When you think of garage lighting, you probably imagine lots of long, yellow, flickering fluorescent lights. But it doesn’t have to be that way! There are much better options available now. Mr. Electric® recommends using LED light bulbs throughout your garage and workshop. They offer bright white light and the longest life of any residential light bulb type.
But there’s a lot more to garage lighting design than just light bulbs.
Need an expert’s touch wiring your new garage lights? Call Mr. Electric or schedule an appointment online.
Garage Lighting Ideas
If you’re like many homeowners, you use your garage for much more than just storing your vehicle. Maybe you perform your own car repairs and use a workbench for those tasks. Perhaps you enjoy tackling home improvement projects, or crafts like woodworking. Do you have a dedicated potting bench in your garage? All of these tasks and spaces call for plenty of light.
The Best Lights for Garage Ceilings
General lighting is required in every area of a home, including the garage. Ceiling-mounted garage lights provide the overall lighting necessary for everyday tasks. One of the best lighting configurations for a garage ceiling is an array of four-foot LED shop lights. They might look like the old fluorescent lights from your dad’s garage, but they work so much better.
And, while it’s true they will cost you a bit more up front, they deliver several great benefits:
- They will last two decades (at least).
- They are extremely efficient and will add almost nothing to your utility bill.
- They are far more temperature-tolerant than fluorescent lights.
- They don’t use ballasts, which means they won’t flicker like fluorescents do when the ballasts go bad.
- They come in a wide range of brightness levels; choose bulbs around 5,000 Kelvin for daytime-level lighting.
You don’t have to stick with the traditional shop light configuration. There are many other designs available today, including three-leaf LED lights or single-bulb fixtures. Choose the model that best suits your lighting needs for each area of the garage.
Task Lighting Strategies
For your safety and satisfaction, workshop spaces in the garage call for bright task lights. Choosing the best LED lights for garage workshops depends on your workbench configuration. If you have built-in cabinets in the garage, have LED strips installed under the cabinets to illuminate the counter space. Wall-mounted lights are a good option when there are no cabinets above the workbench. Choose an adjustable light fixture and make sure it isn’t mounted so high on the wall that it will shine into your eyes.
The Best Light Bulbs for Garage Door Openers
When replacing a dead garage door opener light, choose your bulb carefully. Some incandescent lights generate a lot of heat – possibly enough to melt the plastic light cover on a garage door opener! Select a bright white LED light bulb instead. They generate almost no heat at all, and you will probably go through several different cars before you have to change that bulb again.
Need your old garage door opener replaced? Our friends at Mr. Handyman can help with that.
Professional Garage Lighting Installation
Good garage lighting is essential. Your local Mr. Electric specializes in all kinds of residential lighting installations. We will be happy to help you select the right fixtures for your garage and then perform professional installations. Call us today or schedule an appointment online.
