OT - LED Work Light

[irideti]

Anyone here can recommend a portable indoor work light that bright enough for working on bike or car in our garage where lighting is less than optimal? I've tried a few different models from Costco and Home Depot. While all of them provide very good illumination, my eyes really hurt when look at them unintentionally.

[C40_guy]

I went through this recently, looking for handhelds, and there's a thread on this... (Was just under the sink swapping out our disposal with an old rechargeable LED worklight that sits on the floor)

Here's the handheld I picked up.

[irideti]

I'm looking for something big enough to illuminate a bike repair area, ideally with a stand.

[AngryScientist]

Since you're talking about working on things in your garage...

It may have been some time since you have looked at what is available for shop lighting. LED shop lights have come a LONG way in the past 10 years it seems. You can get some really good LED shop lights for not too much money, and permanently install them in your garage very easily. I would say it's totally worth the minimal $ and time investment to light up your workspace with some LED shop lights.

I just went through this in my new basement and garage shop spaces and the current offerings with LED strip shop lights is way nicer and cheaper than what i remember from years past.

Just a thought.

[Steve in SLO]

I am with Angry on this. A year or so ago, I swapped out my 48” fluorescent lighting in my garage with LED elements from eBay, and have been very impressed with the brightness and clarity these lights. Less than $100 in my 900 square-foot garage gave me great lighting.
As far as a handheld or portable work lights, there are many options available, but beware that most LED lights will be very irritating to look directly into, because their lumens are so high and they tend towards the cool wavelengths. The trick is to point them away from your eyes so they can be highly illuminative but not irritating.

[Ti Designs]

I'm a photographer, I have a studio in my house with both strobes and constant LED lighting. Photographers use modifiers to shape or change the shape or characteristics of light. One of those modifiers is called a softbox, which is just a large reflector with a few layers of diffusion. A softbox creates soft light which reduces shadows, which I find ideal as a work light as well. As I've upgraded the lighting in my studio I've shifted my older lights to my shop. Even a small softbox on a cheap light stand is better than most direct shop lights.

[rice rocket]

Get a headlamp, that way you'll never blind yourself.






(until you look in a mirror)

[C40_guy]

Really good point Angry!

I added a half dozen 4x2 LED fixtures to the ceiling of my garage...and that made a huge difference. Now, working in the garage -- oil changes, car detailing, etc, I can see everything!

Note, I was not trying to illuminate a workbench. And they were inexpensive to purchase, and had an electrician install...

For the workbench in my shop, I have a 4x1 fixture hanging over the bench, which plugs into an outlet and has a chain pull cord. Inexpensive, easy to install (just two hooks in the ceiling). If you're looking for task lighting, this may be the way to go.

[zmudshark]

If you want a portable, stand mounted light, it's hard to beat a Milwaukee M18 work light. I just glanced, and they've come a long way since I borrowed my son's light a few years back. I'd buy whatever cordless platform you are on. Dewalt makes one that looks decent, too.

I have also installed in the inexpensive ceiling LED panels that Costco sells, so far, so good. In addition I have the inexpensive, two tube, hanging lights in my garage.

For a portable stand light, buy what is in your tool universe. I'm committed to Dewalt, the kids have Milwaukee. You can buy a convertor to use one brands battery to another brands tool, about $20, so buy the light that suits you best, and a convertor if it's not 'your brand'. The Milwaukee is also plug in, at least the one I borrowed was. I used it for car detailing.

[Gsinill]

I agree with Angry.
Google "deformable led garage ceiling light", they look ugly but you can adjust them to maximize the area they illuminate.
Works great.

[BobbyJones]

Originally Posted by irideti

Anyone here can recommend a portable indoor work light that bright enough for working on bike or car in our garage where lighting is less than optimal? I've tried a few different models from Costco and Home Depot. While all of them provide very good illumination, my eyes really hurt when look at them unintentionally.

The comment about using a modifier may point you in the right direction.

With the proliferation of LED tech everywhere, there's now alot of crappy lighting everywhere. From lousy color temps and flickering, it depends on what you're sensitive to.

I don't have a specific recommendation, just that it may take some more trial and error to get what works for you.

[HenryA]

Headlamp for sure. Even when you have good light otherwise a headlamp will illuminate underneath or in a hole that would otherwise not be well lit. And its aimed right where you’re looking. But, if its your garage I would add some ceiling mounted led lights. They are not expensive these days.

Here is one that screws in to a regular household socket - good and super easy if thats what you have on your ceiling now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094N1L4DG...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

I have these and would buy again:
https://www.amazon.com/Wraparound-Wa..._id=5772194011

Went up in place of old fluorescent units for vastly more light.

[Tommasini53]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Since you're talking about working on things in your garage...

It may have been some time since you have looked at what is available for shop lighting. LED shop lights have come a LONG way in the past 10 years it seems. You can get some really good LED shop lights for not too much money, and permanently install them in your garage very easily. I would say it's totally worth the minimal $ and time investment to light up your workspace with some LED shop lights.

I just went through this in my new basement and garage shop spaces and the current offerings with LED strip shop lights is way nicer and cheaper than what i remember from years past.

Just a thought.

+1 On the LED shop lights. Pulled out old tube lights and replaced with LEDs. The new LED units are low enough watts that you can daisy chain several together. One of the best (and cheapest) improvements to my shop area that I've made; super bright for middle-aged eyes.

[Peter P.]

I have THIS DeWalt light for work. Up to 8hrs. runtime. Insanely bright.

If you can, definitely install LED lights. I just replaced the florescent shop lights in my basement with LED panels and traditional shop fixtures.

The 2x4 ft. panels draw less than 0.3A each. I imagine the shop fixtures are similar.

Tremendous lighting, and worth the expense. Very easy to daisy chain the lights together.

THESE are the shop lights I bought.

For the LED panels in my dropped, basement ceiling, I found Lithonia low profile 2x4ft. panels. Can't find 'em on their web site.

[carpediemracing]

For portable, very easy to use, the guys at the shop all have LED lights that mount on their ears like glasses. They point where you're looking (don't look at other people directly, and not in a mirror), they keep your hands free, and you can "micro adjust" on the fly while still using both hands.

This is an example link, not an endorsement link (I took all the ref stuff out of the URL so it's direct to the product, no credit/cookies to me). The guys probably overpay for SnapOn or Matco or one more brand, but this looks very similar:
https://www.amazon.com/Merchandise-C.../dp/B0842W9VLR

I actually thought they were like $150 so to see it this cheap I may get some. lol.

Our garage isn't that greatly lit either. I don't do much work in it, partially because it's not climate controlled, partially because it's so dark most of the garage. We do have a sun tube that helps brighten things up, but it doesn't help with the cold/hot nor the areas that the sun doesn't hit.

Suntubes are great for introducing lights to areas where you don't mind light (like in the summer, the sun will shine pretty late in the day). When we put them in the house we lived in before, we put one in a hallway. In the summer we were trying to turn off the hallway light for months, out of habit. It was quite bright actually. I'd recommend it for rooms where you don't mind light, so areas that aren't visible when you're sleeping. An example of a manufacturer of sun tubes (not sure what brand we have): http://sun-tek.com/home/how-to-choose/suntube-skylights