Swapping a garage fluorescent fitting for a folding LED lamp

An old garage fluorescent is slow in the cold, flickers and its tube breaks easily. A folding multi-blade LED lamp is a simple alternative, but check the holder, weight, aim and safety.

On a winter morning you walk into the garage and flick the switch. The fluorescent tube on the ceiling blinks a few times, comes on with a weak, purplish glow and only reaches full brightness several minutes later. In unheated spaces such as garages, workshops and storerooms this is a familiar scene. In recent years folding multi-blade LED lamps have become popular for such places: they screw into an ordinary lampholder and their blades open out to spread light over a large area. The switch is simple, but a few points need attention.

Why fluorescent struggles in a garage

The way fluorescent lamps work makes them sensitive to cold. The pressure of the mercury vapour inside the tube depends on temperature, so in the cold the lamp strikes slowly and burns dimly. In old fittings with a choke and starter this is especially noticeable: the starter makes several attempts and the tube flickers.

There are other problems too:

• a long glass tube is easily broken in a garage by a ladder, a length of timber or a tool, and the mercury inside is hazardous;
• the ballast hums and an old capacitor runs hot;
• flicker can create a stroboscopic effect when working with rotating tools;
• the diffuser of an old fitting has yellowed and filled with dust.

What a folding LED lamp is

A folding lamp has several flat LED panels, or blades, attached to a central body. Once the lamp is screwed into the holder, the blades fold out and can be set at any angle. This design spreads light widely downwards and sideways, and by angling the blades you can direct light onto a workbench or the sides of a car. Some models also have an extra panel in the centre facing down.

The lamp fits a standard E27 lampholder and has its driver in the body, so no separate installation is required.

First issue: the lampholder

A fluorescent fitting has no screw lampholder, so an E27 holder is needed on the ceiling. There are several options:

• remove the fluorescent fitting and install a ceramic E27 batten holder on the ceiling in its place;
• hang a pendant cable and lampholder from the ceiling, in which case the holder and cable must be able to carry the lamp's weight;
• in a large garage, create two lampholder points where there was one fluorescent fitting.

Removing the old fitting and installing a new lampholder is electrical work. With the circuit isolated and tested dead, join the wires in a terminal block. If you are not sure, hand the job to an electrician.

Weight and heat

Folding LED lamps are much heavier and larger than ordinary household bulbs. That raises two issues. First, the lampholder and its fixing to the ceiling must carry the lamp's weight. A thin plastic holder may bend or crack over time, so a ceramic holder is more reliable. Second, a lamp on a pendant cable can swing, and air movement when the garage door opens, or an accidental knock, makes this worse.

LEDs run cool, but the driver in the body produces heat. Do not put the lamp inside an enclosed shade; a folding lamp is designed to work in the open.

Light distribution and quantity

In a garage, the main light needs to reach the area around the car and the workbench. Open the blades so that:

• light comes out downwards and sideways rather than towards the ceiling;
• shadows on both sides of the car are kept to a minimum;
• the workbench is lit directly, without the worker's own shadow falling across it.

One lamp may be enough for a small garage, but in a double garage or a long workshop two or three light points give a more even result. As for colour, neutral to cool white, roughly 4000K–6500K, shows detail well in a garage or workshop.

Safety and environment

A garage is dusty and sometimes damp and oily. Keep in mind:

• an open lampholder and lamp should not be exposed directly to water or oil splashes;
• where cars are washed or it is very damp, an enclosed fitting with a suitable protection rating is a better choice;
• do not hang the lamp so low that ladders, timber or tools can hit it;
• in a garage, RCD protection on the lighting circuit is especially worthwhile.

Take the old fluorescent tubes out without breaking them and hand them in at a collection point; separate the ballast and body as electronic and metal waste.

Zaferoğlu Elektrik's Zəfər İşığı catalogue includes a four-blade folding LED lamp with an E27 cap. Before using it in a garage or workshop, check that the lampholder is suitable for the lamp's weight and size.