Garage gym lighting doesn’t have to be complicated.
Nowadays there’s a lot of options that can be installed without the need for an electrician.
Some of these lighting options are as easy as screwing a light bulb.
Keep on reading below and I’ll show you options to light your garage gym the easy way.
How Big Is Your Garage Gym?
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If you’re like most garage gym owners, you have a 2 or 3 car garage.
This is a good size because you won’t require that much lighting to have your gym lit up.
With a 2 or 3 car garage gym, one or two good lights should be enough to get the job done.
If your gym is bigger than this, I’ll show you several options that can work.
Choose How Bright You Want Your Garage Gym
What Are Watts?
Watts are a measure of energy consumption.
When you and I pay our electric bill, we pay for the amount of watts we use in a month.
A 40 watt light bulb consumes 40 watts of energy.
Nowadays with LED lights, watts are used less and the focus is more on lumens (brightness).
LED lights produce more lights and use less energy (watts).
What Are Lumens?
A lumen is a measurement of visible light energy.
The higher the number of lumens, the brighter the light will be.
All lighting products show the amount of lumens produced on their packaging.
So to sum it up, lumens = brightness, watts = energy used.
Garage Gym Lighting Options
Incandescent Light Bulbs
Incandescent light bulbs are those yellow light bulbs our grandparents used to have.
I used to have one of these in my garage gym and the lighting sucks.
These type of light bulbs use a lot of energy for the amount of light they produce and don’t light up a garage gym very well.
The U.S. passed a nationwide mandate toward energy efficiency that lights must now produce more light than the energy they use.
So as of August 1, 2023, all lights must produce a minimum of 45 lumens per watt.
LED Deformable Lights
LED deformable lights are gonna give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to lighting your garage gym.
These are very bright, have adjustable panels, use less energy, and can be installed as easily as screwing a light bulb.
The LED deformable lights I own cost $24 for a pair which is crazy cheap and there’s no need for any electrical work.
My deformable garage gym lights have 6 panels.
Even the center piece is an LED light.
As you can see in the pic above, each panel has a hinge joint that allows it to move or deform.
These panels can be angled from 0 to 90 degrees so I can point the lighting in several directions.
Here’s what the LED panels look like when they’re at 90 degrees.
Here I pushed them down a bit to show you a 45 degree angle.
And here they are fully open at 0 degrees.
The center of the deformable light is shaped just like a light bulb.
And that’s what makes this so easy to install.
I just screw it in exactly like a lightbulb.
No outlets or electrical work goes into this.
This is what it looks like on the ceiling when I’m looking up at it.
I simply turn it on and off with the light switch on the wall.
LED Shop Lights
I’m sure you’ve seen shop lights especially in old school garages.
Shop lights are long so they’ll cover a lot of ceiling area.
These usually come in a single bar or two bar light fixture.
Because these are wired, you’ll also need an electrical outlet to be nearby.
But many of them can also be connected to one another.
Shop lights can be hung from ceiling chains to get the light closer to you.
This is good if your garage gym ceilings are high.
And they can also be mounted directly on the ceiling.
If you do any overhead exercises like shoulder presses, snatches, burpees, or even jump rope, it’s best to mount them directly on the ceiling.
These require more work to install then the deformable light but they are still a good option.
High Bay Garage Lights
If you happen to be lucky enough to have a huge barn gym with really high ceilings, high bay lights are the way to go.
These are best for large spaces with 20 feet ceilings or higher and usually what they use in warehouses or retail stores.
So for barn gyms, skip the residential LED garage lights and go for high bay garage lights.
Hexagon LED Lights
If you really wanna go fancy and make your ceiling look bad ass, hexagon LED lights are a neat option.
These lights will make your garage gym super bright because they cover a lot of ceiling space.
Are they necessary? Of course not, but it’s your garage gym so do whatever the hell you want.
Best Garage Gym Ceiling Lights
For most garage gyms and home gyms, a screw on deformable LED light is the best and easiest way to go.
I screw it on just like a light bulb and I can aim the light to different places with the deformable panels.
There’s no electrical work involved, no drilling, no outlets required, and they’re dirt cheap.
If you’re still working out with terrible lighting, it’s time to throw away those old light bulbs and upgrade.
The difference is like night and day.
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