LED Linkable Shop Light 42W 6PK

I bought a six-pack of these LED lights to use for seed starting in my basement and they work terrifically.The lights come in a very lightweight, thin cardboard box, six to a shipping box. They are essentially little more than two plastic tubes about the size of a thin fluorescent light bulb (maybe a T5 size) joined at each end with a black plastic end cap, one of which contains the 5' electrical plug and power switch, the other end of which contains a two-prong outlet so these can be daisy-chained together. The tubes themselves are a thin, fairly flexible, lightweight plastic and there is no metal reflector behind them, as suggested by one popular review - these are bare bulb fixtures. One can attach them either directly with screws to the ceiling or with a chain attached to a U-hook; both attachment options are included and they appear to be decent quality.There is some misinformation in the comments and reviews for this product over whether or not this light can be used as a grow light for seed-starting. The answer to that question is an absolute yes. A "grow light" needs to have a color from between 5,000 and 6,500 Kelvins. These lights are 6,000 Kelvins in color, which is nicely in the middle, they have about 4,500 lumens, and contrary to what one other person suggested, these are LED lights. I have mine set up hanging from the shelves of a 24"deep x 48"wide x 72" tall wire shelf I bought at Home Depot just to use for seed starting. I can fit four regular seed starting trays (roughly 11" wide by 21" long) on each shelf. I have two lights over each shelf for a total of four LED tubes (each light fixture has two LED light tubes on it) over each tray of seeds and these 48" lights work perfectly on a 48" wide shelf. I made little clips or hooks to hang these by taking an old wire coat hanger (from a dry cleaners) and with needle nose pliars bending it into an S-shape about 3/4 of an inch long and then cutting from the the larger wire piece. I hang one s-hook from the wire on the underside of a shelf and then attach the hanging chain to the other side of the s-hook. This setup is working very well and I have very healthy looking seedlings.These lights would do very well as a standard shop light in a garage or in a basement, also. They are much brighter than a standard 100w incandescent bulb.For more info on seed starting, there are many gardening videos on YouTube that will tell you how to pick a grow light (all will tell you that an LED light like this one is fine and you don't need to spend 3-5x more on something marketed and sold as a "grow light." In particular, the YT channels of Gary Pilarchik the Rusted Garden, MIgardener, Growing in the Garden, Next Level Gardening, Melissa K. Norris, Roots and Refuge Farm, and Living Traditions Homesteading have excellent videos on seed starting and all aspects of gardening.

Very simple, bright, light weight and easy to install fixtures ..

These are *really* bright. One of them in the garage is enough. Four of them and it's like walking outside on a sunny day.They're *very* cool bulbs -- mimicking old-school office fluorescent bulbs. I prefer these; they make you feel alert and in a windowless basement area, it can make you forget the lack of ... well ... windows.I was surprised that the entire thing was plastic, including the tubes, and was initially disappointed by that. But when mounted, the tubes diffuse the light very well and you really can't tell they're so inexpensively made.I have Migraine and even subtly flickering bulbs can increase the intensity substantially, so I won't keep any bulbs that have even the slightest flicker. I almost didn't buy these because of the price -- I assumed they'd be garbage and I'd have to return them. However, it's been a few months and I love them. I took the one I broke apart and mounted it in a custom enclosure which I had to further customize due to the incredible brightness of every LED on these things. As a result, I can confirm that there is no noticeable difference in any of the LEDs mounted in either tube -- they're all equal brightness emitting consistent color. They installed a giant capacitor at the power end and everything looks pretty solid with what little I dug into the circuit.I opted for 4, instead of 5 stars because the durability of these fixtures could be better. While installing, I slightly mismeasured one of the mounting screws on a flush mount, which is done similarly to power supplies (measure, put in two screws, put it over the large holes and slide it in one direction to lock it into place). I plugged it in and climbed the ladder to retrieve my tools and one side came free. These are *incredibly* lightweight but the weight of the one-half of the light, alone, was enough to separate the tube from the end on the plug side. While attempting to "catch" the thing, I grabbed in the wrong place near the top and got "bit" by the exposed wire.

Kinda flimsy design but they work and are bright.

We purchased over a year ago, all 12 still going

I received my shipment in perfect condition. Each unit had cardboard on each end with foam on the bottom and outside edges of box. Each light was individually wrapped in plastic with hardware securely taped to the plastic sleeve. No shipping complaints here. Looks like they improved on packaging from some of the other reviews I've read.Regarding the installation, there were a couple different options for mounting. I used the screws utilizing the slide mount method. You'll have to make sure to get the measurement right; measure twice, drill once!!! :)I mounted two of these in the washer/dryer room. Four lights were mounted in my tool room in the basement and linked.When I flipped the switch, WOW!!!! Almost makes the basement feel like major sunlight is coming in. No joke. Perfect work lights when you need to see what the heck you're doing. The lumen output is very impressive. Absolutely no disappointments. None.Another great yet simplistic feature is the pull chain. If you don’t want all the lights on at the flick of a switch that are linked, then turn the ones off you don’t need using the pull chain.It is of no significance to me that the bulbs can't be replaced because for the price, you cannot beat the value. Try going to Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards (or wherever) and you just will not find anything comparable; period.As for the build quality, it's plenty sturdy for what it is. I have no complaints.I am extremely satisfied with this purchase and will purchase another six-pack for my garage. If you're on the fence about this purchase, don't be. I hope your experience with this purchase is as satisfactory as mine was.-Johnny