Home office lighting

[Joe Handley]

Anybody have recommendations on home office lighting?  I’m going to set up a workspace I can use for work, building models, and R/C, but the room I plan on using gets really dark as the sun goes down. We already have track lighting over the desk I plan to use and a wall light by the windows across the room, but it’s just not enough. I want to upgrade those to the highest watt LEDs that will fit, use a swinging desk like that I have in use right now, and maybe add some floor lights, but wonder what might be out there to use.

[iBorg]

If you're doing significant remodeling or have a dropped ceiling, I'm really happy with my LED can lights.

[Dave Van]

I have two 4 foot long LED shop lights over my work area. Less than $50 for a LOT of light for a long time. 

[Joe Handley]

43 minutes ago, iBorg said:

If you're doing significant remodeling or have a dropped ceiling, I'm really happy with my LED can lights.

Nothing like that, even though it needs it. We had a leaky roof that damaged some of the ceiling drywall and the wood floor. There is new drywall patched into there , but no tape, filler or paint over it. The floor is rather warped, but still sound enough for somebody severely overweight to stand on, plus could be used to test/screw around with my SCX24😅.  
 

 

32 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

I have two 4 foot long LED shop lights over my work area. Less than $50 for a LOT of light for a long time. 

Right now, I’m just wanting to get the room set up so I can use is as an office space and do the hobby stuff there off the clock too. Luckily, we don’t do zoom meetings and any conversations with customers and coworkers are done either as voice only and chat via Teams, so the room doesn’t have to be that sort of presentable, at least. I don’t need to go all out on lights yet since the days are longer now, but will need to by October.  I have been looking at floor lights, but have thought about those too, Dad has some in the basement and there do work better than what was here when we moved in 40+ years ago!

 

Thanks Guys

[wayne00]

I have two of these:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tertial-work-lamp-with-led-bulb-dark-gray-00424985/

I have 100 watt equivalent LED bulbs in them, I just screwed the mounts to my desk.

I also have an LED magnifier.

 I had everything up and running in less than 20 minutes.

   Rog😁

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by wayne00
added picture

[Joe Handley]

9 minutes ago, wayne00 said:

I have two of these:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tertial-work-lamp-with-led-bulb-dark-gray-00424985/

I have 100 watt equivalent LED bulbs in them, I just screwed the mounts to my desk.

 I had everything up and running in less than 20 minutes.

   Rog😁

 

I do have one like this already that will be moved back into there once the room is ready for me to work in it.

https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/326307/Realspace-Clamp-On-Magnifier-Task-Lamp/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&mediacampaignid=71700000090409312_16081653319&gclid=CjwKCAjwur-SBhB6EiwA5sKtjnmdhqEazR-MviObSC0oLtBvc-fjJwqetS-cBBehXtNurN3JsYew9xoCyzUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 

Have been looking at this, 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Charcoal-Metal-Transitional-Etagere-Shelf-Floor-Lamp-69-H/157330649

 

Dad has something similar to this in the living room and it’s amazing!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Teckin-Floor-Lamp-Black-LED-Dimmable-Touch-Control-Metal-Lamp-Bluetooth-Wifi-30W-2500LM/682575365

[Casey]

I have hanging (about 10" down from finished ceiling) LED light fixtures like these, which I would highly recommend. Easy to install (but you do need to plan ahead for the outlet, but there are hardwired versions, too), easy to move and adjust, and plenty of good light year round. Good lighting is important, so don't skimp here:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-64-Watt-Equivalent-Integrated-LED-White-Shop-Light-Linkable-3200-Lumens-4000K-Bright-White-5-ft-Cord-Included-54103161/205331022?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=Shopping-BF-F_Brand-G-Multi-NA-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA_LIA-NA-NA-Catchall_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-BF-F_Brand-G-Multi-NA-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA_LIA-NA-NA-Catchall_PLA-71700000014585962-58700001236285396-92700067144412479&gclid=CjwKCAjw3cSSBhBGEiwAVII0Z9kV0goS2YPSeR3kQzb6cxWc2_QfJyHUTGKZyRUQnhQS2hSYqjxYKhoCgBAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Gary Chastain]

These lights are from Menards. They have three power settings with a magnifying lens in the center(each light comes with two magnifying lenses, 3x and 5x) which I have one of each. I also like the light to move as I build. 

[bill-e-boy]

Get good lighting level to start with. LED strip lights are ideal - either 4' or 5'. To get the best lighting use 6000K color or higher. The 4000K lights are too red like incandescent lights and are poor for color matching. The strip lights can be used with the light track as there are usually connector blocks available. Talk with you electrician who should be able to help. I use 3x 4' single strip lights in my office which is about 12' wide and fairly narrow. I do not use this for modelling at this stage but I may do in the future so I set it up accordingly. I am a self employed electrician and I need an office for my paperwork

As well as the above use task lighting with positional lighting as suggested above. I use a two in my modelling room, one with magnifying glass that is LED and the other a large unit with a 36W LED. My eyes aren't what they used to be 

[espo]

Another thought beyond the lighting alone. The color and the type of finish on the painted walls can have more of an effect than you may realize. I have used a standard white color and an "Egg Shell" or "Semigloss" finish wall paint and this reflects a lot of the light around the room. This also works well inside your garage where there is often limited light as well.   

[Joe Handley]

Well, between Dad and myself, we got things straightened up enough for doing my job at the desk. This is also how much light I have at night with the 2 incandescent track lights over the desk and single CFL across the room in a wall lamp. If the weather is what I’ve been seeing on AccuWeather last few days, I probably won’t need the lights for when I’m working.

I would like to eventually figure out how to make that monitor to the right and one of the two desk top keyboards elsewhere in the room or a remote keyboard Dad has work with my lap top so I can have a larger screen normal sized keyboard, and better distance between me and said screen than I get with my lap top.

I also found a couple missing van kits while I was at it, they’re on the far back left corner of the desk!

Edited May 9, 2022 by Joe Handley

[Straightliner59]

On 4/8/2022 at 8:56 PM, Joe Handley said:

There is new drywall patched into there , but no tape, filler or paint over it.

Sounds like the perfect time to do it!

[Dpate]

What you want for painting inside for the best color is 5000K 95CRI or higher.  As an example down below.  But kelvin doesn't matter if your CRI is horrible.

https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/d50-5000k-t5-led-linear-light-fixture-for-color-matching-iso3664-2000  

Edited May 9, 2022 by Dpate

[Joe Handley]

Well, got the computer system set up, wired keyboard and mouse from an old Sony computer I picked up second hand 13 years ago and a Samsung monitor that Dad bought maybe 11 years ago all worked with minimal problems that my BiL was able to diagnose via text after I got it all going. First day using it went well too, only issues came from the programs needed for work that are remotely accessed, so I’m not sure if that was due to the Windows update last night prior to hooking this stuff up to the laptop or just the work server having issues.

So here’s the rig as it sat before closing it down for the night.

 

Then my first off the clock scale build done at this desk in a long time. It’s an Axial SCX24 Deadbolt with a RexRacer/Mod19RC Microshark tube buggy conversion. I’m about as far as I can go without the battery extension lead and upgraded aluminum tie rod and drag link plus RC4wd officially licensed Black Rhino aluminum beadlocks then painting and installing the body and interior parts.

The green truck in the background is the Deadbolt I bought in 2020 and modded over the last couple years.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Joe Handley