LED Workshop Lighting

[Stagsongas]

Over the past year or so I've been watching the market on both LED Fluorescent tubes and more regular style LED bulbs. It takes a little research to get the right items for performance and ease of fit at the best price.

I did see a a thread on here and read it once or twice but stuck with doing my own fact finding. I'm just about to complete these conversions and now I can share the experience to hopefully save anyone else time and money.

Bulbs

The first good 'find' was Toolstation, who have regular Bayonet or Eddison Screw type LED 240V bulb replacements at a mere £10 a pack of 5 - £2.00 each, and delivered!

After testing I bought rather a lot to replace every bulb in the House and Workshops. They are said to equate to an incandescent output of around 80W, but in my opinion they equate to more like an 100W bulb. Direct conversion is not so easy as they are often given a rating in Lumens, not Watts, and the Lumens per Watt consumed can vary with design. The bulbs are a direct replacement, no other changes are required. These are not suitable for dimming but that does not bother me at all.

Fluorescent Tube Replacements.

After a lot of searching and trying one or two types out in the house, I settled on these to replace my 5ft tubes (I only ever fit 5ft's to avoid the expense of other sizes);

Amazon UK

'10 pcs Auralum® 22W 5ft(150cm) T8 Fluorescent Light LED Tube Glass White(6000-6500K) 2420lm SMD2835*120LED Replaces Neon Tubes Energy Saving Daylight Lamp with LED Starters-Milky Shell' by Auralum www.amazon.co.uk
Technical Specifications: - Length:150CM - Input Voltage: 22W - Lumens: 2420LM - Color Temperature: About 6000-6500K

These come with the conversion 'Starter' included in the price - around £10.70 or so each, again with free delivery! They are a little bit brighter than the FL tubes they replace, but some of that can be down to dirt on the old ones, but still...

The extra work of converting the FL unit internal wiring is avoided by the starter replacement, although those with High Frequency FL units may need a different type of tube and more research.

For me, there is far less guilt and cost concern when switching on 20 tubes at a time as they now only use 22W apiece, and the light is instantly bright, none of that miserable start-up pallor from the Energy Saving bulbs and old style FL tubes of yesterday.

So, anyone wanting to use their lights more instead of (like me) avoiding turning them on can now have part of their life brigthened, or simply save quite a lot of money, or both.

Fill your Boots!

Steve

[Mike Stevens]

Very interesting Steve. We've been using LED bulbs for some time, mainly of the GU10 variety but with adapters to both BC (B22) and ES (E27). As you say, instant start and much less power consumed. Great in recessed bathroom lighting where you don't want too much heat dissipation.

I was introduced to LED 'Flu-tubes' by a friend last week and they also look to be very good. With his recommendation and now yours I shall have to look into them in more detail. The garage is full of fluorescent fittings!

Cheers,
Mike.

[StagJonno]

My experiences with tubes, FWIW. Got a 6' T8 double tube fluorescent fitting in the garage. A couple of months ago, one tube was dodgy so I went exploring the LED options. Tried City Electric for a double LED fitting, but was priced a bit too high (~£85), the lumens wren't great (can't remember) and would be the other side of the weekend before they could get it in.

Tried a specialist lighting shop and got a single 6' LED tube, including a "starter" replacement. 40W; 4000lumen; 4000K ("natural cool") - £35, apparently recently being reduced from ~£42. Made by Luceco. Preferred getting local as if problems, I can go back face to face.

Just changing one of the tubes allows a direct comparison with the remaining 70W fluorescent (although this is perhaps getting a little elderly). The LED is definitely brighter as well as just over 50% energy consumption. 30,000-hour life (will probably see me out!) with 3-year guarantee - what's not to like. Going to wait a few more months before getting another in the hope that the price may be down further by then.

Jonno

[KOY 23]

I have gone for COB GU10 replacements. Look just like halogens and give same colour light 2700-3000K. Many of the high output LEDs, IMHO give a far too cold light at 6000K +.

[new to this]

I have gone for COB GU10 replacements. Look just like halogens and give same colour light 2700-3000K. Many of the high output LEDs, IMHO give a far too cold light at 6000K +.

i like the cold light of cool white LED,s but most people seem to go for the warm white,LED,s are great when using without dimmers,but when you want to dim them it can be fun and games some times

Dave

[Stagsongas]

Very interesting Steve. We've been using LED bulbs for some time, mainly of the GU10 variety but with adapters to both BC (B22) and ES (E27). As you say, instant start and much less power consumed. Great in recessed bathroom lighting where you don't want too much heat dissipation.

I was introduced to LED 'Flu-tubes' by a friend last week and they also look to be very good. With his recommendation and now yours I shall have to look into them in more detail. The garage is full of fluorescent fittings!

Cheers,
Mike.

Mike,

I certainly learned a lot of new terms, GU this and ES that. Gone are the days when you went an got a 60W bayonet which was easy, as that's all they'd got in the shop, their only question was "Clear or Pearl? Needless to say I always got the wrong one, but I was only 6.

There are plenty of bulb fitting identification websites available on Google etc. to help update the brain. The LED bulbs are a huge success in the house and in outside bulkhead PIR lamps, but more importantly in my machine shop where there are 14 plus individual machine lamps. For £2 each (the price of a cheaper ES bulb) there is no contest.

As for the workshop. like yours it has a lot of Florries. When they're gobbling 80W or so each, switching 10 of them on is something you may think twice about. Now that's 22W each (virtually 1KW for 4 hours) the lights will go on more often and I'll still save around 50% of the Electricity overall. Now I'm pleased with the performance of the first 10 tubes I've ordered the remaining 20 this morning.

And just to add, now you can get a PIR LED floodlghts using only 10W for £15 or so, I've done all of those too. I always hated the thought of 300W being set off incessantly on a windy night, but when it's 10W you worry less. That idea spead a little to mounting them on the stand/work lights I already had. They had 300W filament bulbs so I fitted the LED PIR's instead and just turned the delay up to full.

....And there was light......And you can see for bloody miles!


Now I've done all this, the best part of all is that I'm using less of the Solar Power we generate here, sending more of it to the grid at 50p a Kw pop. I Like it, I like it a lot!

Regards

Steve

[Stagsongas]

Jonno,

Take a look on Amazon, you'll kick the price to bits with a bit of scroll/click.

Regards

Steve

[StagJonno]

Jonno,

Take a look on Amazon, you'll kick the price to bits with a bit of scroll/click.

Regards

Steve

Good point, Steve - will do. I did check Amazon before I went out locally, but got a little confused with the variations and wanted some more advice/ experience toe in the water before jumping in. I'll graze Amazon tonight - I'm also looking for another light to go over the bench.

Jonno

[StagJonno]

Checking Amazon tonight, I realise why I gave up on them before. There are several differences in ways of converting existing tubes, plus they don't seem to do a 6' tube with an output over 2700 lumen (the one I got is 4000, so much brighter). Screwfix are now offering this Luceco tube (c/w replacement starter) for £28.49 so I'll pick one up when next in Newcastle.

[mjheathcote]

Now I've done all this, the best part of all is that I'm using less of the Solar Power we generate here, sending more of it to the grid at 50p a Kw pop. I Like it, I like it a lot!

Regards

Steve

My understanding from several friends who have solar panels is that you get paid for all you generate.
Then while the sun is shining if you can use as much as you generate it's free, you only pay for the amount above what the panels can give you if the panels can't supply the demand.
I was surprised to find this out, but apparently it's just too complicated (but not impossible) to do it how you expect.
That's why energy companies are not too happy about the development of solar storage batteries being developed by tesla etc. It's a win win then, you get paid for all you generate plus because of storage, you also can use all you generate at the same time!
Of course this might be different between commercial and domestic installations, and stand to be corrected.

[DJT]

My understanding from several friends who have solar panels is that you get paid for all you generate.
Then while the sun is shining if you can use as much as you generate it's free, you only pay for the amount above what the panels can give you if the panels can't supply the demand.
I was surprised to find this out, but apparently it's just too complicated (but not impossible) to do it how you expect.
That's why energy companies are not too happy about the development of solar storage batteries being developed by tesla etc. It's a win win then, you get paid for all you generate plus because of storage, you also can use all you generate at the same time!
Of course this might be different between commercial and domestic installations, and stand to be corrected.

Hi Mike,

We've had solar PV panels installed for just over 4 years. There is a meter installed beside the consumer unit and the readings are submitted to the feed in tariff company quarterly. We get paid an index-linked sum for every KW produced, plus a much smaller amount for 50% of every KW produced, which is what is estimated goes back into the grid.
When first installed we had an old-fashioned 'spinning disc' electric meter and whenever the sun was shining this meter ran backwards. I eventually disclosed this to the electricity supplier who promptly changed it for a digital meter. This one now reads 'Red' when our production exceeds usage and we are exporting. Our 16 panels are currently ( ) earning us around £1700 per year.

[Stagsongas]

Checking Amazon tonight, I realise why I gave up on them before. There are several differences in ways of converting existing tubes, plus they don't seem to do a 6' tube with an output over 2700 lumen (the one I got is 4000, so much brighter). Screwfix are now offering this Luceco tube (c/w replacement starter) for £28.49 so I'll pick one up when next in Newcastle.

Jonno,

Good to see you're getting what you need at a lower price. I guess LED's will do what all new market items do, decrease in price as they gain popularity. The first person I know that had then fitted (albeit as complete FL units) paid over £100 per unit.

Your experience shows that doing your research is paramount, and if we do that we are more likely to get exactly what we want for less money (Stag bits excluded!)

Regards

Steve

[Stagsongas]

Hi Mike,

We've had solar PV panels installed for just over 4 years. There is a meter installed beside the consumer unit and the readings are submitted to the feed in tariff company quarterly. We get paid an index-linked sum for every KW produced, plus a much smaller amount for 50% of every KW produced, which is what is estimated goes back into the grid.

When first installed we had an old-fashioned 'spinning disc' electric meter and whenever the sun was shining this meter ran backwards. I eventually disclosed this to the electricity supplier who promptly changed it for a digital meter. This one now reads 'Red' when our production exceeds usage and we are exporting. Our 16 panels are currently ( ) earning us around £1700 per year.

Dave,

Yes, it was almost funny that older meters went backwards and it was wise of you to get that sorted. They could go retrospective on you years later on if the anomaly were spotted.

My Solar PV was fitted the month before the big reduction in the FiT (Feed in Tarriff for others). I have 19 panels with a max. generation of 3.52Kw which you never achieve for more than seconds. I get around £2k a year tax free from the FiT payments. In 3.5 years it is now clear that the projected yield was almost smack on in predicting the actual yield and the system will be paid for in 6.5 years or thereabouts. I'm very pleased I did it, although lashing out £12 odd k was a bit of a leap of faith.

Mike,

A lot of confusion is caused by those deals where a company fits a system 'free' to a houseowner's roof, the company gets all the FiT payments and the houseowner gets the free power. Problem is that they only get that free power during the day when the panels are generating. i.e. when they consume the least. At night, when most people use most of their power, they get nothing. This kind of deal can also make a house harder to sell as the roof has been 'sold' for 25 yrs. Buyers can be put of by that as they are not then free to have their own system installed. I would never advise anyone to go for this apprently attractive deal, if you're going to do it, buy your own system.

As Dave and your good self have already said, we get paid for every Kw produced as it all goes to the grid, but we also have a meter to show what we have drawn and used from the grid, we still get a bill like anyone else. During sunlight hours any power used comes straight from the panels first, and any shortfall is made up from the grid. At night we generate nothing significant (yes the Moon actually does give a Watt or two now and then) and pay for our power like anyone else. The difference is that we don't pay for what is generated and used immediately on site, but we do still get paid for making it and using it. In this way the normal, grid fed electricity bill is not wiped out although it is substantially reduced.

For a workshop, Solar is ideally suited as more effectively free power is used first when you are day working, this is not so with most Domestic installations and certianly would not be with mine.

Regards

Steve

[edd]

Dave,

Yes, it was almost funny that older meters went backwards and it was wise of you to get that sorted. They could go retrospective on you years later on if the anomaly were spotted.

My Solar PV was fitted the month before the big reduction in the FiT (Feed in Tarriff for others). I have 19 panels with a max. generation of 3.52Kw which you never achieve for more than seconds. I get around £2k a year tax free from the FiT payments. In 3.5 years it is now clear that the projected yield was almost smack on in predicting the actual yield and the system will be paid for in 6.5 years or thereabouts. I'm very pleased I did it, although lashing out £12 odd k was a bit of a leap of faith.

Mike,

A lot of confusion is caused by those deals where a company fits a system 'free' to a houseowner's roof, the company gets all the FiT payments and the houseowner gets the free power. Problem is that they only get that free power during the day when the panels are generating. i.e. when they consume the least. At night, when most people use most of their power, they get nothing. This kind of deal can also make a house harder to sell as the roof has been 'sold' for 25 yrs. Buyers can be put of by that as they are not then free to have their own system installed. I would never advise anyone to go for this apprently attractive deal, if you're going to do it, buy your own system.

As Dave and your good self have already said, we get paid for every Kw produced as it all goes to the grid, but we also have a meter to show what we have drawn and used from the grid, we still get a bill like anyone else. During sunlight hours any power used comes straight from the panels first, and any shortfall is made up from the grid. At night we generate nothing significant (yes the Moon actually does give a Watt or two now and then) and pay for our power like anyone else. The difference is that we don't pay for what is generated and used immediately on site, but we do still get paid for making it and using it. In this way the normal, grid fed electricity bill is not wiped out although it is substantially reduced.

For a workshop, Solar is ideally suited as more effectively free power is used first when you are day working, this is not so with most Domestic installations and certianly would not be with mine.

Regards

Steve

Excellent advice Steve. I have seen first hand many installations fitted to roofs that now leak. It also makes you think about the weight of these panels and after so many years what effect it has on the structure. I enjoy slating ( excuse the pun ) the sales person when they call me.
Edd

[Stagsongas]

Excellent advice Steve. I have seen first hand many installations fitted to roofs that now leak. It also makes you think about the weight of these panels and after so many years what effect it has on the structure. I enjoy slating ( excuse the pun ) the sales person when they call me.
Edd

Thanks Edd.

I'm not the slightest bit surprised at leaks developing as installers aren't Roofers or Builders, and probably don't fully appreciate that rain can go diagonally or horizontally under a tile or slate that pokes up a little at an edge. What taught me more than anything about rooves was a curious wet patch on my last home's garage ceiling. It was a very Snowy Winter and after much ado, it was found that whirling Snow had gone vertically UPWARDS around and into the ventilated soffit gap, and then melted on the back of the Plasterboard!

Weight calculations should always be done, panels weigh quite a bit for sure but (Aerodynamicist's head on) the lift generated when wind blows under the panels really should be considered too. When the panels are mounted at an angle (almost always the case) this provides an angle of attack to the airflow, a principle of flight. A gap must be left under the PV panels for cooling, it should not be blocked off and they should never be surface mounted. An airflow entering there at the right velocity certainly does generate lift to the point where the panels and parts of the roof covering can be torn right off.

That's worst case scenario but the constant and apparent changes in the effective weight of the panels [Lifting and then settling] can and does loosen tiles or slates around the fixings over time.

Try that on the salesmen when they claim they do the load calc.s, but probably in a downward direction only, and then Slate them a bit more!

Regards

Steve