# A lighting question.



## Batian

I am planning to equip a shed for coffee roasting. At the moment I roast outside so lighting has not been such an important consideration.

As a given, I am told that halogen light is best when looking at roasting beans. These are power hungry and are beginning to be not so available.

The LED is replacing the halogen work lights very quickly. A trip today to my local Wickes had (I think) three halogens and about eight LED lookalikes.

My question is, will a LED work light give as good results as conventional halogen. One of the Wickes LED was labelled as 5000K which is not quite 'daylight' balanced. Should I try to source another temperature LED?

Any recommendations in the LED range?

Thank you for your considered replies.


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## El carajillo

L E D's are the way to go as much more efficient than halogens. Or you could use fluorescent . I do not know what colour light you require but COOL LED's will give a very crisp white light. I have just changed my bathroom Halogens for Fusion LED's cool white 4000K realy sharp crisp white light.

You may need to go to an electrical supplier / lighting shop to get them rather than a DIY store.


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## Stanic

apart from light temperature you need to check the CRI - colour rendering index, it is a measure of how accurate will colours be represented under specific light compared to incandescent light (100% CRI - it has a continuous spectrum)


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## grumpydaddy

I use 6500k "daylight" led tube replacements from a company called NVC on a daily basis. They also sell round bulkhead lights with the same colour temperature in ip54 and ip65 variants. both give a diffuse light. bright white spot lamps or "corn lamps" of a similar colour temperature are also available so maybe go to a more professional outlet than the DIY ones and ask to see the variations they can get.


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## Batian

Stanic said:


> apart from light temperature you need to check the CRI - colour rendering index, it is a measure of how accurate will colours be represented under specific light compared to incandescent light (100% CRI - it has a continuous spectrum)


Thanks.

So what CRI do I need to look for as best when roasting?


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## Batian

Thanks for the info.

Is this what you use when roasting coffee?


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## Stanic

Batian said:


> Thanks.
> 
> So what CRI do I need to look for as best when roasting?


as close to 100% as possible - given the budget; there are some quite expensive LED applications for photography, but you should be fine with something like 85% and higher - the thing is, discrete spectrum can "hide" some colour shades so you might not see all the colours as they are under natural light

maybe a small, 10-15 watt halogen reading lamp would be fine for checking the colour


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## Batian

Stanic,

The roaster will have its own halogen light similar to what you describe.

I do need to light the general area of the roaster as well as the rest of the shed and do not want to overpower the roasters light.

So my thoughts are to get one or two workshop type 500w halogens on movable stands with a small overhead strip light for general use, plus an emergency automatic strip light in the event of power failure mid roast.

Two 500w halogens plus the roaster is beginning to put serious load on the ring main. So I was looking to reduce power demands whilst still having the colour benefits of halogens.

I have a similar problem in the kitchen, where a old style incandescent (filament) bulb is overpowered by the 'eco bulb'. This means that if you do not turn off the 'eco bulb' what you think is meat roasted pink is actually a light brown!


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## Stanic

I have no idea how big your space is but isn't 2x500 or even 1X500W too much? maybe 2x150 or 200W would suffice


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## Batian

I had not considered that.... just worked from pics of other peoples set ups. So I will review my needs.

The shed will be approx 10 foot x 5 foot or metric 3.048 X 1.524


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## Stanic

I think 500W would be too strong in that space, 2x150 should be fine


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## RDC8

Where do you intend placing the worklamp(s) in relationship to your roaster? on a stand next to the roaster? attached to the wall/ceiling?

I bought a single worklamp with a clamp, and put in a 150w halogen bulb. The clamp clips on to the rim of the loading hopper and is then angled so that the light shines down on to the cooling tray. I only switch it on for the final few moments of each roast to check the beans in the tryer and to evaluate the roast once it has been dropped. Like you, I roast in a shed, and the main light comes from two overhead fluorescents (not sure of the power rating).


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## espressotechno

Make sure the mains power to the shed is heavy-duty armoured cable, 20amp minimum, even it it's overhead. Then have a "garage" consumer unit inside the shed (see Screwfix).

The house consumer unit may have a spare slot, which can then have a 20+amp RCD.


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## Batian

espressotechno said:


> Make sure the mains power to the shed is heavy-duty armoured cable, 20amp minimum, even it it's overhead. Then have a "garage" consumer unit inside the shed (see Screwfix).
> 
> The house consumer unit may have a spare slot, which can then have a 20+amp RCD.


I am actually building the shed within an existing brick and flint shed. This shed is already (certified) wired to one of the house ring mains. It is heavy duty armoured cable --I believe 10mm flat??? It was replaced about 18 months ago after the decorators ladder collided with its forerunner!

The plan was to get the new shed connected to this existing wiring by a professional 'lecci'.

I am trying to plan ahead with the lights and sockets needed.


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## Batian

RDC8 said:


> Where do you intend placing the worklamp(s) in relationship to your roaster? on a stand next to the roaster? attached to the wall/ceiling?
> 
> Moveabilty is the key for me. Thoughts at the moment are either clamps or stands, above and to either side of the roaster, hopefully I will then be able to move them to remove any shadow spots in awkward places.
> 
> Could we address part of the OP re LED replacements to Halogen and colour?
> 
> Suitable makes and point of supply would be really helpful.
> 
> There have been some thought provoking replies. Thanks.


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## MildredM

If you opt for regular light fittings (and have a few dotted around) you could fit the remote controlled light-changing bulbs. That way you could use a daylight light for when you want to see the colour of the roast, a warmer light when you are doing other work in there, and so forth. I am very impressed with the ones we bought, iDual. Just a thought.


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## jimbojohn55

led every time - and use sealed units so that damp and condensation are not an issue - for the wall over the roaster get an anglepoise lamp - 1 so you can move it around - 2 so you can change the bulb type and colour if you want to http://www.diy.com/departments/isaac-white-desk-lamp/177358_BQ.prd?ppc_type=shopping&ds_kids=92700020156345634&utm_source=google_cpc&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=PX_GSC_Home_and_Decor_BandQ&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIieiBkaye1wIVaLHtCh1F2g7_EAQYASABEgLue_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPSE_bCsntcCFaGhUQody-UF1g

for the main light -

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/RTWPLED5.html?source=adwords&ad_position=1o4&ad_id=45425533757&placement=&kw=&network=g&matchtype=&ad_type=pla&product_id=RTWPLED5&product_partition_id=260391313876&test=finalurl_v2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1K_Nmaqe1wIVqbDtCh15mw9kEAQYBCABEgJP9fD_BwE


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## johnealey

Hi @Batian

I use this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/0103-eb-portable-site-light-220-240v/3529k

which you need to buy the halogen bulb for (may as well buy a 3 pack) :

https://www.screwfix.com/p/diall-linear-halogen-lamps-78mm-230v-120w-2250lm-3-pack/5846k

120W so not a massive draw and other than ideally needing a clamp, does have a hook over handle or a stand, I have mine hooked over the unfurled window blind "core" with hot bit in free air about 3-4 feet from inspection window / cooling tray of Amazon

When you think about it you only actually need this on from a couple of minutes into roast till completion of roast and only being 120w will not blind you in the process.

Hope of help

John

p.s. I have other lighting based on LED for everything other than a roasting light


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## Batian

Best laid plans of mice and men.....

I settled on the recommendations of the above post, plus a 4'dual tube LED strip light..

Guess what...

Out of stock and no date for restocking! The sales assistant said it was because halogens are going out of favour because of the more economic LED replacements.

Seems like the thread has come full circle to the OP! But thanks everyone.


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## iroko

I also tried to get the halogen light from Screwfix to be told they no longer do them, but I managed to get one from B+Q.


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## ajohn

If you want a good and official CRI the florescent tubes intended for colour work are very probably still the best bet. 6500k led's the worst also similar tubes. The tubes go by the name of D50 and can be hard to find. Philips are a good make for a decent life.

Osram produce them as well. There are also other Philips versions

http://www.assets.lighting.philips.com/is/content/PhilipsLighting/fp928044795081-pss-global

Any tri phosphor D50 aka 5000-5200k tube is likely to be pretty good The problem with others especially LED's is the huge amount of blue they have to put out to achieve higher colour temperature.. Lower temperatures finish up having too little blue. There are some led's about for architectural lighting which use 4 rather than 3 colours but I think they still don't match tubes for CRI

Needed for beans though ??? but if you really want a good cri this is what is needed.

John

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