Ever since I started woodworking in my garage, I knew I needed some more lights. When we moved into the house, the only lights in there were these two 4′ t-12 fluorescent fixtures. They hold two 40 watt bulbs each.
Just the other day, I happened to check the Craigslist free section in my area and very quickly came across someone who was giving away a 4′ T-8 light fixture. I quickly responded and picked it up that evening. It looked brand new.
The only thing I needed then were light bulbs for it. So off I headed to Home Depot. I came across some 4′ LED bulbs that I thought would work with the new to me fixture.
InstantFit 4 ft. T8 32-Watt Cool White (4000K) Linear LED Light Bulb
They were only $7 a piece so I figured I’d give it a shot. The worst thing is that if they didn’t work, I could always return them. I even asked a HD associate if it would work and he said it will work in almost any 32 watt fixture. So I proceeded to bring them home and try them. Unfortunately, they needed a quick start ballast in order to work. I even looked up how to bypass the ballast to see if that would work with the bulbs that I picked up. No luck. So into the box the bulbs went and back to the store to get some florescent T-8 bulbs.
They had four different color temperatures of bulbs there so I chose the Natural Light color. Basically it goes from Soft white all the way up to Daylight. Soft white has more of a yellowish warm color to it while daylight has a bright, almost blue hue to it.
While I was there, I also picked up a pair of T-12 fluorescent bulbs in the same color temperature to match the T-8’s in the new fixture.
I really am going to love working out here now. It should also keep me more safe and make seeing my cut lines more clearly.
The bulbs I bought were only $5 each at Home Depot.