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The Westinghouse Twin Turbo garage lighting… |
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Provides all your lighting needs. Light comes with plugs and nightlight
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Slick black finish, pull chain start
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This wraparound Lithonia Lighting 4-foot… |
Choosing the right garage lights will provide you with ample, amazing light for whatever you want to use your garage for, whether you want to turn it into a shop or just store some extra out of season clothes. While it’s easy to get bogged down and confused with all the choices that you have when it comes to garage lighting, by following this simple guide and using the recommended lights, like those at the left, you can get the right lighting for your garage quickly and easily.
What is Your Outdoor Garage Lighting For?
The first step in deciding what type of lights that you need in your garage is asking yourself what you’re going to use your garage for. If you’re just using your garage as a place to store your car and maybe a lawnmower, you won’t likely need to have much more than an incandescent bulb or two that provides you with enough light to make your way around.
However, most people today use their garages for other purposes, and especially if you’re planning on turning your garage into a shop or using it as a place to work on your car, you are going to need the right light. And for most garages the right garage ceiling lights are going to be four foot T8 fluorescent lights.
Why T8 Lights?
T8 lights have several advantages that make them better than both other forms of outdoor fluorescent lighting (the most popular alternative of which are T12 lights) in areas where you’re going to be working with detail or colors. T8 lights are a little more expensive option for outdoor garage lights than T12 lights, but the extra initial investment will pay itself back in the long term.
First off, the T8 lights are up to thirty-two percent more energy efficient than T12 lights. This means more money in your pocket through lower electrical bills, especially if you plan on using your garage a lot. But, while they don’t use as much energy, T8 lights still provide the same level of light, so you aren’t sacrificing quality for energy efficiency.
Not only are they more efficient, but T8 lights also put out a better quality of light than other outside garage lights. They have a color rendering quotient (CRI) of 85, which means that colors will look truer under them than they will under T12 lights, which have a CRI of about 60. If you have a shop and will be comparing shades of paint or stains, this is incredibly important.
But, the most important difference between T12 and T8 lights is that T8 lights will work in cold conditions, down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit. T12 lights on the other hand, won’t work well under fifty degrees and can start flickering and humming much before that. So, for most people in most areas of the county, the choice is clear – T8 lights like this multipurpose light from Good Earth
Choosing a Garage Lighting Fixture
But knowing what type of bulb you want is just half of the battle, you also need to pick out the right fixtures to use. The best fixture are four foot tubes and you will want to install at least two of them per car berth in your garage. Eight foot long tubes are a popular option as well, however four foot fixtures are more affordable, easy to handle, and even more energy efficient.
Once again, when you’re installing the lights make sure you don’t forget to place them so that your work areas are well lit. Lay these areas out first and then decide where you want to have the most light and plan your lighting accordingly.
Ready to pick out garage lights for you? Try these great fixtures from Amazon, which are not only high quality, but come from a respect merchant known for its low prices so you won’t have to shop around, giving you more time and money in your pocket!
