Our home improvement expert approves this very bright light that users love for its ease of installation and ability to be linked with others.
The light is bright enough to be close to sunlight. Works well for workspaces, garages, and other businesses. Covers a large amount of room with a single light alone. Can be mounted flush against the wall or ceiling if needed.
The included hardware is not as hardy as the light itself.
With 4 feet of light to work with and a linkable feature, these are a great option for larger shop spaces.
They hang from a durable, yet easy-to-install chain that looks right at home in a garage space. The connector feature helps provide a larger light source without taking up multiple sockets at a time. Very bright.
The lightweight plastic that they are made from feels flimsy.
This high bay UFO light gives you an energy-saving circular overhead option for a well-lit workspace.
It's quick and easy to install, indoors or outdoors. Saves you up to 80% on power. The 1-10V dimmer lets you control how bright it actually is. An optional on-off function works with your timeframe. Great for shops and warehouses.
Some note a lack of durability and physical protection from accidents. Non-replaceable bulbs, so if they burn out, the unit must be replaced.
A pack of 10 long LED lights that work either as plug-and-play or hard-wired lights.
Each light outputs 9000 lumens. Bright 5000 K daylight white for accurate illumination. Comes with a power cord and switch, or can be wired into an electrical system. Can be interconnected. Comes with accessories.
Some customers complain the mounting clips are flimsy.
This high bay shop light offers excellent illumination and has an elegant design.
It uses bright lamp beads to deliver 140 lumens per watt of lighting and has a durable die-cast aluminum casing for durability. It's IP65 waterproof, has a 50,000-hour lifetime, and has 10 dimming settings for 10%-100% brightness.
Powerful; can be uncomfortable to look at directly without a reflector installed.
We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections.
If you ever spent time in your father’s or grandfather’s workshop, you probably remember what the lighting looked like — or, more appropriately, what it sounded like. The old fluorescent tube lights delivered a decent amount of light – at least when they weren’t flickering. But the buzzing noises they made were impossible to miss.
Today’s shop lights feature a technology that leaves fluorescent bulbs in the dust. LED (light emitting diode) technology renders better-quality lighting than ever before. For those who work in a shop, LED technology can help with precise woodworking tasks and other activities that require a keen eye.
You can use a few different styles of LED lights in your workshop. No matter what type of lighting you want to have in your shop, you can count on the fact that an LED version will be available.
If you need light in all of the nooks and crannies of your shop, consider an LED light bar that runs off rechargeable battery power. These lights are portable and extremely bright, making them a great option when you need extra light in an out-of-the-way spot.
Overhead lights are commonly seen in today’s workshops. You can hang an overhead light from a chain attached to the ceiling, dropping it as close as needed to your workspace. Or, if you need more headroom, you can mount it directly to the ceiling.
Overhead lights typically stretch about four feet across. This width allows the light to illuminate a larger space, such as an entire workbench. Most overhead lights are fitted with tube-style light bulbs of the same size as the fixture.
To make an overhead light work as efficiently as possible, make sure the fixture you are using reflects light downward. Additionally, you should avoid mounting an overhead light too close to a wall, as the obstruction might prevent the light from spreading evenly over the entire area.
If you don’t like the look of the tube-style light bulbs in overhead lights, an LED track light might be more your speed. This type is made up of small flood lights attached to a mounted track, allowing you to aim the light source in a particular direction.
Notably, the track should be mounted directly to the ceiling. This means that if you have high ceilings in your workroom, the bulbs might not be powerful enough to reach your work area.
If you have lots of cabinets for storage over your workbench, placing an LED light underneath can give you good task lighting. This type of light brightly illuminates a specific area of the workbench.
You’ll want to mount these lights directly underneath the cabinets to give you as much room to work as possible. If a light is hanging beneath a cabinet, you could bump into it.
When adding LED shop lights to your workspace, you have a few different options. We’ll split those options into categories based on whether you already have lights – such as fluorescents – or whether you’re starting from scratch.
If you have fluorescent tube lighting and ballasts already installed in your workshop, you may be able to just swap out those tubes for LED tube-style lighting, also called TLED. The ballast (which is the hardware that holds the light tubes) must be compatible with LED lights, however.
With a new installation, you can choose any type of LED lighting. For general lighting needs, overhead LED lights are a good place to start. You can then add more types of lighting as you figure out exactly what kind of light and how much of it you need.
Some types of light fixtures will require that you attach the fixtures directly to the existing wiring. Others allow you to plug the fixtures into a wall outlet. Some LED fixtures allow you to use either method. If you choose to plug the lights into an outlet, just make sure that you aren’t overloading a circuit.
When you purchase a new fixture, it may have the LED light built into it, meaning you cannot swap out the bulb if it burns out. You just have to replace the entire fixture when it’s required. Because LEDs last so long, this type of fixture works very well for most people. Other fixtures allow you to replace the LED bulb, just as you would with a fluorescent-style tube light.
There’s not much variation when it comes to LED shop light pricing.
Most LED shop overhead light fixtures cost $25 to $50 per fixture. You can save some money if you need multiple fixtures, as you can buy them in multipacks of four to six. A multipack will give you a slightly lower cost per fixture than purchasing them individually.
Individual LED tube lights typically cost $8 to $12 each.
LED light bars and under-cabinet LEDs generally cost $10 to $30 apiece.
To determine how many lights you need, consider your workspace. You may want more fixtures directly over your primary working surfaces. However, if you only need general lighting, you may want to situate your lights in other areas.
To help you better see the area near your workbench, consider installing additional LED light fixtures. If you cannot install more fixtures in a particular area to help you see better, consider picking up a light bar or two. You can use these portable lights as needed and where needed.
To prevent glare, don’t place a light directly over your work area. Instead, place it almost directly over the spot where you’ll be standing.
Consider placing fixtures near the entrance of your shop. That way, you’ll have ample light as you’re entering or leaving the room.
Some types of LED shop lights plug into an outlet, while others must be tied directly into your workshop’s electrical wiring.
You can adjust the height level of a suspended shop light via chains that hang from ceiling hooks.
It’s better to hang your ambient lights before adding task lighting. That way, you can easily determine where you really need the light.
To avoid glare, don’t hang a shop light directly over the area in which you’ll be working.
LED lighting emits a type of white light that makes it easier to see the exact shade of the stain or paint you’re using.
A. LED shop lights carry significant advantages over other traditional lights, especially fluorescent lights. An LED light has over twice the lifespan and uses only about 60% as much power. So you’ll save money in replacement costs and usage costs with LED over fluorescent, and you’ll experience better light quality, too.
A. From a cost perspective, you’re probably better off allowing your current lighting to burn out before replacing it. If you’ve recently replaced the bulbs in your fluorescent shop lighting, for example, you still have hundreds of hours of performance remaining. It doesn’t make much sense from a cost perspective to throw away that remaining lifespan.
However, if you want a better quality of light now, you won’t regret the investment in LEDs. You’ll spend some money upfront to upgrade to LED, but you’ll save big in costs over the long haul.
A. Although it’s true that LED lighting advancements are occurring quickly, that doesn’t mean you should wait to upgrade. It’s unlikely that LED technology will undergo a massive change in the next few years. Instead, the upgrades will probably be slow and steady. So waiting doesn’t make much sense, as today’s technology has already reached a high level.
A. The need for task lighting in a workshop has changed in recent years. In the past, you may have wanted a task light directly over areas where you had power tools. However, many tools now include built-in task lights. For this reason, it’s usually best to focus on evenly lighting your entire workbench area.
Get emails you’ll love.
Learn about the products you’re wondering if you should buy and get advice on using your latest purchases.
BestReviews wants to be better. Please take our 3-minute survey,
and give us feedback about your visit today.