Anyone try or using these newer garage LEDs?
I have very limited light in my garage and really need more. I ran across these new LED screw-in bulbs and was curious if anyone here has tried or seen them in action. Good light? Last long?
TiA `Casper
The adjustability < of the models you posted > seems like a good idea. Several years ago I bought one like this for my garage and quite satisfied with it.
My pet peeve with certain led lights - is when they aren't well-diffused - the pin-prick light source is annoying. John T.
Interesting. I think I like the round one with the center down-light fixture. Seems like that would help fill in the area below the fixture if the side lights were tilted up a lot. More even lighting across the room.
On the other hand, I'd like to see how the other one would work with nothing pointed down. Just let it light up the ceiling area. Might allow for some soft general lighting. Obviously depends on room use.
Interesting concept.
On the "however" side, spot lighting an area can be detrimental. That spotlight pointed at the workbench really lights it up until you get between the light and the bench. Then all you do is cast your shadow on the bench. Better to have an overhead light in front of the user so that no shadows are cast. That's how my shop is set up.
I haven't had that issue with Edison base LED replacement bulbs or other ceiling fixture, something like this (couple in the garage in addition to A19s in the opener):
Even where there are more exposed type lights, I don't have much of a problem with LED sources, particularly for things like shop machinery lights, where I want the light directed on a small space.
OTOH, LED headlights can be very distracting. High intensity small sources can be dazzling. We get a *lot* of people flashing their brights at us when in my wife's car. The HIDs in her last car were "bad" enough but the LEDs are many times worse. OTOH, they're great from behind the wheel. The brights are really good at lighting up deer eyes, something quite useful around here. The area is converting from woodlands to increased "civilization" so coyotes are disappearing and the deer are noticing that there's ample food in the developments and virtually no threat.
The first lights will provide plenty output at a total of 12000 Lumens at a 6000k value. The issue for me would be the brand, which isn't well known. Therefore, the life of them is unknown. Many people think all LEDs are the same, which they aren't. They all require drivers to operate and the manufacturer of the drivers play a key role in their longevity.
All you can do is consider the reviews, the listed life expectancy, the warranty (if applicable) and determine what the manufacturer will do if they don't reach the length of hours suggested. Then again, how will anyone really know unless you attach a timer to them. Bottom line, if you get 10 years out of them, it's a great deal.
Also remember one thing... ALL LED brightness dims as they age. Some more than others.
I don't have that one but I have what amounts to one of the 3 "petals" in my garage. I had 2 reflectoe floods in a "Y" adapter before and the single panel gives WAY better light. I think the one you referenced would work VERY well - and should last about 6 yearsif left on 24/7 - likely better than 20 years in normal use.
LED output derteriorates a LOT less than flourescent - and the RGB type lose a lot less than the "white" ones that depend on electroflourecence. The drover technology has REALLY improved, and as long as the active devices are properly heat sinked to the aluminum housing the drivers should easily outlast the LEDS. This has not always been the case - and I had a LOT of early chinese LED lamps that failed because the LEDs were not thermally connected to their heat sinks and the drivers were not heat sinked at all. The ones I am using now I have not had a single failure, and they average 10-12 hours a day. At a client's factory and warehouse the only failures they have had in 7 years is solder joints between panels letting go. The maintenance guy has a couple spares - replacements under warranty in the first 2 years that he repaired - so now when a unit fails he just swaps it out and resolders all the links on the dead one.
Saw these at 1000 Bulbs
But the cost is more than the ones Amazon has.
I would advise reading the one- and two-star reviews on the first one very carefully, also the high ratings--there was at least one there that had the same problem as the one-stars but blamed himself.
When LED bulbs first came on the market people were complaining that when used IN A GARAGE DOOR OPENER the opener would not work correctly. Other than that use they should work fine in the garage. Maybe the newer bulbs can also be used in the door opener. We had changed from incandescent to fluorescent bulbs a few years before LED's and have now changed nearly all to LED. They will fail eventually but the light bill decrease has paid for the changeover. Still have 8ft T8's in the shop.
No comment on the lights you linked to. Other than the description is for a whole lot of light. Hope that is true. And, if you go with these, order both models and see which is better. Given the fact the super bright one is $50, and the less bright one is $31. Return the one you don't want. Or keep both.
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They are still complaining. Well, maybe "people" aren't complaining, but manufacturers still advise against it, sort of.
On this page, Chamberlain puts LEDs on the list of bulbs *not* to use, then immediately provides a table of compatible LEDs. WTF? At least they put an disclaimer next to it, so I guess it's not a real "not".
I've had an LED bulb on each side of my Chamberlain and never had a problem for several years now.
Assuming adequate heatsinking, which is a huge assumption. At this level of power, I'd be really suspicious.
The phosphors in the whites do fade but it's not a serious problem. Certainly not as bad a florescents or incandescents (they fade a *lot* in the same timeframe ;-).
SOME LED lamps interfere with SOME RF remotes.The only time they would be a problem is trying to close the door with the lights still on after opening, or trying to re-open the door withthe lights still on after closing.
IF the LEDs are going to be a problem in the opener they may also very well be a problem in the garage IF they are onwhen you try to open or close the garage.
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4I am definitely in the minority when I praise the flourescent lights in my shop. They are not typical. They are T5 flourescents. 20,000 lumens per
8' fixture. I have six fixtures spread out over the ceiling to eliminate t he shadows. So I have 120,000 lumens of light and its wonderful. These h ave been in place for five years and I have not replaced any bulbs. If the y have faded any, its sure not noticeable. BTW, these are not cheap, but t hey are certainly better than any LED solution I have tried and worth it to me. I put two eight foot fixtures in my wife's art studio over her painti ng area. She is a real stickler for color and good light, as she does all original paintings in oil and she praises her lights as well.
Well, I'm putting more fluorescents in my shop, as well. I had the pigtail fluorescents in each room, which I did replace with LEDs. I'm adding 4' tubes but I've only finished one room (~13x20') with six double 6500K tubes. I have enough fixtures to do most of my space (80% of a 2000 ft^2 basement) but no time to finish them. I have a case of fluorescent tubes, too, but after that I'll put LED tubes in the fixtures. I haven't decided if I'm going to rewire them or buy the direct replacements and eat the efficiency degradation.
Which isn't an unusual situation. The lights come on (timer resets) when you back out of the garage and cross the safety beam. I don't wait another five minutes to drive off.'
I do have something interfering but I can't pin it on the lights. It doesn't seem to matter whether they're on or off. It seems very positional.
Do you have one of the HomeLink devices? I find mine to be very temperamental. I'm thinking I need to move the rcvr closer to the front of the garage.
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