A few years ago my friend Dave turned me onto some lights on Amazon that were just what the doctor ordered for various household and modeling lighting needs. They’re cheap, light, and flexible when it comes to mounting.

And here they are: Barrina LED T5 Integrated LED Lights.

I absolutely love these things. They are cheap, can be powered from either a plug or wired into the mains, and most importantly, they are INCREDIBLY light weight. I have a whole slew of them currently in use in my basement and they are all held to the drop ceiling frame with double sided foam tape. Yes, they’re that light.

They are also available in different color temperatures. I use 6500K to simulate daylight in my basement, but there are others available.

I am making this post because I frequently tell people about them and wanted to be able to point them somewhere when I tell them “just go get these”.

Here are some photos of my installation in the basement. Also note the strip of them hanging under the upper layout deck. They will also be used for lower level lighting when I finally get around to working on that.

I only wish I had known of these back in my old basement. I would’ve avoided YEARS of jokes about using Christmas lights.