Nautical Research Journal Shop notes


LED shop lights By Bill Sproul


T e change from 4-foot fl uorescent overhead lights to 4-foot LED overhead lights has brought a lighting miracle to my ship model shop. T e LEDs are about two to three times brighter, have a Kelvin temperature of 5000K (the sun is about 5300K) which makes taking photographs much easier, have an anticipated life span of about 20,000 hours, use 15 watts of power per 4-foot bulb (less than one-half the wattage of a fl uorescent), and are available everywhere. T e downsides are that you have to change the ceiling light fi xture from a T-12 for fl uorescents to a T-8 for LEDs and the entire installation is about twice the


cost of fl uorescents in bulbs and fi xtures. An LED installation (a unit) is about $25 for each fi xture and two 4-foot bulbs. I installed four units for $98; I now almost have to wear sunglasses when I am working. However, the long-term amortization (20 to 30 years) signifi cantly reduces the overall cost of installing and running the LEDs.


T e description above covers the permanent ceiling shop lighting. But the real improvement in the lighting is in updating the desk lamp-type lighting (changing from incandescent bulbs to LEDs). You can make all the LED desk lamps you need right in your shop for about $10 each. With a little ingenuity you can now provide lighting for every conceivable work bench need. Also, and not to be minimized, when you have both overhead lights and smaller desk lamp bulbs all producing light at 5000K, many photographic problems (especially casts) just


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Figure 1.


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