# Garage lighting, fluorescent V LED



## civic gaz (May 12, 2014)

Opinions on going from fluorescent strip lights to modern LED equivalents? Light output any better for example.

Garage is mainly used for car related work but not cleaning/detailing (yet!) it was my father-in-laws who was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades (mainly plumbing) but since I've inherited it I'm trying to tidy it up & modernise a little

Thanks


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Probably a cost argument more than anything. LED's are much more expensive to buy. I doubt the other problems with fluorescent bulbs will be much of an issue in the garage, if at all.


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## MagpieRH (May 27, 2014)

Rayaan said:


> Probably a cost argument more than anything. LED's are much more expensive to buy. I doubt the other problems with fluorescent bulbs will be much of an issue in the garage, if at all.


More expensive to buy, certainly, but much cheaper to run (often <10W per LED vs 40+ for fluo). In theory, many LED lamps are rated for 1000 or so hours of use, I'm not sure you ever really get that though.

In terms of output, I'm not 100% sure so I'll leave it for others to answer


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## fifer807 (Sep 7, 2013)

The leds will be more expensive to buy but overtime the life and power usage should recoup those costs (dependant on how often you are using them).

As for the light output then thats entirely dependant on what you buy. Warm white, bright white etc and what wattage. I have changed from tubes to led in my work canteen and had to remove roughly half the led tubes as the light was too bright.

Are you thinking of simply putting led tubes in existing fittings? If so then you may need some wiring. My fittings had a starter for each tube so it was a simple swop for the led and an led starter. If the fitting had used a single starter for 2 tubes then i would have needed to do some wiring for the ballast.

Your beste bet may to visit a local electrical supplier who can advise


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## civic gaz (May 12, 2014)

Thanks for the input guys

Can understand the price difference (less than £5 for fluorescent compared to £15-£20 for LED) which is a big difference although I can't see it breaking the bank

Yes they would be existing fittings, though I would prefer not to have to muck around with wiring, I have seen some that need wiring but I've also seen some that have integrated "starters" if you like, that are supposed to be a straight swap, though even that isn't always the case


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

If it's just for a garage and not a workshop then the lights are not going to be on that long. This effects payback.
I stuck with fluorescent in my garage but use triphospur daylight tubes to improve the lux levels. That said, tube performance drops off with time so even a direct replacement could see an improvement.
I work with LEDs all day, don't believe everything you read. Just seeing panel LEDs (well the drivers) start to fail after 12 months. Good stuff too.


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## asspur96 (Jan 24, 2014)

MagpieRH said:


> More expensive to buy, certainly, but much cheaper to run (often <10W per LED vs 40+ for fluo). In theory, many LED lamps are rated for 1000 or so hours of use, I'm not sure you ever really get that though.
> 
> In terms of output, I'm not 100% sure so I'll leave it for others to answer


Just a bit of technical help a standard fluorescent tube would be rated at around 5-6000 hours for a normal operating fitting however most quality LED tubes should be at least 20,000 hours if used and fitted correctly and many lasting double this. Also the running cost for comparison light output is about 40 % less electricity if you have by passed the fluorescent fitting control gear and wired straight to the LED tube in the fitting if you are not using purpose made LED fittings and are retrofitting to an existing T8 Flourescent fitting.

Hope this helps


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## thestig84 (Apr 10, 2008)

I bought 2 LED 4ft strip lights for my new garage and I think they are fantastic. They seem to diffuse the light really well, I like the clean white light and the instant on/off you get.


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