Bright Workshop Light


After building out a large 'Super Garage' I had thought I had stuffed enough lighting in the place to combat my getting older and difficulty seeing smaller things. Well it almost worked, however the workbench area is one of the lowest lit areas in the garage. I finally got off my a$$ and install a light directly over the workbench and welding area.

My garage has a bunch of T5 4 lamp troffers and 6 75 Watt Metal Hallide lamps, with all on it's really not all that bad, but it wastes a lot of power. So it's time to upgrade the lighting once more...

In this project I will install a 4 foot (48" for those that need math help) LED Linear High Bay light fixture with 200 Watts of dimmable power. After looking at the 'Garage' grade shop lights I determened they all pretty much such for light output. Most were in the 20-40watt range and really didn't do a great job of light output. So the search went to commercial products. I found a could of good alternatives, and other than price they are perfect.

All Purchased from 1000bulbs.com (you can also find some similar on Amazon and eBay)

Parts


PLT-10309 48" (approx) 200 Watt High Bay Lamp
Lutron PowPak RMJ-5T-DV-B Wireless LED capable dimmer (10 volt control circuit)
Lutron Pico  PJ2-WALL-WH-L01 White flush mount remote control dimmer
Old 3 Wire Extension cord
Wire Nuts
Electrical Tape

Tools needed

Wire Cutters/Strippers
Drill and Bits
Stud Finder
Optional Toggle Bolts or other Mounting Screws

LED Workshop Light


As shipped from 1000bulbs.com. The box was full of the hated packing peanuts, but it all was good as nothing was damaged and all parts ordered were ready to go.
PLT 200 watt LED Fixture

PLT 200 Watt LED Fixture


This is the LED side (downward facing) side of the fixture. Their are 4 modules each are 50 Watts. The construction is all metal except for the 2 end caps (black). The like is heavy and solid as compared to the el-cheepo fixtures you might find at the home improvement stores. This is definitely a commercial product. The downside is it is not inexpensive. Cost for the fixture was about $230 + shipping. The part number I used was the PLT-10309. Be careful as their are 2 similar lights, but the patterns they produce are different. This is the High Bay style which produces a ROUND patter. The other type is for aisle lighting, and while I didn't use it, it may still be one to consider.
LED Workshop Light Boxed
Light Fixture Patterns

Lighting Patterns


As mentioned for commercial lighting their are many patterns. This light fixture has a ROUND Type V pattern which is good for overall coverage. They also have the same fixture (PLT-10318) but it features a Hotdog shaped Type I pattern. If I had plenty of extra money I would have tried both, but ended up choosing the Round Pattern. Just be aware their are 2 types!
Brackets

Rigid Mounting Brackets



The lamp comes with rigid mounting brackets that are mounted to the ceiling then the lamp bolts slides over them and locks down with a thumb screw. Pretty nice, and easy to install. This is a better way if you want a larger light coverage.
Wire Rope Hangers
Fixture Main Power

Fixture Main Power



This is the cord coming out of the fixture. It seem these are waterproof (to some extent) and they give you nice a pigtail for all wires coming out of the lamp. If you are doing the wiring like I did this makes it easy to wire things up.

NOTE: These lamps do NOT dim with a conventional light dimmer, they need a newer 10 Volt control type dimmer. The diming is controlled by a different set of wires. Multiple lights can be ganged to one dimmer if you have more.
LED Fixture Dimmer

LED Fixture Dimmer



The other set of wires coming out of the lamp are for the 10 Volt dimmer circuit. Normally this would be a pain, but since we are going wireless for the controls, this is going to work out perfect. All wires are nicely labeled too.
Lutron Wireless PowPak

LED Shop Light Mounted Ready for Action



Conclusion



After hanging the light and running the wire down to a plug I gave it the final run. All remotes control the lamp well, and the one at the entrance to the garage is about 25 feet away and works well too. The picture above has the light on a very low setting so I could take the picture but let me say it makes it outside bright over the work bench so mission accomplished.

The only issue is that when turning off the light, it does a little flicker before it goes out. Not a big deal at all. Very happy with this, and likely pick up one more of these for over the tool box area. One nice thing is that the PowPak can control multiple LED lights over the 10 Volt dimmer buss, so adding more that are remote controlled will be easy!

Happy Motoring and get your projects done!
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Lutron Wireless PowPak



This thing is cool, it's basically a wireless receiver that can be controlled by some of the Lutron PICO wireless switches. The controller hooks up to the lights power and to the dimmer circuit and runs the show. It has a lot of interesting features, minimum brightness, maximum brightness, and other stuff. Read the manual!  It's a small plastic box with 3 wires coming out. You will need to hook it up to power and the fixture as shown in the included instruction. Use wire nuts and tape to make sure things are safe. I am going to mount on top of the fixture so wiring will be more exposed then I like but I'll make it safe. Also note you can control many LED fixtures with one controller.

The model I used was the LUTRON RMJ5T-DV-B

The bottom connector that is purple and gray is where the 10 Volt dimmer wires would go.

Wire Rope Hangers



The fixture also comes with the wire rope style hangers (nicer then a chain). It's adjustable in height, but requires something strong like a wood rafter/beam to screw into. One other big downside for the shorter ceilings we tend to have is that the light will hang lower and may not throw a lot of coverage. The LED fixtures like this tend to be more focused then the typical old fluorescent style of yesteryear. I opted to use the rigid brackets as I had no easy place to catch some wood so I used some toggle bolts on the rigid mounts. I guess you could use them with this too.
Lutron Wiring

Lutron PowPak Wiring



To test things out I wired it up carefully following the directions. It's important for the dimming wires to make sure the polarity matches what the wire colors are and where they plug into the Lutron controller. After wiring it all up I did a quick smoke test on the fixture and programmed up one of the Lutron wireless switches. It requires a read of the directions, then a couple of button pushes and it's paired to the receiver. Their are a bunch of options like min or max level of lighting and a few other settings.
Lutron Wireless Dimmer Switch

Lutron Pico Wireless Dimmer Switch



This is the remote wireless dimmer switch. They come with a flush mount (no electrical box needed) system. The switch can also be used like a remote control if you do not use the wall mounting it can be used just like a small wireless remote. Note that you can pair several of these wireless remotes to one controller. In my set up I have 2 wall mounts and a one that is just bare. They all use a small lithium battery to power them. The switches and wall plates are available in many colors and a couple of styles, make sure what you get is compatible with the PowPak you get.
Lutron Wireless Dimmer Switch Mounted

Lutron Pico Wireless Switch Mounted



Mounting on the wall was a snap, drill a couple of holes, mash in the inserts (if in drywall), screw on the switch to the wall and finally snap the decorative cover over it. You can see how thin the wireless remote is as I am holding the bare unit.

Shop Light Wireless Switch Mounted



All nice and ready to go. The switch has ON/OFF, Dim and a Preset (center button) functionality. Since this fixture is really bright, I did the preset a little dimmer so I could still turn it up brighter if needed.  The other wall mount switch was put at the entrance to the garage door, so when I walk out I can flip it off if I forget.
DIY LED Shop Light Dimmer Completed
Shop Light Dimmer Switch Mounted