Let There Be (Possibly Too Much) Light

This is my machine room (and Olivia’s butt), photographed at around 4 p.m. with the lights out. There is some light coming in from a window, but it doesn’t hit the table saw – so even during the day, I need shop lighting.

My home shop is in my basement, and while there are some above-grade windows, my urban home is pretty close to my neighbors on both sides, so not a lot of light gets through them. And most of the time I’m building something in my basement shop, it’s at night, after leaving work for the day.

The lighting situation in my basement is, no other word for it, weird. The house was turned into a two-family in the late 1950s or early ’50s, and tenants in both apartment shared the basement, where there were two washers and dryers, and two side-by-side pull-chain light sockets on the ceiling in each room. Each tenant was supposed to use a specific light, which was supposedly tied to the electrical box for that tenant’s apartment.

So there are lots of vintage light sockets in my basement, but they are not arranged to light up the place very well (except right under each set of sockets). And while I’ve moved a few of them to achieve better visibility, a regular ol’ bulb just doesn’t provide enough illumination.

I can’t recall where I first saw these newfangled LED “garage” lights, but I went out and bought a couple almost immediately. They are literally the difference between a night and day – if that day is cloudless, and in the middle of a flat plain with no trees or shade in sight.

I can’t photograph the LED light when it’s on – all you would see is white. But you can see puny amounts of light emitted by the regular bulb in the back, compared to the flood of light in the front.

There are many options for these “garage lights” that screw into a regular socket, but most of the ones I’ve looked at have a couple things in common: they’re incredibly bright (the ones I have are 4,000 lumens), they have multiple arms that are adjustable so you can throw the light where it’s needed, they are relatively inexpensive for how long they are supposed to last (I haven’t had them long enough to comment on longevity) and they are altogether unflattering (except to Olivia, who looks perfect in any light).

I have three of these. In the machine room, which is smaller that my messy bench room and has fewer dark corners, I have an 8-arm light that was clearly named by AI translation services: “LED Garage Ceiling Light, 260W 26000LM 6500K Deformable with 8+1 Adjustable Panels Commercia[l] Bay Lamp for E26/E27 Screw Socket,Basement,Barn,Workshop,Attic.” The multiple arms allow me to direct the beams where they’re most needed – to the table saw.

The laundry room light.

In my laundry room, I have a three-arm “Feit Wide Surface E26 (Medium) LED Garage Bulb Bright White 300 Watt Equivalence.” This is more than adequate for separating whites from darks, and for digging through my bins of painting and drywall stuff, which are on shelves near the washer and dryer. In fact, it would also be wholly adequate for the machine room, too.…and that’s a good thing, because I’ll soon be moving my washer and dryer to the second floor, and making the reclaimed basement space into machine room no. 2, for a jointer and eventual planer.

In my bench room, which has many dark corners, I have a “Beyond Bright 40-Watt Motion-Activated LED Garage Light with 10-Adjustable Panels.” This is the first one I bought, and clearly, I was hooked.

The raking light from the windows is pretty good for some tasks, but only for a few hours. And it has to be a sunny day.

When I’m planing at the bench and there isn’t enough natural light, I simply turn off the LED light, and use raking light from my bench lamp. But sometimes, you need a bit more.

I’m kinda embarrassed that all this light clearly reveals my slovenly shop ways…

Would I use these type of lights in my living space? Nope. They are sub-optimal as far as looks, and they are entirely too bright for everyday needs. But they are perfect for my basement shop.