New LED lighting

[Pete.]

I fitted my new LED strip lights in the workshop today and was very pleased with the increase in lighting. I bought 8no 'natural white' 24w T8 units. They are super easy to fit just by screwing two clips into the ceiling then clipping them in, and they come with little connectors that let you plug one strip directly into another to daisy-chain them and create one long strip of lights. My workshop is 5m x 4m so I installed them in 4 rows of two lights (though you can only see three rows in the photo). I ran new wires to all the lamps and then shut the power down and un-wired the old fluorescents and ran the switch feed to the new lights:

I'm well impressed, I no longer have a 'dark corner' and I don't need to run a lamp when using the lathe. The light really is 'all over'.

So flushed with my success tidied the workshop and went to lock it up for the night, turned off the lights - and they didn't go out!

Then I remembered reading this:

Neutral switch they flicker when off so live to switch

So I re-wired the junction box to switch the live feed instead of the neutral and they all went off properly. Happy days!

Definitely worth it IMO. The 8 units come to less than 200w total and light the workshop up great.

 

[gaz1]

yeah you think great all wired in everything working

then its get on with other jobs and then its time for home then its blast there flickering



its why i mentioned it and posted a pic for reference

there really bright in there arnt they as @Burdekin found out

i found in some cases the brightness gave me a headache so had 1 side on its own switch the other side on another switch then its your choice if you want all on or just one side your working at

 

[ukracer]

I fitted my new LED strip lights in the workshop today and was very pleased with the increase in lighting. I bought 8no 'natural white' 24w T8 units. They are super easy to fit just by screwing two clips into the ceiling then clipping them in, and they come with little connectors that let you plug one strip directly into another to daisy-chain them and create one long strip of lights. My workshop is 5m x 4m so I installed them in 4 rows of two lights (though you can only see three rows in the photo). I ran new wires to all the lamps and then shut the power down and un-wired the old fluorescents and ran the switch feed to the new lights:

View attachment 168460

I'm well impressed, I no longer have a 'dark corner' and I don't need to run a lamp when using the lathe. The light really is 'all over'.

So flushed with my success tidied the workshop and went to lock it up for the night, turned off the lights - and they didn't go out!

View attachment 168461

Then I remembered reading this:



So I re-wired the junction box to switch the live feed instead of the neutral and they all went off properly. Happy days!

Definitely worth it IMO. The 8 units come to less than 200w total and light the workshop up great.

Sorry to be a pain what length...and cover did you get.

 

[Pete.]

Sorry to be a pain what length...and cover did you get.

5 foot, 4000k, milky cover.

 

[DAPPH]

I've used a double pole isolator switch for the strip LED lights in my man cupboard . Pete if you don't mind me asking what did you have to pay for them all ?

 

[gaz1]

pay for your lights 14.00 per light and then its 10.00 postage for a box full of lights same price 10.00 i think it is

links on the post i did above

 

[Burdekin]

yeah you think great all wired in everything working

then its get on with other jobs and then its time for home then its blast there flickering

View attachment 168462

its why i mentioned it and posted a pic for reference

there really bright in there arnt they as @Burdekin found out

i found in some cases the brightness gave me a headache so had 1 side on its own switch the other side on another switch then its your choice if you want all on or just one side your working at

Painting on the weekend and it was okay. Not too bright for how I like.

 

[DAPPH]

pay for your lights 14.00 per light and then its 10.00 postage for a box full of lights same price 10.00 i think it is

links on the post i did above

Thankyou indeed.
Dave

 

[Pete.]

Yep that's it £14 each and a tenner postage regardless. You get one end power connector and one joiner connector with every light plus two mounting clips. The only thing you need after that is the electrical wire and one small junction box for every power connector you use. Doesn't need to be fancy just a housing with a block connector inside.

 

[RichardM]

Look good Pete, I may have to splash out

 

[Pete.]

Follow-up.

These LED battens are 3.5 yrs old and getting a bit tired in their light output. That wasn't bothering me too much but now one has gone out completely, so I am rplacing them like for like. I figure the energy savings alone from moving away from tube lights is enough to warrant it. 8no 5ft LED battens are now £135 which is only £13 more than in 2019 which I think is not bad.

Have to say I would not be replacing them with the same type again except that these are just swap-out on the same clips and electrical fittings. I would have hoped to get more lifespan out of them although, they have racked up a lot of hours since I fitted them.

 

[gaz1]

many have found out with usage they seem to lose there brightness

like the leds have failed in them dropping there brightness by getting dimmer and dimmer until the unit finnaly fails to light

would that be your experience pete

 

[8ob]

I have found the LED`s are falling way short of their "guaranteed" life expectancy, I dont think mine are on for five hours a day seven days a week and I have changed most of them inside three years. That's a tenth of their supposed life expectancy, also noticed they start to generate a lot of heat when they are on the way out so probably using a lot more leccy to run them. Jury is still out whether they are a good idea or not.

Bob

 

[Pete.]

many have found out with usage they seem to lose there brightness

like the leds have failed in them dropping there brightness by getting dimmer and dimmer until the unit finnaly fails to light

would that be your experience pete

Pretty much, they have started failing from the ends inwards.

I guess you cannot complain much when you buy the cheapest of something you don't expect it to last like the best of that thing.

 

[Chippie]

I have 6 x 4 foot flueys in my workshop garage, checked their current draw with a clamp on ammeter and nearly had a coronary. So Swapped the tubes out for led ones, £42 from Toolstation….current draw less than half now, so I can afford to work in there again…

 

[Brad93]

We've had the cheap battens and had numerous failures. Our electrical contractor fitted some proper IP65 ones in the stables and one of those gives out the same output as 4 of the cheapies. Three years on and they're still super bright. They don't get lots of use though.

 

[brightspark]

I have found the LED`s are falling way short of their "guaranteed" life expectancy, I dont think mine are on for five hours a day seven days a week and I have changed most of them inside three years. That's a tenth of their supposed life expectancy, also noticed they start to generate a lot of heat when they are on the way out so probably using a lot more leccy to run them. Jury is still out whether they are a good idea or not.

Bob

buy quality branded ones with 3 year warranty . ive fit 20 in a shop and there on 7 days a week and now been fitted 10 years

 

[knighty]

I've installed a bunch of those lights, probably over 40

the first ones I bought are still going strong, they're on 12 hours a day

the more recent ones have been worse... and the most recent ones totally crap :-(

I'm assuming they switched to cheaper parts, it's almost always the drivers failing not the LEDs themselvs


I've switched to using these now https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel01617/led-light-fitting-24w-1534mm-6500k/dp/LA08123

no failures so far


I haven't found expensive LEDs last any longer than decent cheap ones

 

[ukracer]

I have found the LED`s are falling way short of their "guaranteed" life expectancy, I dont think mine are on for five hours a day seven days a week and I have changed most of them inside three years. That's a tenth of their supposed life expectancy, also noticed they start to generate a lot of heat when they are on the way out so probably using a lot more leccy to run them. Jury is still out whether they are a good idea or not.

Bob

I have found the Led replacements for the G9s in our kitchen are useless. Too yellow and they keep blowing.

 

[Pete.]

I've installed a bunch of those lights, probably over 40

the first ones I bought are still going strong, they're on 12 hours a day

the more recent ones have been worse... and the most recent ones totally crap :-(

I'm assuming they switched to cheaper parts, it's almost always the drivers failing not the LEDs themselvs


I've switched to using these now https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel01617/led-light-fitting-24w-1534mm-6500k/dp/LA08123

no failures so far


I haven't found expensive LEDs last any longer than decent cheap ones

Those are 2/3 the cost of the ones I bought!