Lighting and illumination for garages and driveways

If you are replacing or upgrading your garage door, then this could also be a good time to look at making a few other changes or improvements to your garage and driveway.

One of the most practical and relatively straight forward things that you can do is to add or improve the quality of lighting and illumination, both in the garage and in the driveway leading up to it.

Better light and illumination results in better visibility and if you are in your car this can only be a good thing. It may prevent you from getting a puncture by spotting a bottle cap that fell out of the trash on to your drive, or it may prevent you from crushing a child’s toy that was inadvertently left in the middle of the garage. However you look at it, lighting up any area where you use your vehicle will make you, your family and any visitors safer. It may also prevent a scratch or ding in the car.

The garage light

Having an internal garage light is essential and therefore almost every garage will have one. However, there are a lot of options when it comes to internal garage illumination and if you want to use the building for other activities, e.g. as a workshop, den etc, then good internal illumination is essential for safety.

To find out about all of the different garage illumination options please see this garage lighting page.

Illuminating the driveway

The other area where lighting can be practical and add a distinctive look is in the driveway and above, or close to, the garage door.

Not only does this kind of lighting improve visibility as you enter your drive and garage, but it also adds security by giving you a clearer view of the area and any unwanted visitor who may be present.

To find out about the different drive and driveway illumination options please see this driveway lighting page.

Remote control systems

Having good lighting is important, but having illumination at the instant when you need it is what really counts.

This means that if you need to get out of your car to turn on the driveway lighting or the main garage light you have almost defeated the object of the exercise. The purpose of outdoor lighting (or lighting as you enter your garage) is not just visibility, but security. These lights may make driving into your property easier, but they also act to alert you of any unwanted guest, or even a neighbour’s cat, that may be waiting within your boundary. For this reason you need these lights to come on before and not after you leave your vehicle.

The solution to this is of course the use of remote control activation. This can be triggered by motion detectors (which can be unreliable and triggered by anything from wandering pets to blowing leaves), or a hand held or in-car mounted remote control unit.

Nearly all good outdoor lighting systems can be purchased with remote control operation and this facility allows the user to activate the lighting as they approach their drive and garage. Importantly, this means that the lights are turned on without a need to get out of the car. This means that any undesirable will be spotted and, most probably, scared off.

Thinking of selling your house

In addition to the obvious practical advantages of adding better or more complete lighting to your garage and driveway, the extra illumination also improve the appearance of your garden and property. If you are considering selling your home, then driveway illumination can have a “wow” factor, and turning the garage into something other than a gloomy dark store room makes it another selling point.