Modern garages are no longer the place where we keep our cars or store away things we don’t want to deal with or don’t have a place in our houses. Modern garages have become additional and complementary spaces to our homes. As well as providing shelter and protection from harsh and unforgiving weather conditions, they are also highly productive and functional areas. That is, as long as you can see what you are doing and where you are in your garage.
Therefore, you are left with the problem of trying to get the best lighting set-up in your garage. After all, most garages are known to be poorly lit, which makes it frustrating to use them for anything more than just a storage space. The great news is though, that there are a number of different ways you can light up your garage to not only improve their functionality, but that will make you want to spend more time working in them too.
There are some important factors and elements you need to consider when designing and installing garage lighting. In the following post, you will find some helpful tips to illuminate your garage better.
General Garage Lighting
Initially, it is important to think about the current lighting you have in your garage. The majority of garages are not well-lit at all and usually feature one or two lighting sources overhead. Because of this they are not really designed as a workspace or living area. They are designed predominately as shelter and storage areas.
This can be adjusted and improved however with the installation of some new LED overhead light fittings. LEDs are designed specifically to provide low or high-intensity light, depending on what you prefer, in energy-efficient and cost-effective ways. Always start by placing new fittings from the centre of the ceiling in the garage and work outwards, until you have enough light.
Out With The Old, In With The New
Perhaps you do not want to go to the hassle of completely replacing the actual fixtures already installed in your garage. It is still possible to make alterations and adjustments to your garage lighting if the only thing you do is replace any traditional fluorescent bulbs with modern LED bulbs.
With a lifespan of anything from between 20 to 30 years, LEDs last an incredibly long time and are ideal for garages. articularly as you will not have to keep getting up the ladder to change the bulb more regularly than you would like.
Motion Activated Garage Entrance Lighting
After you have looked at your garage lighting and decided how to improve visibility and illumination on the inside; you should look at concentrating on lighting the entrance and garage door.
You should give serious consideration to investing in motion sensor-activated LED lighting. With this kind of system in place, whenever you or your car enters that space, the lights will automatically come on. On the other hand, when the garage is not being used or you leave in your car, the lights will turn off again.
Storage Solutions
It is likely that in your garage you have storage containers or cabinets. It is also likely that whenever you need to look inside your storage containers to find something, you need some kind of illumination to help.
This problem is rather easy to solve by lighting the shelving and storage units in your garage using handy and easy to install LED strip lights. These are extremely easy to use, and installation is as simple as removing a piece of pre-fitted sticky tape and pressing them where you wish to place. LED strip or spot lights come in both battery and hard wired versions, so depending on how often you’ll be using it you may be able to opt for a simple battery powered version to save even more installation time.
Not only is the light strong enough for more focused spots, they are versatile enough to be used anywhere.
Well Lit Work Areas
Your garage can be transformed into a fully functioning work area. It doesn’t matter whether you are working on furniture, old cars or some crafting; garages are the perfect way to escape from the main living space in your house, allowing you the chance to have some much needed ‘me’ time.
Needless to say, if you want to get the best use out of your garage as a workspace, you need to light them up adequately. In addition to the lighting you have in your garage lighting on the ceiling, therefore, you need to invest in lamps, LED light bars or even under cabinet lighting that acts as task lighting over workstations and areas.
