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4000K · Bright white

Guide · garage and workshop

How much light does a garage need?

By the Zone product team

Updated

Lumens needed

What you do in it1-car12 × 20 ft · 240 sq ft2-car20 × 20 ft · 400 sq ft3-car30 × 20 ft · 600 sq ft
Parking and storage20 footcandles9,600 lm≈ 2 × 5,000 lm lights16,000 lm≈ 4 × 5,000 lm lights24,000 lm≈ 5 × 5,000 lm lights
Working on the car, general workshop50 footcandles24,000 lm≈ 5 × 5,000 lm lights40,000 lm≈ 8 × 5,000 lm lights60,000 lm≈ 12 × 5,000 lm lights
Fine work at the bench100 footcandles48,000 lm≈ 10 × 5,000 lm lights80,000 lm≈ 16 × 5,000 lm lights120,000 lm≈ 24 × 5,000 lm lights

Rounded to the nearest 100 lumens. “5,000 lm lights” is a way to read the number, not a product recommendation: divide by the delivered lumens printed on whichever light you are looking at.

Your own garage

  1. Area. Length × width in feet. A 22 × 24 ft garage is 528 sq ft.
  2. Light level. Pick the footcandles for how you use it: 20, 50 or 100.
  3. Lumens. Footcandles × area ÷ 0.5. For 528 sq ft at 50 fc: 50 × 528 ÷ 0.5 = 52,800 lumens.
  4. How many lights. Lumens ÷ the delivered lumens printed on the light, rounded up. Spread them so no corner is left dark.

How many lumens for a 2-car garage?

Taking a 2-car garage as 20 × 20 ft (400 sq ft), from the table above:

  • Parking and storage: about 16,000 lumens (20 footcandles).
  • Working on the car, general workshop: about 40,000 lumens (50 footcandles).
  • Fine work at the bench: about 80,000 lumens (100 footcandles), or put that level only over the bench and light the rest for working on the car.

If your garage is bigger or smaller than 20 × 20 ft, use the four steps above with your own length and width.

How many lumens for a workshop?

A workshop is sized by floor area, not by cars. Per 100 sq ft of floor, the same method gives about 10,000 lumens for general workshop use (50 footcandles) and about 20,000 lumens for fine work at the bench (100 footcandles). Multiply by your floor area in hundreds of square feet: a 300 sq ft shop at 50 footcandles needs about 30,000 lumens.

Garage lighting layout

  1. Split the lumens across several lights. One very bright light in the middle of the ceiling leaves the corners and the far side of the car dark. The same lumens from two or more lights spread out gives fewer shadows.
  2. Put light over where you stand, not only over the car. For working on the car, place lights over the space beside each side of the car, so your body does not block the light.
  3. Light the bench from in front. A light behind you throws your shadow onto the work. One over the front edge of the bench, or a task light aimed at it, keeps the work lit.
  4. Check the corners. Spread the lights so no corner is left dark; storage shelves and the door opening need light too.

Where the numbers come from

A footcandle is one lumen falling on one square foot. The light levels are the Illuminating Engineering Society's recommendations as summarised in the Footcandle Light Guide (Rev. 07/2013) (Energy Trust of Oregon and the Lighting Design Lab, Seattle — based on the IES Lighting Handbook, 10th edition). IES has no “home garage” row, so this guide uses the closest published categories:

  • Parking and storage: “Warehouse with aisles”, 20 fc (range 10–30).
  • Working on the car, general workshop: “Automotive service area”, 50 fc (range 25–100).
  • Fine work at the bench: “Assembly, difficult (fine)”, 100 fc (range 50–200).

Why divide by 0.5: not all the light from a fixture lands on the floor or bench. Some hits the walls and ceiling, some gets absorbed. The formula assumes about half reaches the work, which is a rule of thumb, not a measurement of your garage. White walls and lower ceilings bounce more light back down; tall ceilings and dark walls lose more. If yours is on the dark side, add a light or two.

A guide, not a guarantee: real results depend on ceiling height, wall colour, fixture layout and the light's delivered (not rated) lumens.

Zone lights for a garage

More buyer details

Does 5000K daylight mean I need fewer lights?

No. Colour temperature changes how white the light looks, not how much there is. A 5000K light and a 3000K light with the same lumens light the garage equally. Pick the colour you like, and count lights by lumens.

What if my garage is also a workshop?

Light the whole space for parking and moving around, then add task lighting where you work. A light over the bench, or a work light you can aim, takes care of shadows there without making the whole garage as bright as the bench. The workshop vs garage guide walks through it.

Common questions

Why do two garages with the same lumens look different?

Because the room changes where the light goes. Lumens measure what comes out of the lights. White walls bounce that light around; dark walls, a high ceiling, shelving and a parked truck soak it up or block it. Use the calculation as your starting number, then adjust for your space.

Should I light the whole garage to bench level?

No, that’s usually overkill. Light the whole floor for general use, then add extra light just over the bench for detailed work. You only need 100 footcandles where you’re doing fine work, not where the car is parked.

Can one bright bulb light a whole garage?

It can add up to enough lumens, but it’ll still leave dark shadows behind the car, under shelves and in the corners. Two or more lights spread across the ceiling give the same total light with far fewer shadows. Spread them out.

How many 4 ft shop lights should I buy?

Take the lumens from the table above and divide by the lumens printed on the light you’re looking at, then round up. A 4 ft light can put out very different amounts of light depending on the model, so the length alone tells you nothing. For tube fixtures, use the output with the tubes installed. The 4 ft shop light guide compares the types.