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Best led shop light 2018 – [Buyer’s Guide]
Last Updated September 1, 2023
Hi there, I’m Willard Lawson. One of the most important sections in the article – the comparison charts for best led shop light in 2018!
Eventually, I found something that would suit my needs but it occurred to me that I wasn’t the only one who might be having the same problems I did. We take a close look at some of the best led shop light to help you get ripped.
Best led shop light of 2018
Based on customer reviews and my own experience with the cowboy method I’ve found the best 3 led shop light on the market. I’ve based my selection methodology on customer feedback, the size, functionality, and budget to meet various demands.
Whether you’re looking to upgrade your comfort, style, or accessibility, we have picks to fit a variety of needs and budgets. If you get well acquainted with these basics, you shouldn’t have a problem choosing a led shop light that suits your need.
Test Results and Ratings
| Rank | №1 | №2 | №3 |
| Product |  |
 |
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| Total | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Style |
4 points
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5 points
|
4 points
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| Size |
5 points
|
4 points
|
4 points
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| Construction |
5 points
|
4 points
|
5 points
|
| Price |
5 points
|
5 points
|
4 points
|
| Awards |  |
||
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 |
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How to save up to 86%? Here is little trick.
You must visit the page of sales. Here is the link. If you don’t care about which brand is better, then you can choose the led shop light by the price and buy from the one who will offer the greatest discount.
№1 – Lithonia Lighting Shlp 48IN 40K 80CRI Dna LED Shop Light
| Total: |
4.8
|
Why did this led shop light win the first place?
The product is very strong. Its material is stable and doesn’t crack. The rear part fits perfectly! It is mounted really tight and reliable. I am very happy with the purchase. It is definitely worth its money. The product is top-notch! I don’t know anything about other models from this brand, but I am fully satisfied with this product.
4
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
№2 – Sunco Lighting 2 PACK – ENERGY STAR
| Total: |
4.5
|
Why did this led shop light come in second place?
Seems that the material is good. It has a very beautiful color but I don’t really like the texture. I like this product. For such a low price, I didn’t even hope it to be any better. It’s decently made. This is a pretty decent product that perfectly fitted the interior of our office. Managers explained me all the details about the product range, price, and delivery.
5
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
№3 –
| Total: |
4.3
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Why did this led shop light take third place?
I liked the design. We’ve been using it for 2 months and it still looks like brand new. It doesn’t squeaks nor bents. Looks great in my apartment. This price is appropriate since the product is very well built. I hope that the good reputation of the manufacturer will guarantee a long-term work.
4
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
led shop light Buyer’s Guide
Color temperature
After lumens, the next concept you’ll want to understand is color temperature. Measured on the Kelvin scale, color temperature isn’t really a measure of heat. Instead, it’s a measure of the color that a light source produces, ranging from yellow on the low end of the scale to bluish on the high end, with whitish light in the middle.
An easy way to keep track of color temperature is to think of a flame: it starts out yellow and orange, but when it gets really hot, it turns blue. You could also think of color temperature in terms of the sun — low, yellowy color temperatures mimic the tone of light at sunrise or sunset, while hotter, more bluish-white color temperatures are more akin to daylight (sure enough, bulbs with color temperatures like these are commonly called “daylight” bulbs). This is also why a lot of people prefer high color temperatures during the day and lower color temperatures in the morning and evening.
Generally speaking, incandescents sit at the bottom of the scale with their yellow light, while CFLs and LEDs have long been thought to tend toward the high, bluish end of the spectrum. This has been a steady complaint about new lighting alternatives, as many people prefer the warm, familiar, low color temperature of incandescents. Manufacturers are listening, though, and in this case they heard consumers loud and clear, with more and more low-color-temperature CFL and LED options hitting the shelves. Don’t believe me? Take another look at those two paper lamps in the picture above, because they’re both CFL bulbs — from the same manufacturer, no less.
Sylvania often color codes its packaging. Blue indicates a hot, bluish color temperature, while the lighter shade indicates a white, more neutral light.
Bulb shape
As you’re probably aware, light bulbs come in a fairly wide variety of shapes. Sure, it’s easy enough to tell a hardware store clerk that you want “one of those flamey-looking lights,” or “just a normal ol’ bulby light bulb,” but knowing the actual nomenclature might save you some time.
Watch this
Let’s start with the base of the bulb, the part that screws in. In the US, the most common shape by far is E26, with the “E” standing for Edison and the “26” referring to the diameter of the base in millimeters. You might also see E2bulbs from time to time, which is the European standard. Those should still fit into common American fixtures, but keep in mind that voltage ratings are different in the two regions, with American bulbs rated for 120 volts compared to 220-240 volts in Europe. For smaller sockets, like you might find with a candelabra, you’ll want to look for an E1base.
As for the bulb itself, the typical shape that you’re probably used to is an A1bulb. Increase that number to A2or A23, and you’ve got the same shape, but bigger. Bulbs made to resemble flames are F-shaped, which is easy enough to remember, as are globes, which go by the letter G. If it’s a floodlight you want, you’ll want to look for “BR” (bulging reflector) or “PAR” (parabolic aluminized reflector). Those bulbs are designed to throw all their light in one direction only, which makes them useful for spot lighting, overhead lighting and the headlights in your car.
Your automated-lighting options
It used to be that if you wanted your lights to turn on and off automatically, then you had to rely on a cheap wall socket timer, the kind you might use to control a Christmas tree. These days, with a modest boom in smart lighting currently under way, it’s easier than ever to dive into the sort of advanced automation controls that can make any home feel modern and futuristic. Use the right devices, and you’ll be able to control your lights in all sorts of creative ways, and make your life a little bit easier in the process.
The most obvious way to get started with smart lighting is with the bulbs themselves. You’ve got plenty of intelligent options from brands both big and small, and to find the one that’s best for you, you’re going to need to understand what sets them apart.
The first thing to look at is how the bulbs communicate with you. Some offer direct connections with your smart phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, which makes setup as simple as screwing the thing in and following in-app pairing instructions.
Others transmit using a distinct frequency like ZigBee or Z-Wave. Bulbs like those might be a better fit for bigger smart home setups, as it’s typically a little easier to sync them up with things like motion detectors and smart locks. Setup can be slightly more advanced, as you’ll need a separate hub or gateway device capable of translating that distinct frequency into a Wi-Fi signal your router can comprehend.
Some smart bulbs come with their own gateway. Others, like the Cree Connected LED, require a third-party control device, like the Wink Hub.
Color control
If you’re looking for a little more color in your life, then be sure and take a look at a product like the Philips Hue Starter Kit. Aside from being fully automatable via a mobile app and control hub, the Hue LED bulbs are capable of on-demand color changes. Just pull out your phone, select one of millions of possible shades, and the light will match it. And if you’re into voice control, Hue bulbs hit the compatibility trifecta — they’ll work with Siri, Alexa, and the Google Assistant.
Because Philips opened its lighting controls to third-party developers, you’ll also find lots of fun novelty uses for Hue bulbs, like changing the color of your lights in rhythm with whatever music you’re playing. There’s even an app that’ll sync your Hue lights up with certain TV programming.
Hue lights are also directly compatible with the popular web service IFTTT, with recipes already available that will change the color of your lights to match the weather, or to signal a touchdown from your favorite football team, or even to indicate when your stocks are doing well.
LED vs. CFL vs. Halogen
Now that most incandescent lightbulbs are pretty much a thing of the past, consumers now must choose between LED (light-emitting diode), CFL (compact fluorescent), and halogen bulbs to light their homes. But which is the best option? It all depends on your needs. We’ll take you through the various kinds of lighting, and the benefits that each offers.
LEDs vs. Incandescent Bulbs
Traditional incandescent bulbs measured their brightness in watts; if you wanted a brighter bulb, you bought one with a higher wattage. However, with the advent of LEDs and other types of lighting, that yardstick has become meaningless, and as a result, a bulb’s brightness is now listed as lumens, which is a more accurate measurement of how bright it is, rather than how much energy it consumes. Below is a conversion table which shows how much energy, in watts, an incandescent bulb and an LED typically require to produce the same amount of light.
Other Lightbulb Alternatives
EISA will also stop the manufacturing of candle-and globe-shaped 60-watt incandescent bulbs (the types used in chandeliers and bathroom vanity light fixtures). However, the law doesn’t affect 40-watt versions of those bulbs, nor three-way (50 to 100 to 150-watt) incandescent A1bulbs. So, those will continue to be an option for you, as well, in fixtures that will accommodate them.
LED Lightbulb Options
Traditional bulbs for table and floor lamps are known by their lighting industry style name “A19,”while floodlight bulbs made for track lights and in-ceiling fixtures are dubbed “BR30.” Your best long-term alternative to either style is extremely energy-efficient LED technology.
The LED equivalent of a 60-watt A1bulb consumes only between and 1watts, and provides about the same light output, measured in lumens. A 40-watt equivalent LED bulb consumes only to 8.watts. And a 65-watt BR30 (floodlight) replacement LED bulb consumes only to 1watts.
Moreover, an LED bulb’s lifespan is practically infinite. Manufacturers typically estimate a bulb’s lifespan based on three hours of use per day. By that measurement, an LED bulb will be as good as new for at least a decade, manufacturers say. Under the same conditions, an old-fashioned lightbulb may work for only about a year before burning out.
For example, GE’s equivalent LED bulb has a rated lifetime of 15,000 hours or 13.years. Philips’ equivalent LED bulb has a rated lifetime of 10,000 hours or 9.1years.
LED bulbs will continue to light up even after their rated lifetimes expire; however, brightness may drop or the color cast of the light may change.
GE, Philips, Sylvania, Cree and other brands (including IKEA) all offer LED bulbs that output the most popular “soft white” light, at retailers including Home Depot, Target and Walmart. In addition, GE ‘s Reveal lineup of color-enhancing lightbulbs (a coating filters out yellow tones to enhance colors lit by the bulb) with LED replacements equivalent to 40-watt and 60-watt A1bulbs and to a 65-watt BR30 bulb.
Pros & Cons of LED Light
CFL stands for compact fluorescent lighting, which is simply a smaller version of a fluorescent tube. CFL bulbs contain a mercury vapor that lights when it is energized. Because CFLs contain mercury, they must be disposed of carefully, at designated drop-off site (Home Depot, Lowes, recycling centers, etc). An average CFL bulb should last 7,000 hours.
Pros & Cons of Incandescent Light
Incandescent light is an electric process that produces light with a wire filament that is heated to a high temperature by an electric current which runs through it. This is the type of lighting which was the standard in homes up until the 1990’s. Due to its poor energy efficiency, it is being replaced with the newer technology of LED and CFL bulbs. Incandescent bulbs last roughly 1,000 hours.
Pros & Cons of Halogen Light
Similar to incandescent light bulbs, halogen bulbs use a similar electric-filament technology with one important difference; with incandescents the filament degrades via evaporation over time whereas, with halogens, filament evaporation is prevented by a chemical process that redeposits metal vapor onto the filament, thereby extending its life. Halogen bulbs have a lifespan of roughly 3,000 hours.
Color Temperature & Lighting Color temperature is a characteristic of visible light. The temperature of light refers to its warmness or coolness, or hue. This temperature is measured using the Kelvin scale, which for most use ranges from 2,700°-7,500°K. Incandescent and halogen lighting are the most limited in the temperature range at 2,700°-3,000°K. LED and CFL have each expanded their color range to now offering warmer options. Most task lighting, however, benefits from cooler lighting options which include LED, full spectrum, and CFL.
The distribution of light on a flat surface is called its illumination and is measured in footcandles. A footcandle of illumination is a lumen of light spread over a one square foot area.
The illumination needed varies according to the difficulty of a visual task. Ideal illumination is the minimum footcandles necessary to allow you to perform a task comfortably and efficiently without eyestrain or fatigue. According to the Illuminating Engineering Society, illumination of 30 to 50 footcandles is needed for most home and office work. Intricate and lengthy visual tasks — like sewing — require 200 to 500 footcandles.
1,000-1,400 Lumens is a commonly accepted range for most applications of task lighting. An average of 50 Lumens per square foot is a common measure. efficacy. Efficacy is the ratio of light output from a lamp to the electric power it uses and is measured in lumens per watt.
Demystifying LED Light
The reading area should have a bright task lamp. A bright desk lamp can prevent eye strain which is helpful in preventing eye damage in the long run. With bright task lamps in the reading area, you can keep headaches away. Thus, you will surely enjoy reading as well as other activities like writing letters or completing puzzles.
Kitchen
Your kitchen is another part of the home that requires task lighting. The dangerous nature of the activities you do in your kitchen is reason enough to get additional task lighting. More importantly, you need enough light to read recipes and to see the ingredients as they cook as well as other practical things. For kitchens, common task lighting fixtures are under cabinet lights that provide extra illumination to supplement the ambient light.
Power consumption is one of the reasons we as a society have begun switching to LEDs. Wattage tells us how much power we are consuming while these lights are on, and in turn how much we’ll have to pay at the end of each month. Once again, be sure to verify the wattage per foot, meter, or reel before you buy.
Some may read “2watts” on a reel and then get home and realize this is per meter or per foot, meaning the whole reel actually uses much more. Making matters worse, they have bought a power supply that covers 30 watts, thinking that would be enough. This often occurs when a seller doesn’t properly list important information in an easy to read format.
TP-Link LB130
Best of all, the TP-Link bulbs don’t require any sort of smart hub to function, so there’s no need to buy a starter kit or pay extra for a hub – once you buy a bulb, that’s it, making these an especially good choice for anyone who only wants one or two smart lights, and not a whole house worth.
All of the bulbs other than the cheapest LB100 model also come with energy monitoring, so you can see how much energy you’ve used and plan your usage accordingly.
Connectivity is reliable, with only one brief network drop in our testing time, and our biggest complaint is that at just 800 lumens these aren’t the brightest bulbs around – but they should be enough to suit most uses.
LightwaveRF
Lightwave is a smart lighting solution that’s a bit different to the others in this round-up, since it requires you to replace your light switches rather than the light bulbs themselves. It is ideal for homes with multiple spotlights that would otherwise be incredibly expensive to individually replace, and also means that when one bulb blows you can just buy a regular replacement.
To set up Lightwave you need to purchase the £89.9Web Link hub, which manages your various Lightwave kit, and you can then add on as many or as few Lightwave devices as you like. Each light switch costs from around £3(see the full range at Maplin, but shop around for best prices).
The Web Link will also manage other smart home devices from the company – you can set up devices that control your hot water and individual room heating, motion detection, and the opening and closing of blinds or curtains. You can also install smart switches on your plug sockets that allow you to turn on and off power when required.
Lightwave has a companion app through which you can turn on and off the switches from your phone or tablet, and through which you can set up schedules or timers that are ideal if you are going on holiday.
Hive Active Light
The Hive Active Light Colour changing bulb is an easy and smart way to introduce lighting into your smart home environment.
The coloured bulb is arguably more of a gimmick and something you might not use day to day, but the Cool to Warm White bulb is easy to recommend, as being able to change the colour temperature of the light is a very handy feature.
Elgato Avea
You create ‘rules’ for the lamps to work and these can be for them to turn on and off at sunset and sunrise, or at times you choose. They can be individually named and controlled, and you can even set a dimming period so the lamp fades in to your set brightness over a few minutes (or even up to 30 minutes). You can also define a sleep period, so the bulb will turn off after a set time, just like a TV or radio.
Install LEDs where you’ll use them most
LED bulbs are still expensive and so, unless you have the budget to replace all the bulbs in your home at once, you’ll have to replace bulbs as they burn out. In the long run, your investment will pay you back in energy savings.
But, as Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson has learned, it matters where you use your LED bulbs if you hope your investment will repay you soon. Put an LED in your closet, for example, or another place where the bulb is seldom used, and it may be years and years before the bulb’s cost is repaid in energy savings. It’s best to use your LEDs where the payoff will be fastest, in the light fixtures that get most use in the high-traffic parts of your home.
Get the light color you want
If you were turned off by the harsh white quality of light from older LEDs you’ll be glad to know there are more options now. LED bulbs offer a range of colors, from a warmer yellow-white, akin to the color of incandescent bulbs, to a whiter white or blueish white.
Match the bulb shape to your fixture
LED bulbs come in a number of unfamiliar shapes. You’ll find spiral bulbs, different types of globes, spotlights, floodlights and some shaped like candle flames. One useful shape is the MR16, a smallish, cone-shaped bulb.
Which bulb will work in your can lights? Which is best for the ceiling-fan light? For a table lamp? This brief, illustrated Energy Star guide and EarthEnergy’s bulb guide show which shapes work best in various types of fixtures.
Choose the right bulb for dimmers
Another problem with LEDs used to be finding bulbs that were compatible with the dimmer switches in your home. Some buzz, flicker or just fail to respond to a dimmer switch.
Those still can be problems, but CNET tested bulbs and has a recommendation. The Philips 60-watt LED performed best. It’s easily found in stores, but don’t confuse it with the less-expensive Philips SlimStyle LED, which buzzed badly in a dimmer (although it may be good for other uses). The Philips bulb isn’t the only solution. Read bulbs’ packaging to find the ones recommended for use with dimmer switches.
The solution is to buy a dimmer switch rated for both CFL and LED bulbs. Two reputable manufacturers of CFL/LED dimmers are Leviton and Lutron; both provide lists of bulbs they’ve verified will work with their dimmers.
Led Light For A Garage Or Workshop
The Big Ass Light is a new product that uses the latest in LED technology to deliver high quality light in a compact 23.1”x9.18” housing. Instead of installing a few big fluorescent light fixtures, that really don’t produce a good light color output, a two car garage only requires two of the LED light fixtures from Big Ass Lights. You heard right, Big Ass Light suggests that you only need one of their fixtures for each car bay of your garage; of course it never hurts to add more.
Installing a Big Ass Light is as simple as can be in both new and existing buildings. It comes with a 10-foot cord to reach the nearest outlet and two s-hooks for hanging to ceiling joists. I have mine plugged into a switched outlet, but they also offer a motion activated sensor option that can completely eliminate the need for a power switch.
Meg Muckenhoupt
After more than 50 hours of research and interviews with five experts—including one who designed plant lighting for Antarctica and the moon—I can say that the Hydrofarm Commercial T2FT Tube Fixture is economical, is low-maintenance, runs cool in small spaces, and provides bright light for stout plants. It’s the one we would buy if we were starting seeds indoors.
We’ve confirmed that our picks are still good and available, and have rewritten parts of this guide to match our current style. Our research shows that these recommendations will continue to be solid, so we won’t be monitoring this guide as closely going forward.
For growing greens
Go with a setup like this if you plan on growing leafy greens like lettuce, kale, spinach, and herbs indoors.
Lettuce farmers and those who grow other greens are a special case. Growing a plant to maturity indoors requires far more photons than sprouting a seedling. If you’re thinking of attempting indoor lettuce, kale, spinach, herbs, or other leafy things, you need stronger stuff than a T5, which simply won’t give you enough photons in a day. Go directly to a setup with two Fluence RAY22 lights, and don’t look back. If you’re on a budget, and junglelike growth is not a priority, Hydrofarm’s Fluorescent Grow Light Fixture will get the job done. But because they only go up to a DLI of (or if you run them at least 2hours a day) your seedlings will be a bit anemic, and will grow up to about ½-inch high at most.
How we picked and tested
Flaws but not dealbreakers
As mentioned earlier, the Hydrofarm Commercial Twill not bring your tabletop greens to their full potential. If you keep this light on 2hours a day, you’ll still only get a DLI of 9—considerably below the DLI of 1that greenhouse growers consider necessary for producing lettuce, herbs, spinach, and other greens. If you’re hankering for leafy greens, read on to see our choice for lettuce farmers below.
The Sun Blaze is a good runner-up if our main pick is unavailable. It’s essentially the same light, but there’s less information on its long-term performance.
The Sun Blaze F24T5-HO Fluorescent Grow Light Fixture is more or less an exact replica of the Hydrofarm Commercial T5, but there’s slightly less information available about its long-term performance. If our pick is sold out, or if you can get the Sun Blaze for cheaper, it’s a good bet.
The competition
The lamps higher than 200 watts were obviously overkill. They’re designed to light a 3’ by 3’ area, produce a DLI of in three hours, and need to be suspended at least 2inches over seedlings according to this Sunlight Supply Information Sheet. I eliminated the (now unavailable) G8LED 240 Watt LED Grow Light, the Horizon Grow Light Kit, and the ViaVolt 250 Watt HPS Grow Light Fixture. That left three low-wattage HPS fixtures: Horizon Grow Light Kit (now unavailable), Hydrofarm SBM150S, and the Sun System 150 Watt HPS Reflector, Ballast and Bulb.
Some Tfluorescent fixtures are a little different from our main picks, but they aren’t any better. The 2-foot Flora Hydroponics Fluorescent Grow Light System has the same features as the Lights of America Tfixture, but comes with bulbs that have a light temperature of 5000 K, not 41000 K like Lights of America, which means that light will look slightly bluer. If that matters to you, go ahead and spend a bit more on this light, but don’t expect your plants to notice the difference. If you still haven’t spent enough money on Tbulbs, you could choose to buy “full spectrum” T1grow bulbs, which will fit into the same fixture, such as the Agrosun T1or an Agrobrite 24-inch 20-watt T1bulb. I’m sure they’re charming, but they’ll only get you to a maximum DLI of if you leave a two-bulb fixture on for 2hours a day less than a foot away from little leaves. That’s enough light to raise ferns, African violets, and orchids, but seedlings of other species won’t live up to their full potential. If you have a little more to spend on bulbs and a fixture, you should just give up lattes for the week, save up, and buy the Hydrofarm Commercial T5 instead.
Pull Quote
LEDs shoot out photons at single wavelengths, not across a spectrum.
1) LEDs shoot out photons at single wavelengths, not across a spectrum.
Bugs can’t see the leaves as well if you leave out near-red and green spectrum lights, Harwood said, and some diseases and funguses are inhibited if you leave out certain spectra as well. “White” LEDs are actually groups of three or more single-wavelength LEDs put together to make light that looks white to humans—and to make your plants look like they belong on Earth instead of Pandora.
The second point—that LEDs can’t deliver as many photons per watt for a given area—is partly due to the state of technology.
The light plants need
Grow lights exist to get photons to plants. Unfortunately, it’s extremely hard to tell if a grow light will do that from the information retailers list on their web sites. Listings commonly say something like “Lumen output rated up to 8000” or “6400 K bulb” or “280 Watts Super Bright Output.” None of these statements really tell you what to know: How many photons will get to your plants’ leaves.
As you may remember from high school physics, light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that acts as both a wave and a particle. Light comes in different wavelengths, and the wavelengths that humans can see (called the visible spectrum) roughly measure between 400 and 700 nanometers. Make the wavelengths shorter—say, 350 nanometers—and you’ll get ultraviolet radiation, which humans can’t see, but is visible to bees, birds, fish, some amphibians, reptiles, and cats. Make the wavelengths slightly longer (700 nm-mm) and you’ll get infrared radiation. Some snakes, insects, and bats seem to be able to perceive infrared radiation, but not with their eyes—they have special heat-sensing organs.
Sources
How to save up to 86%? Here is little trick.
You must visit the page of sales. Here is the link. If you don’t care about which brand is better, then you can choose the led shop light by the price and buy from the one who will offer the greatest discount.
Final Word
First of all thanks for reading my article to the end! I hope you find my reviews listed here useful and that it allows you to make a proper comparison of what is best to fit your needs and budget. Don’t be afraid to try more than one product if your first pick doesn’t do the trick.
Most important, have fun and choose your led shop light wisely! Good luck!
So, TOP3 of led shop light
- №1 — Lithonia Lighting Shlp 48IN 40K 80CRI Dna LED Shop Light
- №2 — Sunco Lighting 2 PACK – ENERGY STAR
- №3 —
Questions? Leave a comment below!
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