Hello, I've come late to this conversation, but by profession I'm a lighting design engineer. I design lighting for universities, schools, hospitals and other commercial projects. Mostly what I work with is LED lighting these days.
Before you change your lights you should look at what you already have and see if you can improve it.
If you have really old fittings with BIG fat fluorescent tubes, with fittings that probably hum or buzz, then quite frankly there is 1 course of action - change to LED now. The fat lamps are going obsolete and the lamps probably aren't giving much light anyway compared to what they once did.
If you have fluorescent fittings with middle-sized tubes; probably 36w, 58w or 70w (4ft, 5ft or 6ft long respectively) These may have small, drum shaped starter switches. If they do, then the fittings are old and inefficient. There is also a risk of "stroboscopic effect" on machinery. - This is where the light flashes at a rate that can make moving parts in machines appear as if they're not moving. This is not good. So, again; change the fittings.
If you have the same tubes as above but they don't have starter switches you will possibly find you can improve light level by doing one of 2 of these:
1 - Paint the ceiling, walls etc of the workshop, white. This helps reflect the light back onto your work and gives you more light.
2 - Change the tubes, clean diffusers on the fittings and clean the fittings generally.
You may not believe this, but it's a fact that ALL lighting loses brightness over age.
After 20,000 hours fluorescent lamps will be only giving out about 70% of the light they originally put out.
Most LED lights, depending on the design of the electronic circuits, may be down to 70% after 50,000 hours. So, again, LED lighting isn't forever. If you buy cheap fittings they will depreciate faster than better built fittings.
LED tubes - these are never great for workshops. LED lamps may fit in the same length fittings as fluorescent lamps, but won't give the light that the fluorescent lamps did: AND we NEED light!
Don't chance your arm with LED tubes that need you to take out the ballasts. Fluorescent lamp holders are designed to take spikes of high voltage to start them and then low voltage applied to the tube to keep it going. They are not designed to take 230v AC constantly. If you wish to take the risk, good luck to you.
LED lighting - there are cheap fittings. There are fittings that can be 3-4 times the price.
You get what you pay for. The cheaper fittings will have fewer LEDs. The circuits will be designed to run the current through the LEDs faster and they will come to drop in output faster. But I'm not saying "don't buy them".
If you're a "weekend warrior" and you're going to take years to use them 20-30,000 hours, then they could be exactly what you're looking for.
If you're a professional, working all week in the shop, you may want something with a longer life' especially as with LEDs, you'll need to change the fitting, not simply the lamps - so it will be hassle.
"High power LEDs; ** Watts" - don't fall for this. Watts isn't a measure of light. What you want to know is the "Lumens". Compare Lumens, not watts.
Also, don't be fooled by being shown dazzling white, cold, blue light and think it's brighter than yellower light. Colour isn't bright, but it may be harsh on the sight. Also, be aware of glare. Light that is bright and distracting as you work could be dangerous too. If you want to avoid glare there are fittings that can do this.
And a final point - when you're 80 you see less than 50% of the light you would have seen as a 30 year old. Your eyes get dimmer and your sight becomes more yellowed. Be aware that just because the light in the shop was good enough for you 25 years ago, it mat not be enough now.
I hope some of this may help someone.
Richard
