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TX-73
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:58 pm    Post subject: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

I thought this might be of interest. I was getting ready to do some upgrades to my 57 Chevy and wanted to upgrade the garage general lighting to LED. While I was at it I came across installation of COB LED into a halogen floodlight fixture so I gave that a shot as well with great results. There's probably other good alternatives out there as well but this is what I did.

1. GARAGE LIGHTING

I was looking for better lighting over the entire garage area, but wanted to do it economically. It seemed that the cost for 4 ft LED fixtures is still a bit high, so I poked around the internet/youtube and decided to try this route.

I first bought several 16 ft lengths of 3528 and 5050 SMD LED strips. These are 12v strips so I also bought a 10a 110v/12v transformer to power the strips. I decided to install 5 strips as overhead lighting. Each strip was to be attached to a white 7 ft long trim piece, essentially the strip was doubled up on the trim. I bought the different LED's to test the brightness level as I saw different info on that. Very cheap to get, direct from China, the strips are around $4 each and the transformer was $9. Along with about $5 for each trim piece (Lowes) this gave me about 35 ft of lighting for about $55 or so.

The numbering of the LED is the size of the LED - a 5050 LED is 5.0mm by 5.0mm for example. There are some other factors as well, such as the manner in which the diodes are used, but for this purpose I just wanted to look up and see what was the brightest version.

The strips are self adhesive but I also added spots of hot glue to mechanically hold the strips in place. I'm glad I did because the adhesive does tend to loosen up a bit. I also installed male/female connectors at the ends to make it easy to hook up each strip to the main power supply.
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Here's the overall installation, each trim piece is simply screwed into every other ceiling joist.
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I added a simple light switch to control the transformer.
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For the final result, you can see the 3758 LED's on the left, 5050 SMD LED's on the right. Obviously the 5050 LED's are brighter but the overall lighting level is very good. However, since this installation I have bought 5730 SMD LED strips and this is the way to go. Brightness is substantially increased, so if you are wondering about what LED to get, I suggest the 5730 SMD LED strips. All of the strips have very low power draw as well. I'll need to get a picture of the 5730's as soon as I finish up installing them in place of the LED's I first installed.
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The nice thing is that I can install the 3758 and 5050 LED's vertically on the shelf unit uprights and this will give me almost a paint-booth clean white level of brightness.

2. FLOODLIGHT

I got tired of fragile halogen bulbs in these little light fixtures, plus they get really hot so I found a youtube where the bulb was replaced with a COB LED module. Bought on ebay, China again, as "50w 110v COB Input Integrated IC Driver". About $4 each.
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Pretty straightforward, there are 2 connection points to be soldered for load and neutral wiring. I made a little metal backing to attach the COB onto. A little fiddling here and there and done.
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I left the glass off but re-installed the front grille, very low heat output.
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This light is BRIGHT! Easily matches or exceeds the halogen version. I'm really happy with this $4 upgrade.
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So there you go, maybe some of this can help if you're thinking about LED upgrades.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:43 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

Thumbs UP.
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TX-73
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:46 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

Thanks!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:50 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

TX-73 wrote:
It seemed that the cost for 4 ft LED fixtures is still a bit high,

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-32-Watt-.../206760726

32-Watt Equivalent Cool White 4 ft. Linear T8 LED Light Bulb Maintenance Pack (10-Pack) $69.72
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TX-73
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:41 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

I saw those and similar at Lowes but I think what did was a better value. Plus it was interesting to see if it was practical. I like the lighting running the entire length of the car.
Interestingly enough I found that some of the 4ft LED tubes were just acrylic tubes with similar SMD LED strip as I had bought running inside the tube.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:50 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

thats too much works for me.... I buy the 4' led 6500k bulbs cheep at lowes...and there on clearance now too!!!!the 6500k are bright white, the 3500k are yeller...so pick the brightness that you want 3500,4000,4500,5000 6500. and are all the same wattage...18 watts I think
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:35 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

mark tucker wrote:
thats too much works for me.... I buy the 4' led 6500k bulbs cheep at lowes...and there on clearance now too!!!!the 6500k are bright white, the 3500k are yeller...so pick the brightness that you want 3500,4000,4500,5000 6500. and are all the same wattage...18 watts I think

Shhhh! Don't tell anybody. They're also liquidating the 4' LED shop lamp assemblies. Glad I noticed they're closing them out before they RAN out. I'm just finishing my garage lighting project.

I think they were unpopular because they were designed to be "hard wired" to boxes, and that's beyond most DIY homeowners who are strolling through Lowe's and think that may be a nice light to have. Over the last couple years, I've see a lot of returned (opened) boxes in which the lamps haven't even been touched. Remember the old flourescent "shop lamps" that everybody carried? They had a plug on the end...hang it up by chains, run a cord to it and BAMM!

Well, for most peeps, these new ones require an electrician, and there goes your cost!
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:56 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

One of our local lumber yards got a Grant & got a truck load of 4' led lights, $5 each, they went real quick !!! Laughing
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:09 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

Damn that looks good. My only suggestion would be diffuses. Even a white sheet would make it look nicer.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:13 am    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

I got several 4' 4-bulb florescent light fixtures (for free on CL) and rewired them (ballast bypass) for 6500k 22W LED bulbs. The LED T8 replacement bulbs online were $7.33 each, so it wasn't a very cheap project, but man the light output and quality of the light was worth the $220 I spent on 30 bulbs. I've only wired up 5 fixtures thus far (20 bulbs) to replace twelve 2 bulb florescent fixtures (24 bulbs) in poor condition. The difference is literally night and day - for the first time, I don't mind working in the shop after dark. No buzzing ballasts, instant full brightness regardless of temperature, and so much brighter.

One other thing - lesson learned - when I put in my first LED bulb to test the system, I think I broke the bulb. My best guess is that I just turned off the power at the switch, so the neutral and grounded fixture must have shorted the bulb as I was installing it (the metal poles of the bulb scratched the surface of the fixture, because the bulbs were a slightly tight fit). Once I turned the circuit off at the breaker panel, and then installed a bulb to test, everything worked great. So I put a sticker on the switch to remind myself in the future to turn off the circuit before replacing LED bulbs.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:48 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

Glenn wrote:
TX-73 wrote:
It seemed that the cost for 4 ft LED fixtures is still a bit high,

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-32-Watt-.../206760726

32-Watt Equivalent Cool White 4 ft. Linear T8 LED Light Bulb Maintenance Pack (10-Pack) $69.72


Those produce good light, but the ballast is still using juice. If you want the cost savings of LED lights, you need the ballast bypass bulbs. We have about 50 4 bulb fixtures at my shop, and just replace the bulbs with LED systems as the ballasts fail. Works well, move the good bulbs to the remaining lights, and rewire what needed a new ballast anyway with the LED bulbs. The cost is about the same.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:12 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

Where'd you get that halogen replacement?

Sam's has some nice LED shop lights They are about $34 each and you can string them together.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:08 am    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

I just put up 3 LED shop light fixtures in my garage, replacing some beat up old fluorescent fixtures.

I wish I had seen this thread first! That is pretty neat.

The fixtures I bought are basically 3 strips of leds just like you used inside a housing that looks similar to any other fluorescent fixture.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:59 am    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

When the four 4' twin florescent fixtures began failing I went with Trouble Free Lighting LED 20W E26 bulbs, they are equivalent to 400W at 6500K. First pictures are with the doors shut, nice and bright, ignore the van it is now gone.
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More room when van gone
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:08 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

another great feature of the LED's is that they dont kill or fade the rubber &plastic &other things like the florescent do. and yes they use less power and make more brighter light. I like em. Wink of coarse in 13 years we will probably learn how they cause rectal cancer and our fat asses are gonna fall off....but our grand kids will be able to make some$$$ on our dead asses. Shocked Rolling Eyes also I did notice working in my shop around 40m degrees today befor I uped the heater the lights come right on...unlike the others that dont work in the cold so well.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:28 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

I bought a few of these to replace halogen units, as I got tired of replacing bulbs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BEHTOYU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have contemplated wiring up the garage and shop with a few more.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 3:19 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

Thanks for the write-up! This looks like a fairly easy upgrade for garage lighting... and seeing as how my current garage lighting is the bare bulb in the overhead door opener, anything will be an upgrade!

....Time to start planning. Smile
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:55 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

helowrench wrote:
I bought a few of these to replace halogen units, as I got tired of replacing bulbs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BEHTOYU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have contemplated wiring up the garage and shop with a few more.


I have been using a variety of sizes and styles of those cheap LED floodlights for the last couple years. Gradually replacing halogen and conventional spots.

And you can buy LED "halogen" replacement bulbs on amazon....Starting to use those as well and if you dont mind direct from china - 30 watt R7 (used in halogen floods) for about $10 each.
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:31 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

esde wrote:
Glenn wrote:
TX-73 wrote:
It seemed that the cost for 4 ft LED fixtures is still a bit high,

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-32-Watt-.../206760726

32-Watt Equivalent Cool White 4 ft. Linear T8 LED Light Bulb Maintenance Pack (10-Pack) $69.72


Those produce good light, but the ballast is still using juice. If you want the cost savings of LED lights, you need the ballast bypass bulbs. We have about 50 4 bulb fixtures at my shop, and just replace the bulbs with LED systems as the ballasts fail. Works well, move the good bulbs to the remaining lights, and rewire what needed a new ballast anyway with the LED bulbs. The cost is about the same.


The ones that I bought at Lowe's said "Works with MOST ballast". Right. Figures that they wouldn't work with my 20 year old fluorescent fixtures. Also a Lowe's product.

No matter. I went to Home Depot and got the conversion type where you rewire the fixture and dump the old Ballast. ONE LED bulb puts out as much light as 2 of the old 4' fluorescent bulbs.

I also use the LED screw in bulbs and I have more light now that ever.

Thank you OP for the LED strip idea. I will use that in my dim and flickering attached garage so Wifey T can find her car now.

Mike T
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:10 pm    Post subject: Re: LED Garage Lighting & Floodlight Reply with quote

My garage had the old fluorescent strip fixtures. I'm sure they were almost 30 years old. I was constantly fighting burnt out bulbs and ballasts. They were not cold start ballasts or tubes so they didn't work well when it got cold in my unheated garage.

I replaced them with 4ft. LED fixtures I found at Sams Club. They are equipped with grounded 3-prong cords and a pull chain. The old fixtures were hard wired so I just strategically wired in duplex outlets then simply plugged in the new lights. I bought 20 fixtures at $35 plus the outlets I think I have about $750 in the project. A much better illuminated garage, more reliable and much more energy efficient Cool

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