Tell the truth. Is the garage door opener light the only lighting source in the garage? Or, do you have a few ceiling lights too, scattered with no strategy? And how about the bulbs? What about the color temperature? Let me put it this way: if you wait for Sunday morning to open the overhead garage door to fix the son’s bike or arrange your tools and you do that just to get better light, there’s a lighting issue in your garage.
Why do you need good lighting in the garage?
Because even if you only use the space to park the car, you still need sufficient lighting to come and go without bumping into things or feeling scared. And truth be told, most households use garages in many ways – not only as parking spaces. And we are not talking about turning the garage into a living space – no, no, no, this would be a different story. We are talking about doing laundry in the garage, keeping your gym equipment in the garage, or working on your bicycles in the garage. And let me ask you this too: how about the times you need to search for a tool or fix the car? Wouldn’t you appreciate some brightness?
Stepping into a bright garage is good for the soul too. You don’t get scared. Also, you see where you put your hands and easily do any task and find anything you are looking to find. Why wouldn’t you want more lights in the garage?
What do you need in terms of garage lighting?
There’s no fixed answer to this question. And not only because what you do in your garage may have nothing to do with my needs in my garage but because not all garages are the same. To understand your lighting requirements, you need to measure your garage and know how long and tall it is.
The garage door design also plays a role in it. Having a garage door without windows is different from
having a garage door with windows. And then, the glass obscurity will also tell you how much brightness you get during the day. It’s fair to say that glass garage doors bring more natural light than any other material, especially when the glass panel is clear.
Still, the day lasts for so long. And since we are talking about artificial lighting, let us say that the point is to get enough brightness when the sun goes down.
Best garage lighting options
Since today we use Lumens to understand the brightness of lighting, let us say that you need about 80 or even 100 Lumens per sq.ft. That’s to have average brightness. If you spend considerable time in the garage doing things, get lights with more Lumens.
Between incandescent, fluorescent, and LED, choose LEDs. Don’t give it a second thought. They last much longer and provide much better lighting. What’s also important is that they don’t consume too much energy.
When you are choosing bulbs, remember that Lumen rating shows the brightness while wattage shows how much energy it consumes. Naturally, you need high Lumens and low wattage.
With that said, let’s talk colors – temperature colors, that is. The worldwide used Kelvin color temperature scale indicates how cool or warm the light is. The higher the number the coolest the light. Choose something in between – about 4000K.
Don’t forget that you may choose a variety of lighting fixtures for the garage. You may opt for recessed ceiling lighting fixtures but also get task lights at particular points. You may also have one or two floor lamps, which may serve at different parts since they are portable. Make sure the lighting fixtures are placed at such a distance between them so that the light will be distributed evenly to the whole space – this depends on how big and how tall the garage is.
Get outdoor lights for both garage door sides
Brightening up the yard is a good thing for security purposes. For the same reason, place lights around and over the garage door. You want this area well-lit so that no ambitious intruder would even consider trying his luck. One more thing you can do is place motion detector lights so that you will get light when you move around – and know if and when someone else moves around. Lights make you feel safer, drive away intruders, help you do what you do easier and faster, and boost your mood. Why not improve them?
