www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

hi all,
I'm near to completing my dream workshop, which will be about 56ft long, 16ft wide and ceiling height 10ft !
Really needed this 25 years ago but at last, even though I'm heading into a sort of retirement, but will need a mancave to tinker in !
Any advice on makes/supplier/ratings of LED battens - reviews/prices seem to be up and down all over !
Looking at say 6-off, double battens, as bright as possible - the led wattages/lumens are confusing me too - can have in banks of 3 switched in case less light needed at any time.
It is a dry/sealed 'indoor' area, the lights can be fixed to the ceiling or suspended hanging a bit.
Need adequate light for using lathe, mill, drilling machine and other things as well as constant repair jobs and motorcycle building hobby.
Seems also to be 'cool light', 'daylight' and all sorts out there ...
Any advice most grateful.

This does seem a complicated issue, maybe not a minefield, as I am continuing to learn about these lights from googling here there and everywhere.

I think I have learnt that the battens are some sort of LED strips inside, rather than LED tubes ...
Some LED light systems can trip RCDs ?????
There seems a lot of votes for 'JCC skypack plus 6ft twin' lights - don't know if anyone here has any experience of these - not quite sure of model numbers but some JCC's this size seem to go from £40 each to £100+ each !

Just saying.............
There is no such thing as a LED tube. As you have found "LED tubes" are just a "plastic tube" with one or two strips of LED tape inside. The original replacement "LED TUBE" was a printed circuit board with loads of single LED's side by side all soldered on, but as LED tape has been perfected all you are paying for is a tube and some LED tape.

If it were me (and it isn't) I would consider putting some LED tape in trunking without the lid. (I have done it a few times with RGB LED tape.)

The "Problem" if you will with most lighting is taste. What I like you may think is terrible, so at the end of the day its personal choice.

I've just installed a 5ft led batten, with corresponding led daylight tube (replaceable) , sourced from tlc direct, effectively the led batten doesn't have a driver and is just mains fed at one end of the batten.

Some battens have fixed in place tubes so if 1 goes it's an entire unit replacement, others have replaceable tubes like a normal T8 batten.

I'm more than happy with the output of the light and prefer daylight to cool which has a blueish tinge, or warm with a yellow tinge

If you want full LED light in the "Strip" light format then I can recommend these, I have six in my 10mt X 5mt man cave and they are very bright, the LEDs are made by Samsung, I got mine of Amazon V-TAC 50Wt about £30 each.

I was lurking for the answers, as I have 5 x 5ft old type neon strips in my garage and often after opening the roller door, letting in light, I have forgotten to turn them off; well my (not) smart meter tells me they use about 200watts and replacement are about £9 up.
I looked at member Nos item and like any, there are small number of damming reports, so I looked at others and found a 4ft 60w LED for £22.99 only one report but I decided due its IP66 rating to give it a go; can't see how it will be delivered from China Charoneuro by May 14th but perhaps they have warehouse stock here. I will report back when it arrives.

Still confused but more informed now by all the much appreciated answers.
I have identified the JCC high output light (plus) that I had come across - it is now referenced the JCC100041 with 11,500 lumens, however they are out of stock at JCC (& suppliers I think) until 16 June. I don't have a price and they may be IP20 only. There is still the JC71746 QR version available (9800 lumens) from a number of suppliers and are IP65.
The plot thickens ......seems they all come from China anyway !

My order just arrived, so it did not travel from China this week, it is super light weight and has bagged, 2x bracket and cable fittings, the elec twin flex has copper multi strand with soldered tips about 25cm long at one end where it enters the unit, there is a grommet but unlikely to stop direct water ingress. I fitted a plug and it lit instantly, a nice bright white light, tried on and off- fine.
Clamp meter shows 0.180 ampere and my smart meter rise by approx 43 watts; box rating 60 watts.