LED Layout Room Lighting

I was thinking of getting one of those for my garage.  A 200 watt incandescent doesn't do the job. If I  see a marked improvement,  then I'll consider them for the basement train layout.  Right now I'm using 300  watt equivalent LED fixtures and they seem OK.

You might find the 6500k a bit too bright for your liking? I tried some fluorescents at 6500k, didn't like them at all.  Forum member Dave Hikel recommended 5000k in a thread I was reading here, that was much better light to my eyes so that's what used. Over the last few years, I've been converting those to 4' LEDs (still using 5000k) as they go bad. Also, 5000k is still too bright for many folks, some much prefer the 3000k to 4000k range.

FWIW, just something you might check before deciding on your lighting.

examples.

i tried one of those in my shed. Way too bright

Forgive my electrical expertise, but I also used these in garage and attic space. Big difference over a single light bulb.

My question is can you buy these to use with a dimmer switch or can you not dim these?

LED flat panels, also available.  Click on the underlined phrase to link.  Dim-able LED fixtures are usually marked.  If  not marked, it is probably not dim-able.  Dim-able LED fixtures require dimmers, marked for LED use.

I have one in my garage, one of the best additions to that space.  I too was wondering about using it over the layout.  Right now i have re purposed track lights, the fixtures are not compatible.

@Mike CT posted:

LED flat panels, also available.  Click on the underlined phrase to link.  Dim-able LED fixtures are usually marked.  If  not marked, it is probably not dim-able.  Dim-able LED fixtures require dimmers, marked for LED use.

I used the 2ft x 4ft LED panels in my former layout room and thought they were great,  if we stayed there I would have installed more of them - my flat black 7ft high ceiling just seemed to "soak-up" the light.

Rich in SD

Thanks for all the help. I’m really glad I posted this.

The LED flat panels are really cool and I may have some other uses for them. For the layout I would have a hard time installing them over the layout. I should have done lighting first.

I found these that I think will do the trick. They are dimmable for one. You can also select the color range from 3000-6500. When I work on the layout I can set the dim to 100% and the color to 6500k. When I run trains I can set the dim to say 50% and the color to 3000k.

All the settings can be done by a remote or an app on your phone.

The panels themselves are aluminum so can be adjusted to any degree you want. Your are not at just 0-45-90 degree angles.

They are more expensive but I think will be worth it. My wife tells me to spend more money on the trains. We’ll see how this plays out in practice when she see’s the $120 bill for light bulbs. 😂😂😂

Thanks again for the guidance. Much appreciated. I’ll show before and after pictures in a couple days.

@ChiTown Steve posted:

...A couple advantages I see. You can get them in 6500K Daylight color range.

To my eyes, that is definitely not an advantage. The "Daylight" LEDs in the 6000+ K range are too blue and get hard on the eyes after a while.

@rtr12 posted:

You might find the 6500k a bit too bright for your liking?

It's not that they are too bright, they are too blue. That's what makes it seem too "bright" and tires the eyes.

Jim Barrett did a Backshop about LED Lighting in Run 311. I produced this image  for him to use as the lead photo in the column:

If you want to duplicate the inviting, warm glow of an incandescent lamp, you need LEDs in the 2,700 to 3,000 K range.

Here are the results of 2 lights that I bought. Spoiler Alert, I like these a lot.

Each LED pad swings up and down allowing you to set the pad at whatever angle you want. Being aluminum allows this capability and it felt very solid doing so. The other lights all seemed to be plastic so the angles were fixed at 0-45-90 degrees.

You can see in the picture below that the left pad is aimed at the middle of the layout. The right one goes out a little to hit the edge of the layout. The other two point in a little to avoid light running off the table. Cool feature.

The color is configurable from 3000K to 6500k. 3000k is a nice light while running trains or working on the layout. 6500K is considered “daylight”. It’s very blue and harsh. It would only be daylight if my townspeople were getting attacked with lasers from alien spacecraft.

With the color at 3000k, you can set the dim from 10% to 100% (no dim). 100% is a sunny day and 10% is dusk. You can run trains starting at noon and ending at dusk.

Daytime Pics

Dusk Pics

App

There are remotes that come with the lights. I downloaded an app so I can run them on my phone. Syncing was fast and easy. From downloading the app to syncing the lights took 3 minutes.

The app allows you to set the color and dimming with either a gradiant component to fine tune it (4300K @ 72% dim) or push button settings, 3000k, 5000k or 6500k.

All in all this was a nice upgrade and well worth the $60. Plus my wife agrees! 😀 Thanks for everyones guidance on figurimg this out.

@ChiTown Steve

Thanks for sharing your layout lighting.  

How many of these are above your basement ?

What brand are they ?  

What store did you find them at ?

I didn't plan the lighting, and I took a different path.  These are installed in the eight fixtures over the layout, and I can have all the light I would ever desire, and dim them down to any level desired.  The wide angle fills in the areas between fixtures perfectly.

Sunco Lighting 2800 Lumens Outdoor Led Flood Light Waterproof PAR38 LED Bulb, Dimmable, 20W=250W, 3000K Warm White

@CBQ_Bill posted:

@ChiTown Steve

Thanks for sharing your layout lighting.  

How many of these are above your basement ?

What brand are they ?  

What store did you find them at ?

As much as I liked the convenience and versatility of these lights, they lasted less than a year. It started with me having to reconnect the bluetooth all the time. Then they just started not turning on all together.

I bought these off Amazon and for what I paid it was very disappointing. Endow International was the supplier  

There are other brands out there that might last longer. The appealing part of these over others was the ability to aim them in different directions.