Added a few more LED lights to the garage today.

[dwalby]

I found them to be brighter. They are also a different color temperature than my old bulbs were.

I got mine as a 2 pack at Costco when they were on sale. Up here they usually have them on sale a couple times a year.
Bonus with Costco is if you don't like them they are easy to return.

As for the other screw in bulb replacements I have 6 of the metal framed black tri LED panels ones and one of plastic white kind to see if they were any better.


I like the looks of the metal tri leds better for the garage but the other bulb works fine too. It has 5 LED areas consisting of 4 adjustable arm sections and one main section.

I currently have two 4-bulb 48" fluorescent fixtures on the garage ceiling, but I'm considering pulling them out and rewiring a regular E26 socket with the tri-LED panel fixture you have shown above to replace each of them.

Would that provide more light than I'm getting now with the fluorescent tubes?

 

[Larry Fine]

Would that provide more light than I'm getting now with the fluorescent tubes?

You'd need to compare lumen outputs, but LED tubes should be much brighter than fluorescents.

I suggest putting in bypass-type 48" LED tubes; they'll have better coverage than the smaller lights.

 

[dwalby]

I suggest putting in bypass-type 48" LED tubes; they'll have better coverage than the smaller lights.

but they're still constrained to the existing fixture and the light diffuser panel attached to it, whereas the tri-panel version can be aimed at various angles within the room. So I was wondering if the ability to aim the panels at various angles is a plus or not.

 

[Obo]

but they're still constrained to the existing fixture and the light diffuser panel attached to it, whereas the tri-panel version can be aimed at various angles within the room. So I was wondering if the ability to aim the panels at various angles is a plus or not.

The tubes are not expensive regardless of which style you go with compared to the tri-panels.
I find with their diffusers (and more about being high enough) they work fine in the front garage.
The fixture's diffusers / reflectors do little as the LED's face downward in the tube and not all the way around it vs a tube that throws light 360 degrees.

The LED strip lights are another option


and are a bit more expensive but can plug into a standard 120v u-ground socket and sometimes have a remote, can be daisy chained and may be dimmable. They usually hang from the ceiling with the included support chains. No existing fluorescent fixture is required and you can put them wherever you can run an appropriate cord to (best to wire in a plug though.)
I have a couple of the single row models over workbenches and a couple of double row models yet to install in the central areas.

The back garage has the tri panels in standard sockets. It's 24'x44' (4 car) and has 8 tri-panels (2 per bay.) The walls are roughed in only and not painted white.
Because the sockets were there and I didn't need to buy new fluorescent fixtures I gave them a try.
The ability to aim is just ok if you have dark spots but my model only tilts the arms on a single axis.
If the panel doesn't hit the dark area you want by just tipping it up you're SOL as it doesn't rotate.
Other models may rotate too but like I said mine do not.
I find the tri-panels create a hot spot that in a standard height ceiling draws your eyes in a way a longer LED tube does not.

All were brighter than what was in there but I have to admit it's also because there are more lumens coming from the same area and the old tubes were not as bright as when new.

The tubes or strips may be the better option if you want an even distribution of light over a larger area. Part of why stores usually choose tube style lights over single/spot lights for the general space I'd reckon. You can see in the others photos above that the strip lights work well.

Either way though you'll end up with more light than you have with regular tubes or single bulbs.

Two of the tri-panels:


Strip light over workbench (ceiling light was 2 standard LED bulbs in a Y socket - this is what I had before the tri-panels to give me more light)

 

[Andrew Shadow]

So I was wondering if the ability to aim the panels at various angles is a plus or not.

Depends on what you are doing in that space I would think.

If it is a room where you spend most of the time working in one area, such as over a workbench and only need that area to be well lit, more directional types of lights work well. If it is a room that you work in all areas of, such as what typically happens in a garage, I find the longer tube type of lighting works better. The light from these is not only downward, but reflects off of the walls better than light from directional lighting does. They seem to provide a more uniform light distribution over a wider area, eliminating having brighter and darker areas of the room. Any type of light that allows for having brighter and darker areas I find is harder to see as your eyes are always trying to adjust to the varying lighting conditions, even if we don't necessarily realize it, as you move around doing your work. I find this makes it more tiring on the eyes.

 

[GreenZR]

I used the Braun 5000 lumen 4' LED lights from Harbor Freight. Purchased 2 or 3 at a time when they were on sale. Now have 16 total in the 3 1/2 bay garage. 6 of them cover the 2 bays where the Pilot and Silverado are. 2 of them cover the tire changer. 5 of them cover the area of the lift. And the last 3 cover the work bench area.



Very happy with the way they light up the place and pretty easy to hang and just plug them in. Each group of lights has a separate switch and are on a separate circuit.

 

[Stylo Steve]

I took down all the rest of the old 4' florescent lights and replaced them with 4' LED lights today. Much better and way brighter than the florescent ones.

I did the same as you and replaced all of the fluorescent in my garage with LEDs. You'll notice that the bugs aren't attracted to the LEDs as they are with fluorescent bulbs.