colour. For simplicity, in a workshop with lighting at height 2.5 to 3M and using a good reflector, with white walls and light floor, the Coefficient of Utilisation (C of U) is about 0.5. For a very dingy workshop, could be as low as 0.3.

LIght fittings get dirty, and light is lost as a result. If you spring clean once a year, allow a Maintenance Factor (MF) of about 0.6 (0.8 if you do it monthly!)

You calculate total lumens required (lamp output is given in lumens) thus:

Installed Flux= desired illuminance x floor area/C of U x MF

For workshops, desired illuminace is 300 lux.

My workshop is 5.5M x 5.5M, very light in colur, and cleaned once a year, so the

total flux needed = 300 x 5.5 x 5.5 / 0.5 x 0.6 which comes out to 30,250 lumens

The lumens could come from:

Lumens
1300 - 100W filament bult
3150 - 200W filament bulb

1100 - 20W energy saver fluorescent

2100 - 900mm fluorescent tube
3000 - 1200mm fluorescent tube
4800 - 1500mm fluorescent tube
5200 - 1800mm fluorescent tube

light outputs for tubes allows for fading during life, and is less than the 'new tube' figure
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Seems to me LED battens or Panels would be far more suitable than fluoro's, but the lumens are the lumens whether you use fluoro's or led's

Doing a calculation for my proposed shed with a desired lux of 500 I get:

500 Lux X 6m X 8m / 0.5 then X 0.8 (assume clean lighting) = 28,800 lumens

Assuming I use 3000 Lumen battens I would need 9.6 fittings.

I am planning on 3 row of 3 plus two dedicated over my workbench.

Given the cheapness of the fittings these days I will probably use double that and have the second lot on a
separate circuit and only switch on when they are required.

Hope this is useful for those thinking about a light upgrade.

Cheers,

Scott.