Best lighting for a workshop?

[Froggy]

Hi All,

Just considering converting a barn into a bench working area and wondered what you considered good lighting for a dark barn? Fluorescent, sodium or something else?

 

[Fitzroy]

Oh, this will be interesting, thinking about the same thing myself. I'd add the following option for good or bad option. LED flat panel ie.

https://www.ledbulbcentre.co.uk/product ... 7QodOq4EaA

F.

 

[Neil S]

Not really lighting but painting it white inside will make a huge difference and is very economic

I have lots of florescent tubes in my garage and a small anglepois lamp over the workbench to when I need to light something specific
-Neil

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

 

[deema]

I've just placed lighting in my new Workshop and asked Ansell to design the lighting, which they did for free, they recommended LED fluorescent style lights, which are absolutely awesome. Virtually no shadow anywhere in the workshop, andbetter than daylight!

I would definitely include some units with emergency lighting for when you trip the power! Makes a high difference for safely getting things sorted out.

Ansell are not cheap, but then again, the cost difference is not that much. They are I believe recognised as one of the better light manufacturers.

I bought the units from shop4electrical, best prices I could find.

 

[Froggy]

I've just placed lighting in my new Workshop and asked Ansell to design the lighting, which they did for free, they recommended LED fluorescent style lights, which are absolutely awesome. Virtually no shadow anywhere in the workshop, andbetter than daylight!

I would definitely include some units with emergency lighting for when you trip the power! Makes a high difference for safely getting things sorted out.

Ansell are not cheap, but then again, the cost difference is not that much. They are I believe recognised as one of the better light manufacturers.

I bought the units from shop4electrical, best prices I could find.

What size is your workshop? And what size and how many lights did you fit?

 

[Froggy]

Not really lighting but painting it white inside will make a huge difference and is very economic

I have lots of florescent tubes in my garage and a small anglepois lamp over the workbench to when I need to light something specific
-Neil

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Thanks Neil, I'll probably paint the ceiling white but I'm not sure about the walls yet. I did think about a lamp for the work bench but I find with lamps I always get shadows as I change the angle of work.

 

[NickN]

I've specified these for my workshop shed, electrics to be installed soon:

https://www.led-supplies.com/led-panels ... 0mm-4000k/

Daylight LED panels - even more important for me as there are no windows. These ones also have brackets available which enables fitting to a wall.

 

[deema]

My workshop is 30' by 45'. I've used 12 lights, they are all ASLED 2x5 58w

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As above - paint everything white first. Put in just enough lighting to see what you're doing if it's dark, and put good LED lighting where you actually need it. You don't need the place lit like a xmas tree - I can work at my bench comfortably with 20w of lighting. Why pay more?
If you must light the whole place well, put in different circuits so you can switch off what you don't need at any given time.

 

[SteveF]

I am using these
not the cheapest but good light
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KBBAT5.html

Steve

 

[deema]

There are lots of good LED solutions, I chose lighting which was sealed, the reason being that if water can't get into it....dust can't either. I've found that standard light fittings soon get clogged with dust and the actual light output reduces quickly. This is irrespective of the quality of the dust extraction!

Beware of LED lights that claim a certain output, it's not the wattage that's important, it's the actual LUX of light. Some units have LED drivers that over drive the LEDs and reduce their life expectancy to achieve a higher LUX at a lower manufactured cost.

 

[andersonec]

Daylight LED's must be the answer, not only for the cost of running but the colour of the light which is close to daylight. my instructor back in the 60's said not to use fluorescent lighting because the frequency it operates at could mimic the speed of your planer blades and in a noisy workshop and with ear defenders on it could have a strobe-like effect and make it look like your blades are at a standstill, never experienced it but could be a talking point.

Andy

 

[Beau]

Still on fluorescent tubes in my workshop. They are still every bit efficient if not more so than most LEDs at around 100 lumens per watt. There is more to it than that though as colour and direction of the light can make big differences to usable light.

Watching this thread with interest and found this in my travels. Worth scrolling down the the chat below for some interesting discussion.
http://lumald.com/2013/05/29/leds-not-a ... he-answer/

Edit. Oh and as said paint them walls and ceiling white to make the most of whatever you put in there.

 

[Froggy]

Daylight LED's must be the answer, not only for the cost of running but the colour of the light which is close to daylight. my instructor back in the 60's said not to use fluorescent lighting because the frequency it operates at could mimic the speed of your planer blades and in a noisy workshop and with ear defenders on it could have a strobe-like effect and make it look like your blades are at a standstill, never experienced it but could be a talking point.

Andy

The 'strobe light effect' won't be an issue with me as the room I'm lighting won't have any machinery in.

 

[Froggy]

Still on fluorescent tubes in my workshop. They are still every bit efficient if not more so than most LEDs at around 100 lumens per watt. There is more to it than that though as colour and direction of the light can make big differences to usable light.

Watching this thread with interest and found this in my travels. Worth scrolling down the the chat below for some interesting discussion.
http://lumald.com/2013/05/29/leds-not-a ... he-answer/

Edit. Oh and as said paint them walls and ceiling white to make the most of whatever you put in there.

Very interesting article Beau. On the one hand I couldn't make my mind up which option was best (fluo or led) on the other hand they seemed so close it doesn't seem worth stressing over it because they are both so close!
Didn't really want to paint the walls white, but I have conceded that it may be wise to paint the area where I need the light most (around my bench).

 

[Froggy]

There are lots of good LED solutions, I chose lighting which was sealed, the reason being that if water can't get into it....dust can't either. I've found that standard light fittings soon get clogged with dust and the actual light output reduces quickly. This is irrespective of the quality of the dust extraction!

Beware of LED lights that claim a certain output, it's not the wattage that's important, it's the actual LUX of light. Some units have LED drivers that over drive the LEDs and reduce their life expectancy to achieve a higher LUX at a lower manufactured cost.

Deema how do we spot the ones that do and don't have the 'over drive'?

 

[Froggy]

As above - paint everything white first. Put in just enough lighting to see what you're doing if it's dark, and put good LED lighting where you actually need it. You don't need the place lit like a xmas tree - I can work at my bench comfortably with 20w of lighting. Why pay more?
If you must light the whole place well, put in different circuits so you can switch off what you don't need at any given time.

Good points Phil, I'll definitely put in different circuit. The place is 9 x 4 metres and most of the time I will be only using it for bench work in a small corner.

 

[PAC1]

Earlier this year I changed all my fluorescent tubes to LED tubes. The light is better and more even. I am happy with the change. The 2013 article was interesting but the price point of LED's has changed so I would suggest checking the current price.

 

[woodpig]

I don't like the quality of light I've seen from some LED's. I've also read that many don't last anywhere near as long as they're claimed to. There's also the health aspect, it's not just about running costs:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... hting.aspx

I'm sticking with fluorescents for the time being.

 

[Froggy]

No one has mentioned Sodium lights yet. I guess there's a reason for that! I only bring them up because a friend of mine says he put two in a large barn and lit the place up like daylight and they were cheap to run. I have to point out that this friend is not known for his reliability, hence asking you guys!