# Workshop lighting



## Blackswanwood (1 Apr 2020)

I would welcome any advice on workshop lighting.

I am starting from a blank canvas with a new workshop and thinking about using led strip lights or panels. Various manufacturers make various claims about their products being close to/equivalent of daylight.

If anyone can “shed any light“ on whether these claims are correct and/or anything else to look out for I will be grateful.


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## Roland (1 Apr 2020)

Last year I put three led strips into my workshop, and they do look like daylight. They came from CEF rather one of the DIY sheds. Unfortunately I can’t remember what the product is, and I suspect that it will have been superseded by now anyway.


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## DBT85 (1 Apr 2020)

Anything cheap will have the opportunity for variance more than something from an established name, but I know that Gosforth Handyman and Peter Millard both put LED panels up and were both very pleased with them. Theirs were both the same 6500k ones and both shoot a lot of video using them, those came from eBay. The same seller also does them in about 5 other temperatures. 

Vids of them putting them up and talking about them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwf9t4NPovY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrukKsGFGO8


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## Inspector (1 Apr 2020)

1,000 lumens per square metre for detailed workshop light levels and 6,000 Kelvins or above for the whitest light. 

Pete


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## mbartlett99 (1 Apr 2020)

There's nothing to stop you using any fixture at all and fitting bulbs/tubes/etc at the correct colour temp. 5500K is daylight balanced 2700K tungsten balanced (ie noticeably warm yellow) and above 5500K getting bluer. I use cheap Wickes fluorescent fixtures with 5500k led tubes.

The more expensive bulbs/tubes should be closer to their given colour temp. You can go the whole hog and use led bulbs designed for photographers although its not a cheap option (about 15GBP for a 100W).


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## Sideways (2 Apr 2020)

Probably a personal thing but I find the "cold" looking blue tint associated with 6500 Kelvin lights and the green-violet of many of the cheap, unrated lights to be thoroughly obnoxious.
Walking around the neighborhood in the evening I pass a couple of houses that stand out because they have been refitted with these in their living rooms - it looks like the aliens have landed !
I would, and did pick lights rated between 4000 and 5500K as much easier to live with. 
Very warm or cold tinted lights will make it harder to judge colours properly. There is a new number given for some of the better lights now called CRI (colour rendering index) this is a measure of how the light affects the look of colours compared to under natural light. Think : taking a piece of clothing to the shop doorway to check what the colour really is in daylight. A CRI of 90 or more means colours should look pretty accurate, whether the light is a warm or a daylight one.


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## Woody2Shoes (2 Apr 2020)

My 2ds worth:
1 look for luminous efficency of more than 100 lumens light output per watt power input.
2 Look for a colour temperature which is somewhere 3000 to 5000K for task lighting.
3 Look at the CRI (colour registration index) and go for the highest figure you can afford, ideally better than 90. Many cheaper brands have poor cri and this accounts for much of the blue/green harshness. You want the lamp to provide a balance of light wavelengths.
4 IME It's worth paying for a known brand eg Philips or Osram as you have more assurance over reliability and fire safety.


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## Woody2Shoes (2 Apr 2020)

My 2ds worth:
1 look for luminous efficency of more than 100 lumens light output per watt power input.
2 Look for a colour temperature which is somewhere 3000 to 5000K for task lighting.
3 Look at the CRI (colour rendering index) and go for the highest figure you can afford, ideally better than 90. Many cheaper brands have poor cri and this accounts for much of the blue/green harshness. You want the lamp to provide a balance of light wavelengths.
4 IME It's worth paying for a known brand eg Philips or Osram as you have more assurance over reliability and fire safety.


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## GerryKnowles (14 Aug 2020)

Hi, All sorry for the late involvement to the thread , but I am a fairly new member building my own outhouse, and I own a lighting company so maybe able to chuck in a few bits that might help

1) IP rating will need to be 20 or above ( no biggy most fittings are)
3) I would go for an integrated LED batten type fitting and hang it from chains or directly to the ceiling. They are incredibly light and very easy to fix, all come with an integrated driver so just fix to a mains supply
4) for general areas 100 lux is fine but for areas that you work in try to achieve 250 lux eg a workshop bench
5) CRI most LED fixtures are 80 or above this is fine for most general work , if you are spraying cars or doing any work that requires a lot of variance of colours you need CRI 95
6) Colour temperature this is really personal preference there are no hard and fast rules for workshops. A low Kelvin rating 2700/3000K creates a warm cozy ambience and higher Kelvin 4500/6000K rating creates a clean stark appearence.
7) we are General Lamps ltd in High Wycombe , if you google us will be happy to offer a discount to UKworkshop members


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