Garage Lighting Installation

How much light a garage needs

A common rule of thumb is about 50 lumens per square foot for general garage lighting and about 100 for workbench and detail areas:

Garage	General lighting	Workshop lighting
1-car, about 200 sq ft	10,000 lumens	20,000 lumens
2-car, about 400 sq ft	20,000 lumens	40,000 lumens
3-car, about 600 sq ft	30,000 lumens	60,000 lumens

A typical 4-foot LED shop light puts out 4,000 to 5,000 lumens, so a two-car garage usually needs five or six spread evenly across the ceiling.

Fixture options

• LED shop lights (4-foot or 8-foot): the workhorse. Bright, efficient, and many link together from one power point.
• Linkable LED strips: clean, continuous rows of light with few connections.
• Hexagon grid lights: very bright and eye-catching; best for detailing and show garages.
• High-bay fixtures: for ceilings above 10 to 12 feet, such as pole barns and tall shops.
• Task lights: over the workbench, tool chest or vehicle lift.
• Exterior lights: over the overhead door and the side entry, often with motion sensors or dusk-to-dawn controls.

LEDs work well in cold, unheated garages, unlike older fluorescent tubes, which tend to start slowly and dim in the cold.

and tell us your garage size and how you use it.

Layout tips

• Light the sides of the cars, not just the middle of the floor, so you can see doors, trunks and the workbench.
• Keep fixtures clear of the door and opener rail. A light directly above the opener is shadowed when the door is open.
• Add task lighting over benches and tool areas rather than overbuilding the whole ceiling.

Switching and controls

• A switch at each entry: the house door, the side door, and possibly near the overhead door.
• Three-way switching so you can turn lights on at one door and off at another.
• Motion sensors inside for hands-full trips, and outside for security.
• Smart switches or Wi-Fi controls, often paired with a smart garage door opener.

The electrical code generally requires at least one switch-controlled light in a garage that has power, and lighting at outdoor entry doors.

Do you need a new circuit or a permit?

• Plug-in shop lights into existing outlets don't need an electrician.
• Replacing a fixture on an existing circuit is minor work.
• New hardwired fixtures on a new circuit, or new switches and wiring, need a permit inside Lancaster city limits.

LED lighting draws little power, so lights rarely need their own large circuit, but keeping lights on a separate circuit from tool outlets means a tripped breaker doesn't leave you in the dark.

Exterior garage lighting

Exterior lights over the overhead door and side entry make driveways and walkways safer in Lancaster's long winter evenings. For homes in the Historic District, visible exterior changes such as new fixtures may need a Certificate of Appropriateness; see Downtown and the Historic District.

What garage lighting costs

National 2026 estimates; your electrician prices the actual job:

Job	Typical range
Hardwired fixture installed by an electrician	$100 to $200 per fixture
New dedicated garage lighting circuit	$200 to $400

What moves the price: the number of fixtures, ceiling height, whether new switches and circuits are needed, and open vs. finished ceilings.

Brighten up your garage

Tell us your garage size and where you need the most light.