# Good Deal on LED Shop Lights



## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

Just thought I would throw this out there if anyone is looking for some new shop lights.

Costco has a Feit 3700 lumen LED shop light on sale right now for $31.99. It has 4.5 stars on Amazon. It includes the LEDs. I bought one today and it added a tremendous amount of light to my poorly lit garage. I may add a couple more!

One thing to note is that this is a plug-in type light, so it would have to be on a switched socket, or a remotely controlled socket.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

How does it compare in brightness to a 2x T8 fixture?


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

I didn't replace a T8, so I can't speak from experience, but based on lumen output, it's about 30% more. A 32-watt T8 puts out 2850 lumens.

Although, that could be per bulb; in which case, the T8 would be brighter.


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## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

I found a T8 bulb that was 2800 lumens per bulb and $2.50. The rated life is about 24,000 versus 50,000 hours for LED.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

The only thing is this is rated at 4100 Kelvin, which is a cool white, or bright white. I have over my benches where I do my staining and coloring fluorescents with daylight bulbs, which are above 5000 K. I learned the hard way years ago to always use daylight bulbs for proper coloring.
They might be good for other parts of my shop, though. I get sick of replacing fluorescent bulbs.


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## altendky (May 7, 2012)

I believe the 2850 lumen of a 'standard' T8 is per bulb so the LED is less. My calculations have put the efficiency in the back seat as it's only a 10% or so improvement. The instant on, no flickering, and improved life are the value. If limiting yourself to this option then the color temp may be a significant issue though. Note that most personal shops are not going to get the rated life out of a flourescent bulb because they are intended to be turned on and left that way more or less. Also, I wouldn't be getting LED bulb's except that I get them at Costco where I can have the store honor the warranty effectively (not looking to abuse, I've only returned two or three items in 10 years). Even if the 22 year rated bulbs I've gotten so far only last 10, odds are by then there will be something niftier anyways.


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

They are definitely very white, but for general lighting, it was a good enough deal for me!


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## tsdahc (Dec 18, 2011)

I have so far installed 4 of these in my shop, I like them. Some advantages is they are bright, they are light and if you drop them they dont shatter (bulbs are plastic). Also Costco has the best return policy so if they die, they go back and Im not out any money but so far I have not had any issues. They are not daylight as stated above but I have 6 LED can lights in the same area that are daylight (what can I say I like a bright shop after working in my previous dungeon shop). I find I like the mixture of 5000K can lights and the 4100K shop lights. As far as compared to a regular T8, I didn't notice much difference in how bright the light is, only notable difference was in color. One thing to note on the difference between LED T8 style lights compared to regular T8 bulbs, LED are directional where as regular T8 throws lights 360 degrees. A LED can be less lumen and still give you more light as it is directed down where as a regular T8 has to rely on a reflector to take light and redirect it down. Im happy with them. When I complete my shop I will have 14 LED Daylight can lights, 6 LED shop lights on the ceiling and 2 LED shop lights under cabinets. The real advantage for me is heat savings and power draw. My can lights are 1100 lumens each 75 watt replacements, if your looking for a bright bulb you cant beat G7 Power LED light bulbs their 4000K BR30 bulb is 1175 lumens 13 watts and the 5000k bulb is 1100 13 watts. If I would have went with incandescent and fluorescent my total lighting wattage would have been 1658 watts, with the LED I am running at 450 watts.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Any idea how these do below 32°F…. near 0°F? My fluorescents drop about 75% of the output when it gets really cold.


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## BigMig (Mar 31, 2011)

Sorry for an additional question

but If I'm using 4' fluorescent shop light fixtures, isn't that light also not perfect daylight? What temp are they and would the LEDs be an upgrade? Or would I still be off when looking for subtle color effects?

Thanks all !


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

Mike,
Fluorescent bulbs come in a range of color temps….


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## Lucasd2002 (Sep 12, 2014)

Almost makes me want to join costco. For those that installed these, my understanding is that they come with a cord and plug… is that correct?

Did you hard-wire them in your shop or just plug them in?


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Mike, I used to buy whatever fluorescent was the cheapest, then I started looking at how my work looked different when I took pictures for the new owners, usually outside. Then I started looking for daylight bulbs, and it changed things quite a bit. I have some LED's in my house, and overall I find them to be a little bluer than daylight bulbs. You can buy daylight LED's now, but they are expensive.


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

> Sorry for an additional question
> 
> but If I m using 4 fluorescent shop light fixtures, isn t that light also not perfect daylight? What temp are they and would the LEDs be an upgrade? Or would I still be off when looking for subtle color effects?
> 
> ...


Light bulb temps cover the range and are measured in degrees Kelvin.

2800-3000K Soft white. Very yellow, but easy on the eyes. Best for reading lamps and general household lighting where you will be for long periods.

3500K-4100K Cool white. 3500K will seem to have a pinkish tone, while 4100K is a bit blue. Best for office and work lighting that doesn't involve color precision. A bit harsher on the eyes than soft white, but offers the perception of more light output for the same energy level. Most fluorescent will be in this range.

If you want to see what it does to color, take something that has some red tones from outside to 4100K fluorescent and the visual appearance will change drastically. Since brown usually contains quite a bit of red tones, this temp is not a good choice for a finishing room, but would work well for over a workbench.

5000K and up. Daylight. Much harsher on the eyes, but gives a more accurate color rendering similar to sunlight. If you want to be as close as possible to true sunlight, look at 6500K color corrected bulbs, such as those used in color chip displays at paint stores.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

If you are wanting good color rendering…. look at the CRI on the package that is the "COLOR RENDERING INDEX". 
And T8 and T12 wit the same basic name on the label are different from each other.

100 is 'pefect'. so look at the CRI number as a '% of Standard' the higher the better and nothing exceeds 100.

The T12 lamps today, have CRI that is UNIVERSALLY higher than the T8 (except some specialty museum and aquarium lamps)

Most LED and Fluorescent lamps today are around 82

Many have compared "cool white" halophosphor lamps with a CRI of 59, and then purchased 5000K lamps with a 90 CRI.
That is driven by the phosphor used inside the lamp, and not what the color of the light is.

If you go to the BORG…. the T12 lamps are all 88-93 CRI.
The old Cool White has been outlawed. So you now see "Cool White Supreme" 
T8's are all in the 80's
The numbering for e.g. "841" is the first number '8' is that the CRI is in the 80's and the 41 is 4100.

835 is 3500K and 85 CRI
850 is 5000K and 82 CRI.

The T8 Daylight - - 6500K has only a 76 CRI.
So as you go bluer the Color rendering gets worse.
Daylight CRI stinks because the Department of Energy wanted the Light Output to be 2% brighter, so the Color Rendering was sacrificed for output.

That approach is 'industry standard'


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

> I have so far installed 4 of these in my shop, I like them. Some advantages is they are bright, they are light and if you drop them they dont shatter (bulbs are plastic). Also Costco has the best return policy so if they die, they go back and Im not out any money but so far I have not had any issues. They are not daylight as stated above but I have 6 LED can lights in the same area that are daylight (what can I say I like a bright shop after working in my previous dungeon shop). I find I like the mixture of 5000K can lights and the 4100K shop lights. As far as compared to a regular T8, I didn t notice much difference in how bright the light is, only notable difference was in color. *One thing to note on the difference between LED T8 style lights compared to regular T8 bulbs, LED are directional where as regular T8 throws lights 360 degrees. A LED can be less lumen and still give you more light as it is directed down where as a regular T8 has to rely on a reflector to take light and redirect it down.* Im happy with them. When I complete my shop I will have 14 LED Daylight can lights, 6 LED shop lights on the ceiling and 2 LED shop lights under cabinets. The real advantage for me is heat savings and power draw. My can lights are 1100 lumens each 75 watt replacements, if your looking for a bright bulb you cant beat G7 Power LED light bulbs their 4000K BR30 bulb is 1175 lumens 13 watts and the 5000k bulb is 1100 13 watts. If I would have went with incandescent and fluorescent my total lighting wattage would have been 1658 watts, with the LED I am running at 450 watts.
> 
> - tsdahc


Very good point. I had forgotten about that little nugget of information!


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## altendky (May 7, 2012)

> As far as compared to a regular T8, I didn t notice much difference in how bright the light is, only notable difference was in color. One thing to note on the difference between LED T8 style lights compared to regular T8 bulbs, LED are directional where as regular T8 throws lights 360 degrees. A LED can be less lumen and still give you more light as it is directed down where as a regular T8 has to rely on a reflector to take light and redirect it down. Im happy with them.
> 
> - tsdahc


Good point about the directionality. Also, human perception of light is not linear so if you say something is twice as bright, it's a lot more than twice as many lumens. In other words, 50% difference in lumens isn't really that big of a deal.



> If you are wanting good color rendering…. look at the CRI on the package that is the "COLOR RENDERING INDEX".
> 
> -DrDirt


I haven't found a direct spec on the CRI of the Costco Feit shop lights (I did look on the box in the store) but the best I can tell is they claim >=80 based on Feit 73991.


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

> Any idea how these do below 32°F…. near 0°F? My fluorescents drop about 75% of the output when it gets really cold.
> 
> - knotscott


The only thing in reference to temperature that I could find on those lamps is the lowest starting temp: -13 F. Although that doesn't tell you if they'll be at 100% brightness at that temp, from what I remember reading in the past, the LEDs aren't really susceptible to temperature degradation.


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

> Almost makes me want to join costco. For those that installed these, my understanding is that they come with a cord and plug… is that correct?
> 
> Did you hard-wire them in your shop or just plug them in?
> 
> - Lucasd2002


That is correct. I just plugged it in.


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## altendky (May 7, 2012)

> Any idea how these do below 32°F…. near 0°F? My fluorescents drop about 75% of the output when it gets really cold.
> 
> - knotscott
> 
> ...


I don't know about the shop lights but the Feit flood lamps I got at Costco haven't bothered me in my back yard despite 20F and below temps recently. I wouldn't say I've have analyzed their warm up time in detail but that's because I have never observed any indication of such.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

Altendky -
Indeed on the spec link









it is likelyl 82 - -

LED lamps absolutely LOVE the cold.

Point of the long rant above - is there is a misconception that the "bluer" high CCT lamps have better Color rendering. The market did work that way for the products available before 2012.

It used to be that 4100K Cool White lamps were actually just a single white powder coating (super cheap), but a crummy CRI.
There is/was a whole range of these Single Halophosphor coatings from 2900K to 8000K.
However the 5000 and 6500K (Daylight) were outlawed because they were not bright enough to meet the efficacy standard. At that time 75 Lumens/Watt.

There is an exemption for lamps with a CRI Equal or Greater than 87. SO what had been on the market for the 5000 K lamps were "Exempt" (Philips was called Colortone 50 or C50) from the Department of Energy regulation.

Today ALL of the T12 products are "high color rendering" Exempt lamps. The old cool white etc is now illegal to be manufactured or imported…. though some stores may have old stocks.

There are many different powders we use to adjust for color, CRI and Lumen output. So it is a mistake to assume that Blue + better color rendering.

Use the actual RENDERING which must be on the box by law. Just like the lamp has to be marked with country of origin.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

I replaced an old circular double florescent fixture in my basement (not the shop) with a cheap ceiling LED from Lowes. I was startled by how warm the color was from it. Have no idea of the color temp, just that the color is more like an incandescent, or even warmer.

I just installed 4 can LEDs in a basement room I'm finishing off. They are astonishingly bright, and very white. But I think we'll be okay if we remember to wear shades when we go in that room.


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## MinnesotaMarty (Jan 25, 2015)

Great information guys. For me, this thread alone was worth the time to sign up and join this forum. 
Who says you can't teach an ole dog new tricks. I'm going to Costco to get one of those fixtures for the garage this weekend.

Marty


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

> Great information guys. For me, this thread alone was worth the time to sign up and join this forum.
> Who says you can t teach an ole dog new tricks. I m going to Costco to get one of those fixtures for the garage this weekend.
> 
> Marty
> ...


Guess it was worth "throwing this out there" then!


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## altendky (May 7, 2012)

For completeness, Costco now has this item listed on their website as a two-pack… for $90. That's $13 more each than the in-store sale price and $5 more each than the regular price. Still, may be worthwhile for some.


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## ChadRat6458 (Sep 10, 2014)

I noticed Home Depot lowered their price to $40. Different brand but it is a 4ft led shop light. I don't have a costco near me so I might pick one up to try out.


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## SuperCubber (Feb 23, 2012)

If you do, let us know how you like it. Does it include the bulbs?


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## RobS888 (May 7, 2013)

> Almost makes me want to join costco. For those that installed these, my understanding is that they come with a cord and plug… is that correct?
> 
> Did you hard-wire them in your shop or just plug them in?
> 
> - Lucasd2002


Costco is a great place. I believe their prices are comparable to other big lot type places. 
Their policies set them apart to me. They pay $11.50 to start and around $20 dollars later on. I believe their average yearly wage is over $40,000. The employees seem very nice to me.

I joined after reading how the CEO told Wall street to pound sand. The experts said if he dropped his wage to say Sam's club wage and dropped health care his stock would rise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=8b31033c5b6a6d68&ex=1279252800


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

I saw these things at Costco and took interest. 
I do a fair amount of custom LED lighting for various displays, etc. and have dug quite deep into the seedy world of LED lighting.

Things are evolving fast, so just a few comments on these and similar LED lights. Most of this will be obvious but in case anyone didn't know….

First off, there is nothing in common between these lights and true 4' tube fluorescent lights. They are simply a LED light formed into a long tube, you cannot put these LED bulbs into a fluorescent fixture or put fluorescents into the LED fixture.
The price is not to shabby, LEDs don't get the slow warm ups in cold like the fluorescents. 
If you think you will save energy, you probably won't. Fluorescents are about 100 Lumens per watt, LEDs are currently pushing into that efficiency range. For all practical purposes, they are equivalent.

Fluorescents tend to have a spiky light spectrum, though you can get better bulbs (such as 'daylight') which will be a lot better for work like staining where you need to see 'real' colors.
The LEDs are also rather spiky, look for a high color rendition index (CRI), 95 or better would be great.
Note that you are stuck with the LED specs as they come from the factory, you can't really go out and get different bulbs for these fixtures like you can for old-school fluorescents.

In my mind, the only thing you really gain by replacing old fluorescents with these lights are faster turn on times and longer light life. Spend some time and clean your old tubes and fixtures from the years of sawdust, you'll be amazed.


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## BikerDad (Jul 16, 2008)

Just an FYI on these lights:

They do not have a pull chain. If you want to be able to turn them on/off, they must either be plugged into a switched outlet, or you'll need to add a switch to the light.


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## altendky (May 7, 2012)

> Use the actual RENDERING which must be on the box by law.
> 
> - DrDirt


Unless I'm mistaken, this box doesn't list anything about rendering. Perhaps there is an exception for shop lights? *shrug*

It's a bit excessive but I took some pictures in case anybody wants the details without going to Costco.


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## Garbanzolasvegas (Jan 15, 2015)

I got some 4 inch LED can lights for the rooms upstaitrs and never looked back, They are a bit prices but in my life I will never have to put new bulbs in them, the light they trough out is wonderful. They don't get too hot so you don't have to worry about insulation over the top of them AND each light uses a whopping 8 WATTS!!1 8 WATTS!!!!!! So I have less wattage lighting my entire second floor than I do in one closet downstairs wit ha regular bulb


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Since they havent been mentioned in a while I thought I'd stir the pot and dredge up T-5 HO lights.
A typical T5-54W-HO bulb has a life expectancy of 40,000 hours, a CRI of 85, a lumen output of 5000 and a color of 5000K. Other colors are available of course.

Referring to the earlier comment about LEDs directing all their light in one direction, that is true.

Not mentioned, but a factor in effeciency, is the diameter of the flouresent tube. The larger the tube, the more it gets in the way of itself. Some of the light being reflected is in the shadow of the tube and never gets out of the fixture. If you had a T12, a T8, and a T5 with the exact same output, you would get much more light out of the fixture with the T5.

When I get finished with my 16' x 24' shop I'll have 8 LED lights (100 watt equivalent each) on two circuits, and 4 more of the CFL lights that are 300 watt equivalent each. So, just minimum light on circuit one is 400 watts evenly distributed. When I'm actually working I can add circuit two for another 400 + 1200 = 1600 watts of light. That is 26,400 lumens of light in 384 sq ft of shop. About 69 lumens per square ft. Good light for close detail work is 75 lumens per sq ft so I'll be close.


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## alittleoff (Nov 27, 2014)

If I'm not mistaken Sels I think is the name, makes a 4 ft. Led lamp that fits in a standard fluorescent fixture. All you have to do is remove the old ballast and hook it up 120 volts. Cost is around 29.00 or less if you look around. 
Gerald


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