Having a garage door plays a key role in keeping your place safe from intruders and protected from the changing weathers. Not only that, it also keeps your vehicles and other belongings secure. However, a poorly lit garage could be hazardous. That’s why in this article, we’ll talk about garage lighting and how it elevates the functionality of your garage.
Importance of Garage Lighting
Garage lighting is vital to ensuring the efficient use of your garage. This is because having a well-lit space helps you maximize it. To add, it helps avoid accidents. There are different garage lighting concepts—natural light, fluorescent, and drop lights; regardless, it provides extra safety and security.
Now that we’ve got discussing its importance out of the way, here’s a quick dive into some of the reasons you should install garage lighting.
1. Improved Safety
The top benefit of garage lighting is the safety. With the lights on, you can see the garage clearly and avoid accidents. Bumping into your car or other tools in your garage won’t be a problem anymore.
2. Heightened Security
Garage lighting enhances the security of your place. In a recent study, the use of lights can reduce crime rate by 39%. Additionally, at night, you’ll get a view if there’s a suspicious person roaming your house. It also signals that there are people inside.
3. Cost-Effective
Another reason is lighting doesn’t cost much. There’s a misconception that having garage lighting is expensive. However, it’s rather cheap given its benefits. You can find a good number of garage lighting options that could fit your budget.
4. Better Functionality
Having a garage door that’s functional should be one of the goals. You should be able to use your garage not just for your cars, but also for your valuable things. One way to make the most out of it is by installing lights.
When you have lights in your garage, you can use it anytime of the day. Let’s say you’ll have your garage as a workshop, storage or a parking space. You need good lighting for it to be accessible even at night.
5. Energy Efficient
Some would think that garage lighting is just an additional expense. However, this isn’t true as most types of lighting are energy efficient. This is most especially true when you’re using LED lights or those with PIR sensors. With these sensors, it lights up when it detects movement. Thus, there’ll be no wasted energy.
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Types of Garage Lighting
As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of types of garage lighting that could match your garage door design. These lights have the power to transform a hazardous dark place into a workable safe space. If you want to do the same to your garage, check out these garage lights to shop for.
1. Fluorescent Bulbs
This type of light emits ultraviolet light when the gas in the bulb is electrified. Its light distributes well so it’s a good option for garage lighting; it’s also long-lasting. The only problem is when it burns out, it becomes a hazardous waste.
2. LED Lights
Light-emitting diode (LED) produces light when electricity passes through a microchip inside the bulb. This type of lighting is considered more efficient than other light bulbs such as incandescent and fluorescent. In addition, it produces less heat and more light and costs less.
3. Recessed Lighting
This is also called pot light. This is usually attached in small openings of the ceiling. Many homeowners use this type of lighting for aesthetics and garage door interiors. Recessed lighting works well; it illuminates in a concentrated downward fashion.
4. Shop Lights
Easy to install, energy-efficient and low cost are just some of the thumbs up of shop lights. This type is similar to fluorescent, however newer and hipper. Plus, it emits excellent light good for small spaces.
5. Flush Mount Lighting
This lighting option is trendy because it’s a cool decorative type of lighting. It’s a dome-shaped fixture that’s installed to the ceilings. Flush mount lighting comes with different sizes and designs. This is perfect both for casual and formal interiors. Hence, it could easily complement the design and colour of your garage.
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Factors to Consider When Purchasing Garage Lighting
Needless to say, garage lighting helps ensure your safety while using your garage. Choosing from the garage lighting types listed above depends on your preference. Nevertheless, here are some of the factors you need to consider when buying garage lighting.
Brightness
This is one of the most important factors to consider when buying garage lighting. You need to know how much light you need for your garage. Most garage doors have little to no natural light. That’s why you need to buy a fixture that answers the problem.
The brightness is measured by lumens. And as widely suggested, the ideal lumen for a garage door is 3,500 lumens. You can use this as a base to identify how bright you want your garage to be.
Colour Temperature
This refers to the colour the light produces; and it’s measured in kelvins (K). The colour temperature ranges from 3,500K to 6,000K. The ideal temperature for garage lighting is 5,000K. This colour temperature is somehow blue, but not too bright. Remember, the lower the temperature, the more yellow it will be; and the higher the temperature, the bluer it gets.
Energy Efficiency
This needs no further emphasis. It’s given that homeowners prefer garage lighting that is energy efficient so that it won’t cost you a fortune. That said; it’s best to go for modern fixtures, especially LED bulbs. LED lighting approximately reduces energy consumption at 90%.
Installation and Connectivity
Each garage light requires different ways of installing. Hence, it’s best if you’re familiar with how installation and connectivity works before buying one. Some bulbs are easy-to-install, which nonetheless works best if you’re an expert in electrical matters. One example is screw-in bulb installation. Here you need to screw the LED to the basic light base.
On the other hand, there’s also a plug-in system. With this, you can string throughout the garage. This works through standard outlets, just plug them and flip the switch. As for fluorescent lights; it needs extra care in installation because of the materials that regulate the voltage to the light bulb. Handwriting to the electrical circuit within the garage is a requirement. There’s a long process of installing fluorescent light, nonetheless it’s simple.
Longevity
If you want to reduce cost, make sure to buy a garage lighting that has longer lifetime hours. To give you an idea about the longevity of lights, here’s a quick look.
- A LED bulb can last 25 to 30 times longer than incandescent bulb
- A fluorescent bulb can last as long as 9,000 hours compared to an incandescent bulb’s 1,000 hours
Climate
Next is climate. Different light bulbs perform well when they are placed in the right temperature. For example, if the climate in your place is cold, try using LED light. This is because it’s efficient when the weather is cold.
Other Features
It’s best to check for other features not mentioned on this list. Doing so helps you maximize its use. This info also helps in upgrading a garage door.
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How to Improve Your Garage Lighting
A garage door isn’t enough when you don’t maintain and improve it.
1. Don’t just stop at overhead lighting.
Garage door can function as a parking space, workshop, storage or all of them at once. Hence, keeping the position of the lights in mind and the type of garage lighting are important.
2. Choose a light fixture based on function.
Identify the function of your garage with these 3 categories—ambient lighting, task lighting and accent lighting. Once you know this, it’s easier to look for the right garage lighting for you.
3. Measure your space.
It’s important to measure your garage to determine the needed light output. The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Lighting Handbook recommends: 50 lumens per square foot in residential garages and 300 lumens per square foot in workshop areas.
It’s advisable to aim for 50 lumens per square foot for ambient lighting, 300 lumens per square foot in areas that require task lighting and a moderate 75 lumens per square foot for accent lighting.
4. Change incandescent bulbs to LED or fluorescent equivalents.
Doing this makes your garage lighting more efficient and cost-effective while giving the same light output.
Choose the Best Garage Door that Fits Your Garage Lighting Preference
There are several kinds of garage door; and choosing the type that suits your style is easy with garage door professionals as your guide. Good news! We are glad to help you with your garage door needs. Our expert technicians have the answer to your question: What’s the best garage door and garage lighting for my space?
What are you waiting for? Reach us today and let us help you elevate the value of your home.
