Swapped out my old tube fluorescent shop lights for LED panels and now I can actually see what I'm doing.

I was dead set on keeping the fluorescents because they were cheap to replace, but after my electrician buddy showed me the lumens per dollar difference and I spent $90 on two LED panels from Home Depot, I couldn't believe how much brighter the garage is for half the power draw - has anyone else made the switch and noticed their electric bill drop?

3 comments

3 Comments

park.robin15d ago

Oh man, that's awesome. My buddy Mark put LEDs in his workshop last year and he said it was like going from a cave to an operating room. He kept talking about how his old tubes would flicker for five minutes before they actually worked in the winter. Now he just flips the switch and it's bright right away, no humming or buzzing either.

kimreed15d ago

That bit about the humming and buzzing really hit home. @park.robin, your buddy Mark is lucky he didn't have to deal with what I went through at my old place. I had this one fluorescent strip in the kitchen that would start flickering and making this high-pitched whine like a mosquito that ate too much coffee. Drove my cat absolutely nuts. He would just stare at it and meow until I turned it off. Finally swapped it out for a cheap LED fixture from the hardware store and it was like getting a whole new kitchen.

paulschmidt15d ago

Oh, I know exactly what you mean. I read something just last week about how fluorescent lights can actually trigger migraines in some people because of that flicker you can't really see but your brain picks up on. It makes sense now why I always felt a bit off in my old office with those buzzing tubes overhead. My wife's a bit sensitive to it too, she says it feels like someone's drilling a tiny hole in her temple. Glad you got that swapped out, a quiet kitchen is a happy kitchen.