This is a view of my fabrication shop with ALL the lights on. [click any pic to enlarge] The lights in this room are almost NEVER All On. One of my principles of efficient lighting is to only use what I need. I have five lighting "zones" in this one room so I can have the amount and location of lighting that I need.
I switch my lights manually and I am pretty good at remembering to turn off when I leave the room. I tried motion sensing switches but they annoy me. None of these lights are network controllable, all are manual!
When I arrived here five years ago, there were four dual 40 watt T12 florescent lights on the ceiling switchable in two banks. The lights were along the sides of the room. The lamp fixtures were old and some of the lamps didn't work. Some of the fixtures had already been reused and were painted deep red.
Switching on the lights caused interference on my FM radio. See exploring efficient workshop lighting alternatives The title picture is approximately the same view as this article, five years ago (called P2 on the plan below).
Originally, there was no light in the center of the room. I added a circuit to the panel for an "island" in the center of the workshop ceiling with switchable lights (purple and yellow on the diagram) and a hanging power pendant. Both the lights are controlled with pull switches. Yellow is a High Output (HO) dual 50 watt T5 florescent (100 watt total) and purple are two LED bulbs, each 10watts (20 watt total).
The two LED bulbs provide the lowest level of illumination in the room at a cost of only 20 watts. Perfectly adequate basic illumination from two points near the center of the room.
Later, I added another pull chain controlled dual four foot 32watt T8 fixture over another bench in the bottom corner (blue). This is the fixture I used for the test below.
At move-in the ceiling was dirty white. I painted the ceiling with two coats of pure white latex in patches as I removed fixtures for rebuilding. Now, after four years, the ceiling is again turning a dirty white but not as bad as it was. I should probably repaint it.
The lamp showing the lettering was facing down, the other one is showing the "up" side, the side you normally don't see, the side facing the fixture. The accumulated dirt/dust cuts down the amount of light leaving half of the lamp.
Cleaning! So simple yet so effective! A lot of climbing the ladder in the last two days as I inspected and cleaned the eight fixtures that are now on the ceiling.
I also tried two new LED "instant replacements".
I bought Philips 32W replacement LED lamps a couple years ago and have been using them in the paint area. I have been pleased with them, judging them to be similar brightness to 32W fluorescent lamps but instantly full bright but twice the price. I believe two years ago, the Philips LED lamps were on sale at C$30.
I notice that now, the Philips lamps are glass. The earlier ones were encased in a plastic tube which would bend just slightly. The new Philips tubes also have lots of warning labels including about fire hazard. Perhaps the glass is needed for high temperatures? The lamps certainly do get warm, almost as warm as florescent.
Curiously, Ecosmart calls their bulbs "daylight" at 5000K. The naming of color temperature is a bit of a wild west I think, the degrees Kelvin should be a better guide or actually comparing in your own environment. Some time ago I did a piece on comparing conventional, compact florescent and LED bulbs and compared some of the visual effect of different color temperatures.
I installed the Philips and the Ecosmart bulbs in several different fixtures here but made measurements at bench height from the blue fixture
| Comparison of lamp types | ||
| Lamp | Brightness FC | Temp (5 min) |
|---|---|---|
| Philips ALTO 32w florescent | 46 | 35C |
| Ecosmart 20w LED | 52 | 33C |
| Philips 17w LED | 36.5 | 26C |
The Philips are not as bright as my typical T8 florescent. The Ecosmart is the brightest. The Ecosmart uses less power than the florescent, but more than the Philips LED.
Temperature was measured with an infrared temperature meter. Brightness was measured with a footcandle meter.
One detail of the comparison is that the LEDs came to full brightness immediately whereas the florescent takes several minutes to come to full brightness. Even longer at near zero temperatures. So the LED has a real advantage in my shop in winter.
Another detail is that general ceiling lighting is good for benchtop brighness but several of the machines, even with light fixtures directly over them, regardless of lamp type, need work lights ahead of the blade since the machine itself shields some of the overhead light. The band saw and the radial arm saw are examples that will need more attention for better safety.
Thank you for your interest,
George Plhak
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada
