All You Need To Know About How to Choose Garage Lighting
To some people, garages are merely places to store their vehicles. To other people, garages are multi-purpose places for storage or workshops as well as keeping their vehicles protected from the elements. This is why it’s so important that you take the time to figure out the best lighting for your garage.
Factors to consider when choosing garage lighting include:
- Brightness
- Color temperature
- Energy efficiency
- Installation and connectivity
- Longevity
- Climate
Your garage lighting is important for how you function in the space. Reading on, you can learn everything that you need to know about choosing garage lighting and hear about the options that we offer right here at STKR Concepts.
How to Choose Garage Lighting
Every garage is different, which is why you need to consider how you use your garage space when trying to choose the best garage lighting for your needs. In this section, you can get a closer look at some of the most important factors to consider when you are deciding on which garage lighting will work best for your garage needs.
Brightness
Since garages typically have very little, if any, natural lighting, you will want to select a garage light that offers a lot of bright light. This means that you are going to be looking at lumens when searching for lights. Lumens refers to the measure of light that is produced for a specific amount of time. The more lumens that a light produces, the brighter the light will be. For a garage, you should consider lighting with between 4000 and 7500 lumens.
It’s important to remember that lumens are different than watts. Watts is the measurement of the amount of energy used for the light, while lumens refer to the brightness of the light.
Color Temperature
When talking about color temperature, you are talking about the color of light that the lighting produces which is measured in kelvins (K). The typical range for color temperatures is between 2,700K and 6,000K. The lower end of this range is the warmer and the more yellow lights, while the higher end of the range is the cooler and bluer lights.
As garages tend to be industrial-looking and grayish spaces, you may want to stick to the cooler color temperatures to make the space more flattering. Otherwise, the warmer lights tend to make the spaces look dingier. The color temperature can set the mood of the space. A warm yellow 2,700k can create a cozy or sleepy feel whereas a 5,000k can create a productive alert atmosphere.
What Color Temperature is Best for Garage Lighting?
The first thing that you should know is that there’s not a single solution that everyone will love. While there are suggested options for color temperature, you may find that you like a lighting solution that is warmer or cooler than what is suggested. Everyone has their own personal preference when it comes to lighting that should be considered.
Typically speaking, lights that have a color temperature of around 5,000K offer the best results for garage lighting. This is a shade of lighting that’s a bit warmer than what you’d get with the natural lighting, but you still get this clear and crisp look to the space. The thing is that depending on how you use the space will decide whether or not you want a warmer or cooler lighting scheme for the space.
For instance, if you are working on your car or woodworking projects in your garage, you will want lighting with a color temperature of between 5,000K and 6,000K. This allows you to see any imperfections in your work more clearly. If you have more of a man cave designed for poker nights or movie watching, you may want to have lighting with a warmer color temperature of between 2,700K and 3,500K.
This means that to know which color temperature you should get, you need to know how you intend to use the space. If you are merely storing items and your car in the garage, the lighting isn’t as important as it would be if you use the space for some other purposes as well.
How Bright Should Garage Lights Be?
Ideally, you will want garage lights that are somewhere around 3,500 lumens. However, this isn’t an exact number that you need to follow. As previously mentioned, depending on how you use the space you may need more or less lighting. A good option to consider here is the Trilight LED ceiling light, as this is an LED option that provides 4,000 lumens. It is also a motion-activated light, which means you don’t have to search around for the light switch to maneuver around your garage.
If you have a larger garage space to light up then the MPI might be a better fit for you. The MPI, or Multi Point Illumination, is a standard bulb socket replacement solution like the Trilight except that the MPI comes with four satellite light pods that attach to the main source. With these five points of light, you can add 7,500 lumens to your garage space.
Think about how you will use the space and how large the space is, which will give you a better idea of the lumens that you will need to offer adequate lighting in the space for your specific needs.
Are LED Lights Good for a Garage?
There are some other factors that you can consider when deciding which lights work best for your space. These factors are not only important when choosing garage lights, but it also shows why LED lights are the best choice for a garage.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is a big thing these days. For one thing, with rising energy costs people are looking for ways to save money where they can. LED lights actually cut as much as 90% of the energy consumption when compared to a similar incandescent bulb. They also last much longer than the traditional incandescent bulbs last. Incandescent bulbs can last about 1,000 hours whereas an LED light can last for over 10,000 hours.
Installation and Connectivity
When you choose an option like fluorescent shop lighting, it usually requires an electrician especially if you have to install entirely new fixtures in the space. LED lights like the TriLight offer an easy-to-install solution that anyone can do.
Longevity
LEDs also shine because they offer the best longevity of other lighting solutions. On average, LED bulbs can last between 25% and 30% longer than an incandescent bulb. This is while still being the most energy-efficient solution. LEDs lack the fragile filament of lighting solutions like incandescent bulbs, which means they are going to last a lot longer.
Climate
If you live in a space that gets cold and you have an unheated garage, LED bulbs really are the best choice. LED lights are even more efficient in colder weather, which helps them stand out from other lighting options. LED lights don’t require time to warm up, meaning that they get bright instantly. An option like fluorescent lights can’t operate well, or at all, when the temperature gets too cold.
Other Garage Lighting Options
In addition to LED ceiling lights, you also get options like a Trilight Shoplight. This gives you 3,000 lumens in the palm of your hand to use like a trouble light or hang it under the hood of your project vehicle as it’s essentially the newest evolution of the classic drop light. You won’t have to worry about dropping this light as its been designed and drop-tested to handle the wear and tear of a garage setting.
If it’s a mobile light on a stand that you’re looking for, then look no further than the TRi-Mobile. This 360 degree directional light can be used with its 4 foot light stand or be hung upside down from its built-in hanging hook. It also has a grip handle design for handheld use and the bottom of the grip contains 3 neodymium magnets for steel surface attachments. This rechargeable mobile light puts out 2000 lumens and offers two different color modes, 5400K and 4000K.
Conclusion
In order to get the best lighting solution for your garage, you need to think about how you are going to use your garage space. This will be important when you consider all of the different factors to determine which is the best solution for your specific needs. But what you should remember is that LED lights are the best solution that you can have for your garage because you get the bright lights that you need while still getting the energy efficiency that you want.
