Best lighting for a shed

Best LED Shed lighting ideas and considerations

As living in a day of endless Amazon Chinese or Tractor Supply solar light choices, it is important to have a clear objective before you when considering your shed lighting options.

The purpose of this blog is to try to share as much of our experience as a made-in-USA custom LED lighting supplier to help you make an informed decision and install the best LED shed lights for your needs.

Some points to consider:

• What is the function of your shed?
• What is your budget, and how important is lighting your shed to you?
• Does your shed have mains power, or is it in an isolated section of your garden?
• The advantages of linear LED lighting over traditional lighting fixtures with bulbs.

Some brief tips on different lights for inside a shed

• Hobby or workshop shed lighting ideas: You would want to have plenty of bright lights and have task lighting mounted strategically over work surfaces and machinery to avoid shadows. The recommended color of LED lighting which will provide the right type of light is a natural white light LED strip light at about 4000 Kelvin. We sell a huge range of LED channels and even have LED channels that have little brackets that allow you to adjust the direction of the source of light, like our Roma LED channel for example.
• Garden shed lighting or tool shed LED lights ideas: Garden shed lighting is the least complicated shed lighting as, generally, you would just require a long, central LED strip to give you effective basic lighting. It is recommended that you choose a robust LED channel that can withstand the inevitable bumps from various garden tools. Our Berna LED channel makes a great choice for an economical solution along with a 4000K White Iris 180 LED Strip for daylight white lighting.
• ‘She Shed’ lighting ideas: The most important thing to bear in mind with she shed lighting is that the room is probably going to be used for sowing, art or other applications where High CRI LED lighting will be an important requirement to make sure that true colors are accurately displayed. For this, we would recommend our White Iris range of LED strips. The color temperature of the LED strip that you use really depends on user preference and the function of the room and is a separate factor to the CRI specification. For multi-purpose she shed lighting, you could install adjustable white LED strip which allows you to change it from cool daylight to a warm and cosy white.
• Growroom outdoor shed lighting ideas: Our low-profile wide SLW10 LED channel is very popular for this application because it can house up to three rows of LED tape. Combine this with a mixture of our LED grow light strip and full spectrum High CRI white LED strip lighting for the perfect growroom shed lights.
• Playroom interior shed lighting ideas: We suggest installing our RGB+White LED strip lighting which gives you the opportunity to have purely functional white lighting as well as the ability to add color and creativity for children’s playtime. Mount the LED strip in LED channels or LED tubes such as our Smokies38 polycarbonate lighting tubes. These color-changing play lights can be controlled by our Casambi Bluetooth LED strip controllers from your smartphone.
• Outside shed light ideas: If you are living near the ocean or in a high humidity area, you may want to consider opting for a waterproof LED channel and waterproof LED strip for the best protection against the elements.
• Storage shed light ideas: A simple tip here is to have multiple light fixtures made from low profile LED channels so as to avoid the light being blocked out from certain parts of the room.

The advantages of linear LED lighting over traditional lighting fixtures and bulbs

LED lighting has become the lighting technology of choice in almost every application because of its numerous advantages:

• Low power consumption – LEDs are energy efficient
• Space constraints – LED strip lights are very compact
• Strength – LED lights are bright and have a long lifespan
• Low voltage – This practically eliminates personal shock and fire hazards
• Customizable and flexible – LED strip lights are available in a selection of colors, and can be installed in a myriad of different styles of channels to acheive the perfect look.

Security lights and motion sensors for sheds

If you’re looking to buy outdoor lighting for your shed to increase security, you have the option of either installing one of our twilight sensors that will gradually power on at dusk and fade at dawn, or you could install a motion sensor that only comes on when motion is detected. Our Casambi Bluetooth LED controllers also allow for programmable lighting which switches on and off at a set time, or you can switch the lights on yourself right from your smartphone.

Our LED channels can be mounted under the eves or soffit of the shed. Motion sensors do away with the struggle to find the pull cord in the shed and switch on automatically for you.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How do you make lights for sheds without power?

A: If your shed is far from the house and you are wondering how to light a shed without electricity, solar power is a practical solution. Outdoor solar lights for sheds are a great way to provide the necessary power for your lighting but remember that to capture solar energy from the sun you will need to make sure that your shed is in a place that gets plenty of sunlight for your batteries to achieve a full charge. Our LED strips are run off either 12 volts or 24 volts DC so they will work with most solar panel systems with those respective outputs. You can fit your solar light for shed with a switch such as a shed motion light switch to save energy and prevent loss of power from forgetting the lights on. Solar light indoor fixtures can be built using any of our LED strips as they are all low voltage. Solar panels for barn lights are obtainable from most farmer supply companies like Tractor Supply warehouse. Indoor solar lighting fixtures should be designed with the lowest power LED strip that can satisfy your lighting needs, and our Decor series LED strips are excellent for most energy efficiency applications. We build custom solar LED shed lights for clients who are not interested in going the DIY route.

Q: I really don't need a full solar power system for my shed lights. Is there a simpler option?

A: Battery shed lighting is another solution for unpowered shed. Battery-powered LED shed lights have the downside of having to recharge the batteries, but if that is not an issue and you just need basic and occasional lights for an outdoor shed, then our LED strips will have no issues running on a 12V or 24V battery supply. We have a huge range of LED profiles to build your own 12V LED shed lights and we also offer battery power solutions for LED lights.

Q: Can I implement and install my own garden shed lighting ideas?

A: We obviously always recommend that you employ a professional electrician to assist you, but we will give you all the advice you require if you choose to do the project yourself.

Q: Do LED shed lights work for growing plants or seedlings?

A: You will need to use one of our horticultural grow light LED strips to provide the correct light spectrum for indoor plant growing in a shed. Our Cherry Tomato series is highly recommended.

Title photo by Arno Smit on Unsplash.