What is the Best Auto Body Shop Lighting?

Selecting the best lighting for your auto shop, whether for a new installation or an upgrade, requires careful consideration. Proper lighting creates a safe and productive work environment, while poor light quality can reduce employees' visibility, cause eyestrain, and lead to safety risks. Keep reading to learn more about what goes into choosing the best auto shop lights and the benefits of using LEDs for your business. 

What Do I Need to Consider for Auto Shop Lighting?

• Correlated Color Temperature: Select lighting with the appropriate correlated color temperature (CCT). The main repair area should use a 4000K-6000K (natural or cool white) light to promote focus and visibility. For customer-facing and employee break areas, a warmer CCT, like 3500K, can create a more relaxed and comfortable environment. 

• Equivalent Wattage: Since LEDs operate at a lower wattage than traditional fixtures, most of our products list their comparable or equivalent wattage. This value tells you the bulb will emit the same amount of light as a fixture at that wattage. We also feature filters on our product category pages that let you search based on the comparable wattage value.

• Safety: A poorly lit environment makes it difficult for individuals to see the vehicles or projects they are working on. Additionally, installing fixtures unsuitable for their conditions (e.g., in wet areas or where hazardous materials are present) can lead to electrical shock, fire, explosion, or breakage, depending on the circumstances, putting employees in an unsafe environment. Incorrect fixtures and location compatibility can pose a risk of electric shock, fire, and explosion. 

• Number of Fixtures Needed: Install an appropriate number of fixtures with adequate lumens to ensure complete coverage and uniform illumination. The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recommends auto shops have an average of 50 footcandles and 538 lumens per square meter. An average of 15 footcandles and 162 lumens per square meter is acceptable for breakrooms. 

What Are the Best Fixtures for an Auto Shop? 

Shop Lights

Shop lights include fixtures for workspaces, garages, workshops, and other commercial areas. These lights offer a focused, intense light output to ensure you have sufficient lighting for those meticulous tasks. “LED shop lights” is a broad term encompassing a variety of fixtures, including:

• Standard strip fixtures

• Vapor-tight lights

• Retrofit kits

• Pull chain lights 

• Stairwell lights

• Wraparound lights 

Check out this Shop Lights Buying Guide from our affiliate, ICL, for more information. 

Strip Light Fixtures

Strip light fixtures are versatile and provide both task and overhead lighting. Certain fixtures have reflectors to create concentrated downward lighting, which is helpful at workstations for focused, task lighting. You can choose one of our linkable strip light fixtures for longer, continuous overhead lighting runs.

Vapor Tight

If your auto body repair shop has harsh environments (i.e., areas subject to water, dust, and vapors), install vapor-tight light fixtures. Common applications could be doorways or carwashing areas. These fixtures all have at least an IP65 rating. The 6 indicates the product offers full protection against dust and other particles. The 5 means the product protects against low-pressure jets from all directions. 

Retrofit Kits

Select one of our retrofit kits to easily upgrade traditional fixtures. You'll keep your existing housing and replace the fluorescent or incandescent lamp with an LED equivalent. Retrofit kits include all materials needed for installation and are available for strip light fixtures, high bays, and vapor-tight lights.

Use the graphic below as a guide when replacing fluorescent tubes with LEDs. 

Read our upgrades vs. relamping blog to help determine if a retrofit is right for your application. 

Portable Work Lights

Utilize portable fixtures for auto garage lighting to improve work where lighting needs to adapt to different vehicles, and mechanics and technicians might need to direct light on the part they’re fixing. 

We carry corded and cordless portable LED work lights with various placement options, including on a stand, hanging string, tripod, or handheld options. Flashlights are also great for many applications. Both battery and rechargeable options, as well as larger and pocket-sized lights, are available. Our work lights and flashlights feature different power modes depending on your desired light intensity. 

High Bays

UFO and linear high bays are excellent sources of energy-efficient overhead lighting in areas with ceilings at least 18 feet off the ground. Because of their wide light distribution, linear high bays are ideal for larger repair areas. Install reflectors on UFO high bays to direct light downwards and reduce glare. For specialized applications, select a sensor-ready or high-temperature high bay: 

• Install motion sensors on sensor-ready UFO and linear high bays to reduce energy consumption by automatically turning lights off after a period of inactivity.  

• UFO and linear high-temperature high bays are best for areas of high heat in your auto shop. We have fixtures with ambient operating temperatures up to 149°F. 

Corn Bulb

LED corn bulbs are an excellent solution for upgrading your high-pressure sodium, metal halide, or fluorescent bulbs. These bulbs have an intense light output and a variety of color temperatures, including selectable CCT options. You will typically use these in UFO high bays for auto shop lighting. If applicable, bypass existing ballast, ignitor, and capacitor components when installing these bulbs.

Explosion-Proof

Choose our explosion-proof lighting for areas where spray paint aerosols, chemicals, and other hazardous materials may be present. Their durable housing is sealed to contain any electrical or component fault that could ignite hazardous environmental materials. These fixtures also feature powder coating to protect the housing from corrosive elements. 

• High Bay Lights

• Low Bay Lights

• Flood Lights

• Emergency Lights

Check out this blog from our affiliate, ICL, for more information on explosion-proof lighting. 

Why Should I Use LEDs? 

Using LEDs in your auto shop will bring many benefits to your business. These include energy efficiency, certifications, and control options. 

Energy-Efficiency

LEDs emit less heat and are more energy efficient than traditional lighting, reducing electricity bills. Their energy efficiency allows LEDs to last up to 100,000 hours, significantly longer than incandescent, halogen, and fluorescent lighting. Their long lifespan will save you money on replacement and maintenance costs in the long run. 

Certifications 

We carry LEDs with various certifications, such as UL, ETL, and DLC. UL and ETL certifications verify that a product has undergone testing and meets safety standards. A DLC certification signifies a product has high energy efficiency and excellent light quality. 

Control Options

LEDs are available with increased control options, including dimming and selectable CCT and wattages. Keilton Network Control Sensors features smartphone or tablet control and utilizes Bluetooth Mesh to set up zones, change the CCT, and more. This sensor functions as a PIR sensor, which powers on when it detects motion, and a daylight harvesting sensor, which adjusts the light output based on the available natural light. Utilize Keilton sensors in our sensor-ready UFO and linear high bays and select strip light fixtures. 

Quality Products 

Our products undergo testing in our in-house lab to ensure high quality. All products feature at least a two-year warranty; lifetime warranties are available for select products.

Get Started

Installing the proper fixtures for your auto shop improves the work environment and increases safety and energy efficiency. Shop our products now, or contact our customer support advocates at 866-590-3533 or fill out our contact form.