Garage lighting ensures that your driveway, garage doors, and side passages are adequately lit. This is important for parking at night, getting something from the garage in the evening, or simply ensuring that the lighting is even across your outdoor area. When choosing the lighting for your garage, there are some general but important rules that can be followed to ensure that it meets your needs. This article outlines those rules and some lighting options for following them.
Some Questions about Exterior Garage Lighting
Before talking about the detailed exterior garage lighting ideas, we would like to answer some common questions regarding exterior garage lighting.
Where should exterior garage lights be placed?
Exterior garage lights should be placed directly above and on either side of the main garage door. Above the main garage door, one main light should be centered approximately between the two sides and roughly six inches above the garage door. It should be positioned so as not to interfere with the door mechanism. The lights on either side should be just below the top of the main garage door. Lights should also be placed along the side of the garage, particularly if the space between the garage and the house forms a walkway. These should be placed at or slightly above eye level and placed in equal spaces along the length of the side of the garage. You may also opt for recessed lights along the top of the garage door as a source of highlights to blend in with the brighter central and side lights.
What is the best lighting option for a garage?
The best lighting for a garage combines both beauty and the practical elements of illumination, safety, and security. For example, the central light should be bright enough to illuminate the entire width of the front of the garage, while also being an attractive visual element. The two side lights can be a little more ornate and should complement or match the central light in terms of aesthetics, color, and brightness.
How many lumens do I need for outdoor garage lighting?
You need outdoor garage lighting of 1000 – 1500 lumens. This is very bright compared to other outdoor light sources and is needed because garage lighting has practical functions. Garage lighting is used for illuminating the pathway when parking the car indoors at night and for deterring unwanted visitors on the property. Make sure to blend the brightness of the different lighting elements to ensure even coverage.
What is the best wattage for outdoor garage lights?
The best wattage for outdoor garage lights is 40-80W. They need to be powerful enough to provide high brightness but be low consumption in case they remain on overnight. Any lower, and the lights may not be bright enough, and any higher will consume too much electricity. Try using energy-efficient lights such as LEDs for maximum brightness and minimum energy consumption.
9 Exterior Garage Lighting Ideas
Here are some ideas for lighting your garage using the above rules. We categorized them into 3 types.
Bright, functional lights for above the garage door
The central light above the garage door needs to be bright and provide as wide coverage as possible, but at the same time needs to be attractive. This solar light is ideal as a clean-looking and modern light to use above the garage door. The panel of LEDs has a large area for good coverage across the front of the garage door area when parking the car at night. It also comes in three different color temperatures so you can match it to other exterior lighting such as side lights or recess lights.
For really wide coverage, this wide-angle motion sensor light emits light across 270 degrees. It is a good option as a central garage light if your garage is wide, or if the drive leading up to the garage descends towards the road. The light has four heads and twice as many LEDs compared to other similar lights, so it will provide plenty of light for your driveway. If using a light such as this with such wide coverage, the lights used as side lights could be dimmer to compensate.
If you don’t need super bright lights and look for lights that provide enough illumination and also create a stunning atmosphere, recessed lights will be a good option. However, they require a ceiling for installation. Depending on the width of your garage door, you can install multiple recessed lights to ensure adequate coverage. To match the color temperature of your side lights or the surface of the garage walls, you need carefully to choose the color temperature of the light bulbs for recessed lights.
Ideal for side lighting
As explained above, garage lighting should include side lights to go both sides of the main door and complement the main central light above the door. These simple side lights can be used for this purpose, are fully weather-proof, anti-rust and contain toughened glass. The lights are both traditional and modern looking so can be used to fit in with most outdoor lighting schemes.
For something more ornate, these bubble glass lights can be used as sidelights. The glass contains LEDs which reflect against the crackled glass to create an enchanting effect. These lights fit with either traditional or modern outdoor lighting feel, and the luminous flux of 560 lumens means they can supply enough light to support a brighter central garage door light.
If you are looking to save money on your electricity bill, these solar wall lanterns can be used as side lights for your garage door. The lights charge from the sun’s energy during the day and therefore have no cables to connect. They also have brightness sensors fitted, so will adjust their brightness when movement is detected.
A more distinctive look for side lights can be achieved using these up-and-down lights. These lights have a unique striped appearance and send light both upwards and downwards creating an attractive lighting effect. The lights are resistant to rain, wind, and snow, and all parts are anti-rust.
Lighting up your walkway
If you want to light up the walkway between your garage and house, these gooseneck lights can add a really distinctive touch to your outdoor area. These lights have a distinctly traditional feel, so are better suited to outdoor lighting landscapes containing more traditional fittings. The lights have smart on/off sensors so will adjust their brightness according to the brightness of the outdoors.
These silicone neon strip lights can also be used for lighting up walkways. These strip lights are over 16 feet long and can be placed just underneath garage roof material to brighten up a walkway. The lights are waterproof and are available in warm white, cool white, or multicolor. These lights could also be used as recess lights above the main garage door.
