My LED bay lights are fairly broad-banded and I don’t have problems with sharp shadows or false colors. What I really like are bright enough lights to be able to see what the heck I’m doing. Eight of them makes 120,000 lumens with lots of diffusion and a.) have a 50,000-hour expected life, and b.) can all be wired to a single 15-amp lighting circuit. Incandescent bulbs providing the same output would require 120 bulbs and 8-10 15-amp circuits. And the color balance of those isn’t anywhere near white. And then there’s the 800-hour lifespan. (One could use traffic signal bulbs—8000 hours and 133 watts—bring you checkbook and hope somebody is still making them.)
I don’t think anyone can complain about color balance for recent LED illumination products if the alternative for them is fluorescent tubes. The color quality of old shop-grade fluorescent tubes is really terrible and difficult to correct. But at least they die young by comparison, are difficult to change on a 14-foot ceiling, and require hazmat procedures (shhhh!) if one falls and shatters. And my experience with fluorescent curlicues is that they make enough heat to fry their electronics. (Cheap screw-in LEDs have the same problem.)
That’s why most shops (and all large interior spaces) prior to LEDs used mercury-vapor (or sodium-vapor) bay lights. Those take 5-8 minutes to reach full illumination and their color balance is also quite narrow, particularly for sodium-vapor lights.
The ceiling fixtures I used in my shop’s upstairs are color-programmable LEDs. Again, 18 fixtures are happy on a single 15-amp circuit and I have them programmed for 3500K—a bit less yellow than incandescent but warmer than daylight. So much better than incandescent or fluorescent ceiling fixtures. I bought two boxes of 10 on Amazon for maybe a coupla hundred.
LED bulbs in shop-light fixtures has been transformative for me. No more burns, and I can reserve my “vocabulary” for other screw-ups.
Rick “not arguing that modern headlights are not glarey, but many are discharge and halogen causing the problem” Denney
I don’t think anyone can complain about color balance for recent LED illumination products if the alternative for them is fluorescent tubes. The color quality of old shop-grade fluorescent tubes is really terrible and difficult to correct. But at least they die young by comparison, are difficult to change on a 14-foot ceiling, and require hazmat procedures (shhhh!) if one falls and shatters. And my experience with fluorescent curlicues is that they make enough heat to fry their electronics. (Cheap screw-in LEDs have the same problem.)
That’s why most shops (and all large interior spaces) prior to LEDs used mercury-vapor (or sodium-vapor) bay lights. Those take 5-8 minutes to reach full illumination and their color balance is also quite narrow, particularly for sodium-vapor lights.
The ceiling fixtures I used in my shop’s upstairs are color-programmable LEDs. Again, 18 fixtures are happy on a single 15-amp circuit and I have them programmed for 3500K—a bit less yellow than incandescent but warmer than daylight. So much better than incandescent or fluorescent ceiling fixtures. I bought two boxes of 10 on Amazon for maybe a coupla hundred.
LED bulbs in shop-light fixtures has been transformative for me. No more burns, and I can reserve my “vocabulary” for other screw-ups.
Rick “not arguing that modern headlights are not glarey, but many are discharge and halogen causing the problem” Denney