Inexpensive Garage Lights From LED Strips

[Mike]

Hey all,

I found this today on the Internet and thought it would be good to link it here.

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This project came about as I recently rebuilt my garage and found myself in need of complete lighting throughout.

I had two main objectives: I wanted bright/even coverage and I wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible.

For a number of reasons I wanted to use all LED lighting for my project but the commercial products were cost prohibitive. At the time of this writing, 4 foot shop lights are going for $40 and higher. I did some research and before long came across inexpensive lighting strips from China. The strips are sold in 5m lengths (16.5 ft) and can be found on ebay for $5-7 each. But how to use them?

After a lot of thought, I came up with the idea of putting them directly onto my trusses. This would give me even lighting throughout and a clean modern look.

I found that one LED strip wasn't bright enough, so I added a second for more light. This is probably enough for general lighting but I wanted MORE POWER and added a third. Why not at this price, right? To give you an idea of the coverage, my garage is 24'x40'. I'm putting lights on 5 trusses and they are 8'6" off the ground.

The other piece of the puzzle is powering the lights. The LED strips run on +12vdc and require an external power source. You can easily buy 12v power supplies but I'm trying to go cheap, right? So I used old discarded PC power supplies. Cost? Free!

You won't need to know electronics for this project but you will need some basic soldering skills.

 

Read the rest here:  https://www.instructables.com/Inexpensive-Garage-Lights-From-LED-Strips/

[grannyknot]

Thanks Mike,  I just ordered a strip to try it out.

[Mike]

No problem.  I've tried some of these strips for various fun things.  I put some of color changing strips (with remote) behind my TV and it looks pretty good.  We will see how long they last.  I may also try some in the garage as well.

 

[dutchzcarguy]

On 11/23/2020 at 6:10 PM, Mike said:

inexpensive lighting strips from China.

and.. 

6 hours ago, Mike said:

We will see how long they last.

In 2012 i installed my own designed and build, i may ad.. very exclusive kitchen.. I also installed floor lights under the edge of the kitchen island..  It looks very nice.. but in a year or 2 there were a lot of the leds dead..  after just a few hours of use!  (the brand is EGLO..  It is/WAS!  a austrian/hungarian brand since 1969 ( est. Ludwig obwieser)  BUT after some research i found that...ofcourse... they produce it in China since 2001...  clearly it's JUNK!   Once again: you get what you pay for!!!!!!!.. grrr....

About EGLO | EGLO Leuchten GmbH

Yeah.. they are proud of there Junk..

Foundation

Determination, perseverance and constant development: These are the cornerstones we established the company upon.

About 50 years ago, the founder Ludwig Obwieser gave the company exactly these characteristics. So far he has written a success story that we not only celebrate, but

 that we can also be proud of.

[dutchzcarguy]

Put a LUX meter on the floor at a marked spot.. (Open spot, not near anything, in connection with reflections that give wrong measurment)  do this again after 2 years of use.. (hope they still work then.. ) and i guarantee you the lighting will be worse..)

[siteunseen]

We use the LED "tape"? around cooler doors at the restaurant. Looks great too. Easy to apply.

[Mike]

5 hours ago, dutchzcarguy said:

In 2012 i installed my own designed and build, i may ad.. very exclusive kitchen.. I also installed floor lights under the edge of the kitchen island..  It looks very nice.. but in a year or 2 there were a lot of the leds dead..  after just a few hours of use!  (the brand is EGLO..  It is/WAS!  a austrian/hungarian brand since 1969 ( est. Ludwig obwieser)  BUT after some research i found that...ofcourse... they produce it in China since 2001...  clearly it's JUNK!   Once again: you get what you pay for!!!!!!!.. grrr....

I've been doing a lot with LED's lately.  At home I have about 20 wall sconces that use a mini halogen bulb with a T11 socket (mini-candelabra).  Over the past few years of buying crap bulbs off Amazon (the Junk Kingdom IMHO), I finally found a vendor that produces a decent LED.  I had the same experience, some bulb manufacturers build with cheap components and they don't last more than a year.  Although all of them claim up to 5-10 years, most of them fall way short.  If you are looking for a common brand, Feit Electric seems to have some good ones.  Of all places, I found the best mini-candelabra bulbs at Home Depot.

An LED bulb is similar to a mini-computer.  It uses a circuit board, voltage converter, resisters, and of course the light diode.  If any of these components have gone through a 'cost cutting' exercise by the manufacturer (common in China), then you'll see a reduced lifespan.  The LED strips are powered by an external power supply.  If you buy a good quality unit, you may see improved performance.  But, again, if any part of the LED computer has low-quality components the entire thing will break.  You definitely get what you pay for.

In the case of this article, I highly recommend purchasing a computer power supply with the gold standard.  It will cost a bit more, but, it can handle the sustained output of the strips and has clean power.

In the case of your situation with EGLO, they may have been a good bulb at one time.  However, I see too many times where companies outsource their manufacturing without even thinking about quality.  Either they've sold the business to Chinese owners or they simply moved their production overseas.  This is a massive shame because it sounds like they lost quality, and your trust.    China can produce good products...  just look at that phone in your pocket or TV on your wall.  Only a company concerned with their reputation can make that happen.