Choosing between Shop Light Fixtures and T8 LED Tubes for Art Studio Lighting

I’m a painter looking for shop lights for my art studio, and I’m trying to decide between purchasing your Northlux 95 CRI LED Shop Light Fixtures or your NorthLux 95 CRI T8 LED Tubes for Art & Studio. I have several questions: 

In terms of lighting an art studio, do you recommend one of these options over the other? Is there a difference in the quality of light they provide?

Our daylight color temperature products are a great fit for an art studio, and generally speaking, all products under our "NorthLux" brand would be an excellent fit.

As you mention, however, many of the lighting requirements for artwork and other applications, such as studio photography, do overlap quite a bit. As such, you may see several of our products which are listed on separate product pages even though the underlying product is the same. (Please see my response to your question below about the CENTRIC DAYLIGH vs NorthLux, for example).

And if you recommend I purchase the LED tubes, is there a hanging fixture you recommend that will work well with them?

​We don't have any specific recommendations, and it is a bit difficult to locate compatible fixtures since many fixtures available on the market today are geared towards fluorescent lamps and not LED lamps.

Our LED lamps can be used with fluorescent fixtures as long as they either contain a compatible fluorescent ballast, or the fluorescent ballast is bypassed.

​We would recommend performing a search for "LED ready" fluorescent fixtures or consider the shop-light style LED fixtures you mention below.

Does the Northlux 95 CRI LED Shop Light Fixture have a frosted cover on it? Or is the cover clear, exposing the LED strips?

Our previous batch of shop light fixtures did not have a frosted cover, so the photos you see on the website will also reflect this and show the individual LED diodes. Our new batches, however, have a frosted cover, allowing for a more diffused and distributed light output.

What is the difference between your Centric Daylight and Northlux lines? Would the Centric Daylight tube lights also work well in an art studio?

​Both the CENTRIC DAYLIGHT and NorthLux product lines have the same underlying technical specifications. As mentioned above, these product markets have identical or very similar lighting requirements and the products can be used for either application.

The best way to confirm whether products are identical or not would be to check the part numbers listed under the product name on each product page.

I noticed that the Centric Daylight tube lights are flicker-free, which sounds great. Do the Northlux lights have a flicker? 

​The NorthLux lamps are also flicker-free, so that would be a nice benefit for an art studio as well (even though we are not actively marketing it as such at the moment).

If I order the light fixtures now, will the ones I receive have the frosted cover? In case it makes a difference, I plan on getting a six-pack of the 5000k ones. 

Yes, any orders placed now or in the future for the NorthLux shop light fixtures (5000K) will have the frosted cover on them.

Just to clarify, is the entire NorthLux line of products flicker-free, including the shop light fixtures?

The new 5000K fixtures are both flicker-free and have a frosted cover.

In case the shop light fixtures don't work out for me, is it possible for Waveform Lighting to schedule a pickup for the return from my home? I'm located in California. 

We offer free return shipping via a pre-paid USPS Priority Mail shipping label. USPS offers complimentary pickup at most residences so if this works for you, we should not have any issues accommodating the pickup request!

Is it safe to plug the shop light fixtures into an extension cord, even when daisy-chaining multiple fixtures? My studio ceiling is very high and the 60-inch power cable won't reach any outlets without an extension cord.  

Yes, as long as you do not exceed the amperage rating on the extension cord, you should not have any issues. The amperage is calculated based on the individual amperage ratings of each fixture (0.4 amps) multiplied by the number of fixtures you plan on daisy-chaining.

For example, four fixtures would have an amperage of 1.6 amps (0.4 amps x 4 fixtures) so you will want to make sure the extension cable has a rating that exceeds 1.6 amps.

Question posted under:

T8 LED tube lightsArt studio lightingLED shop lightsFlicker free

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