2020 has been the year of staying home, and that means we’ve spent a bunch of extra time and energy upgrading various parts of our house. For us, that’s meant a lot more hours in the garage. We (finally!) cleaned it out and took to using it as a launchpad for various projects we’ve been putting off for years.
All those hours killed our old flickering light bulbs, so we went down the sale aisle at Costco and came home with a cart full of 46” LED shop lights from Koda. We’d seen them at the store before, but the new “linkable” label on the packaging caught our eye this time. At only $29.99, they ended up being one of the best purchases we made all year—good lighting makes such a difference!
The white lights looked sleek and clean out of the box. We were initially a bit wary about the hardware part of the installation, but it turned out to be a breeze. The 3×5-inch beams were light enough to easily handle, which make them a breeze to install whether you’re attaching them directly to a wood beam or hanging them from a higher ceiling. The box comes with everything you need, including a measuring template and hooks and screws and anchors. It even has sticky tape for the remote control mount.
Unlike the older offerings from Koda, these lights are linkable, meaning that you can pair a maximum of six together on one power line and manage everything from just one remote. Getting this software side of things set up was similarly breezy. The smart remote is easy to decipher and use, and allows you to quickly adjust the brightness, dim time and the motion sensor’s sensitivity.
Truth be told, the remote isn’t something you need to use on a daily basis. The motion sensors work great, and the lights come on as soon as you enter the room. They’ve been a real godsend for quick trips in and out of the garage, including hands-full garbage runs. Once you get things set up to your liking, you’ll really only need the remote to prevent the lights from turning off while you’re working on tasks that keep you still.
For our two-car garage we bought six lights. They provided more than enough light for the space. There’s also a handy matrix on the Costco.com product page to see how many lights you should buy depending on the size of your space. The lights are powered by efficient LEDs, which kick out 4200 lumens while drawing only 48 watts. That means they’re plenty bright for any time of day, and they’ll last for up to 50,000 hours.
We’ve only installed the lights inside our garage so far, but we’re definitely going to put up a couple more in our shed. Let’s just say we’ve accidentally left the lights on one too many times, as to where the new energy efficient LED bulbs with motion sensors that will automatically turn off, should pay for themselves in a matter of days weeks.
These lights have really made us feel more comfortable in the garage, which has helped us feel like we have a bit more space in the house. Seems we’re not the only ones who feel that way—the Costco.com listing averages nearly five stars with over 500 reviews.