To make things simpler, this article provides an overview of choosing the right garage lighting system that works best for you. We will cover the necessary criteria, such as brightness levels and price, so that regardless of budget or situation, everyone can find a light solution that fits their need!
What is Garage Lighting?
Garage light includes the various fixtures garage owners use to illuminate large spaces.
LED garage lights have different types, such as task lighting fixtures, to replicate natural light and create a more bearable setting.
These lights differ from most normal light bulbs, making them best for commercial space lighting.
Many of these lights even have a motion sensor designed to turn the light-emitting diode on and off whenever there’s movement.
Improving the Garage Lighting
The garage lighting fixtures can be divided into three main categories, i.e.
- General lighting
- Task lighting
- Accent lighting
However, the choice of the right kind of light to create visible light differs according to the final design in your mind.
Therefore, garage owners must choose the lighting for their garage door and the interior accordingly.
Many people think the incandescent bulb is the only type of lighting option for your garage, but with the latest LED technology, finding the perfect artificial lighting was never this easy.
It doesn’t matter if you have residential garages or commercial ones; the light bulbs are designed to cater to ample storage areas with a minimal warm-up period and provide the same brightness with the best power supply.
With professional guidance, you can quickly turn your garage lighting into the perfect one.
Most garages tend to lose their lighting over time, leading to a dark garage, so we prefer installing more innovative options such as built-in lights for the garage space.
The best part is you can use these garages for more than just a space to store your vehicles.
With low power consumption light options prescribed by illuminating engineering society, you can use your garage as the following:
- Home Gyms
- Stores
- Workshops
- Play Areas
- Greenhouses
Types of Garage Lighting Fixtures
Thanks to the large variety of garage lights in the market, you can now pick the best lights for your commercial garage areas.
You can distribute light better with suitable light types and get the best temperature range for your interiors.
With the proper light installations, garages tend to create the best outcomes, especially for commercial spaces with lighting direction produced from the light emitted.
Sometimes, these lights may also require task lighting, depending on how the owners want to set up their commercial garage area.
To help you understand things better, we have outlined the most common types of garage lighting, their benefits, and how to find the right garage fixture for your garage light.
Referring to this guide before you shop for lights can make your choice for LED lights narrower and easier.
- LED Garage Lights
Garage LED light bulbs have light-emitting diodes that allow illumination in light fixtures. Compared to fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, light bulbs have better longevity and can provide better light-saving options.
Most experts believe that LED light is the most energy-efficient lighting option. People using them also refer to them as energy savers.
It’s because all the heat produced by these bulbs gets absorbed by the heating plate. This way, the bulb is safe to touch and saves tons of energy simultaneously.
Moreover, these garage LED lights can produce maximum light without interruption because of the warm-up period. You can turn these lights on and off the light bulb, but their lifespan does not take effect.
However, these lights are directional, which is their only drawback. Therefore, you can get light spreading in one direction only.
So, if you wish to use LED lights for your garage interior, you may need to install many.
- Fluorescent Lights
Fluorescent lights are considered a minor advancement in small-scale and commercial-level lighting options. These lights are pretty efficient in illuminating large commercial areas.
These bulbs have tube-shaped lights that have mercury-based vapor. These mercury atoms get ionized and produce light when the electric current flows in.
Moreover, Fluorescent lights also have a phosphorous coating within the glass tube well as mercury, conductors, and inert gas.
These bulbs have a light that reaches various wavelengths, making it best for garage owners that want a fully illuminated area.
The bulbs require ballasts for illumination, making them essential components for regulating power safety within the electrical circuit.
The heat produced within the light fixture seriously impacts these bulbs’ quality and functionality.
However, whenever the temperature falls below the required level, the mercury within the bulb liquifies.
UV and visible light production drastically decrease because of the temperature changes that might arise.
- Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL)
CFL lights fall under the category of fluorescent light bulbs and offer several advantages making them unique from most other types of bulbs for your garages.
In the industry, people also call these bulbs compact fluorescent tubes as they are famous for energy-saving.
These bulbs have a tube folded and fit into the incandescent bulb’s area.
CFLs are most commonly used in table lamps but are also popular for installation in garages and factories. The CFL bulbs are highly energy-efficient and can easily create natural light.
These bulbs have 10,000 hours of life which is 10 x better than standard light bulbs. These CFLs are subdivided into two more types, i.e., integrated and non-integrated.
You may find these CFL bulbs slightly costlier than other types used for garage lighting, but their energy efficiency makes them best for saving in the long run.
- Incandescent Light Bulbs
Incandescent light bulbs are one of the most common light bulb types commonly used in:
- Bedrooms
- Baths
- Patios, etc.
Apart from this, these bulbs are also popular for garage illumination in their interiors.
The main difference in these light bulbs is their wattages, which typically range between 40 and 110.
The light produced in these bulbs is because of the heating filament because of the electric current flowing.
The bulb follows an incandescence mechanism, creating light for illumination. These bulbs are readily available in various wattages, sizes, and outputs.
Moreover, because of their affordable production cost, incandescent bulbs are one of the top-rated options for lighting your garage.
The best part is these lights don’t demand any regulating hardware and operate well with various control mechanisms such as timers and dimmers dimmer.
The light provided by this bulb has a mellow, yellow-white tone that can persist for a year.
- Halogen Bulbs
Halogen bulbs are similar to incandescent bulbs because they have a core that increases the temperature to produce light.
These lights are unique because they illuminate the garage area with a halogen process.
As for their benefits, halogen lights are considered the most efficient and effective one out of all the ones discussed in this piece.
The primary benefit of these lights is the white light that these bulbs produce. The white light is more on the neutral side, which helps reduce eye strain and suits cases where users have to work within an indoor space. For instance, a halogen bulb within your garage allows you to keep an eye on the cars and move them in and out whenever needed.
Moreover, halogen bulbs have the most versatile reputation for their energy-efficient operations compared to the light bulbs you usually find.
On average, these halogen bulbs can help garage owners save around 10 to 20% of their energy costs and still produce brighter, shiner light for a longer life span.
Many people refrain from investing in halogen bulbs because they are slightly more costly than other options in the market.
However, you should know these bulbs are highly reliable and can help reduce long-term maintenance costs.
- Outdoor Garage Light Fixtures Garage owners need to consider the garage light on a more collective level rather than just the indoors. The outdoor lighting you install around your garage determines how people perceive your garage on the outside and how easy/ difficult it is for them to find it. With the right outdoor garage light fixtures, one can easily secure the garages and avoid accidents. One of the most popular choices for outdoor garage lighting is the wall-mounted lamps that you can place on the garage sides. These outdoor light stands can help create light on the garage door and make it more prominent. Moreover, these lights also illuminate the surrounding areas. There’s a variety of light options you can pick from for these outdoor garage lighting fixtures, but the most common include landscape Lighting.
Landscape lighting is a broad type of lighting fixture popular for both residential and commercial. Landscape lighting is typically used for security in commercial buildings and large spaces such as:
- Terraces
- Public pergolas
- Parks
- Office buildings
- Motion Sensor Light
Many garage owners also add motion sensors to their lighting systems for security. This way, these sensor-integrated lights installed outside the garage can help add more security.
The sensors in these lighting fixtures have microscopic components with detection abilities for infrared energy produced when someone moves.
Thus, if the motion system senses significant heat radiation commonly found in humans, automobiles, and animals, it switches the lights.
- Spotlight
The spotlight outdoor garage lighting is best for getting direct and directed illumination for specific sections within the garage area. These spotlights thus help illuminate garage exteriors, decorations, and doors.
Despite a similar feel, the floodlights differ from the spotlights because the latter focuses beams towards a center point in a straight line instead of dispersing light in a large area.
Benefits of Proper Garage Lighting
Lighting your garage can benefit your business and operations in multiple ways. However, it’s only possible to do this if you understand the true potential of these garage lighting fixtures for your interior.
Therefore, we will list them for you and help you understand why proper garage lighting suits you.
Here’s our list of the top benefits we could find about garage lighting indoors and outdoors of your garage.
1. Longevity
Ensuring your garage stays illuminated for extended periods is vital, especially if you have a commercial garage space.
You can’t afford and manage consistent light fixture breakdowns, which is why you need better lighting.
Light options such as halogens and LED lighting provide the best usability and lifespan; provide thousands of hours of lighting without maintenance or exchange.
Installing better garage lighting guarantees better protection against light disruption and makes your garage space management more effortless.
2. Improved Lighting
The lighting quality within your garage area determines the ease or difficulty you might have while managing your garage space.
With efficient lighting options such as LED lighting, you can quickly get brighter light without worrying about energy consumption or the bills of your commercial garages.
Dim light bulbs can take a toll on the final light produced in your garage space. Moreover, it can be challenging for garage lighting to look its best when the lighting fixtures can’t unlock their full potential.
The best part is that these efficient lighting fixtures don’t need to heat up like older filament-powered light bulbs. They can quickly light up without heating up.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
The cost of running a commercial garage space is one of the biggest concerns you will have if you wish to continue the business for longer.
The lighting fixtures for commercial lighting are pretty affordable for installation. Even if you choose a costlier one (like an LED light or a halogen), you will get a better return on investment in the long run.
Higher-quality garage lighting options ensure you get better quality illumination indoors and outside the garage and help you save energy costs.
How to Choose the Right Garage Lighting Fixtures?
Now that we have discussed the types of garage lighting fixtures, your options, and their benefits, it’ll be easier for you to set up commercial garage lighting.
However, if you feel like it might still be a substantial challenge, there are a few tips to help you.
To make it easier, we have outlined some tips for choosing the right lighting fixtures for your next commercial installation.
- Determine Your Light Output
The first thing to consider while choosing garage lighting for your buildings is the light output you need. The output is calculated according to the number of lumens.
As a standard practice, 5- lumens of light are needed per square foot of area. You can multiply this lumen calculation with your garage area and determine the best output.
- Secondary Light Sources
While setting up the garage lighting fixtures within your garage indoors, you should consider secondary light sources. For instance, the color of your garage wall impacts the final light quality produced.
Light-colored walls reflect more light and can make indoors light up. However, darker walls absorb more light, which might make your garage look dimmer.
- Choose High CRI Light Bulbs
Unlike incandescent lights (which have a warmer light), natural light is a more practical approach for lighting the garage space.
We recommend you look for garage bulbs with a high CRI rating. CRI stands for Color Rendering Index and represents how bulbs produced light can replicate colors on paint, metal, woodwork, and other items in your garage.
This index can increase to 100, but a minimum 85 CRI rating works perfectly fine for indoor garage spaces.
Conclusion
Preparing your garage space lighting can be a great idea to make the most out of it. There are many garage lighting options you can choose from indoors and outdoors.
However, we recommend considering the top three tips discussed in this article to make your garage lighting a worthwhile investment.
Moreover, getting a professional recommendation for your next garage lighting installation is best.
Where you buy your garage lighting fixtures can also impact your final experience with them. Therefore, you should research it.
Looking for Garage Lighting? RC Lighting will help you.
It’s understandable if you struggle to find the best light fixtures for your garage space. A variety of sellers in the market provide to be “leading sellers,” but only a few deliver what they promise.
We recommend connecting to our professionals at RC Lighting before you make your next purchase.
Our experts have the broadest range of garage lighting options ready for you. We’ll assess your garage space and design and recommend lighting fixtures for your indoor and outdoor space. Contact Us Today
