For those of us fortunate enough to have garages, we know the benefits of those praise-worthy shelters. Not being one of those people, I know those benefits even more keenly. When I stumble out the door in the winter morning only to find my car covered in a stubborn layer of pristine, shining ice (the shining is actually the ice mocking me), I can’t help but think back to the glory days, the days when I lived with my parents, when they had to drive me everywhere. I don’t miss not having the autonomy, and I have to say I don’t miss the curfew either. But certain things made it worth it: not having to scrape my car, not paying for insurance and, of course, having a garage.

My parents even have a little keypad (to learn more about keypads and membrane switches, see the video above) mounted on the outside of their garage that you can use to open the door. All you have to do is remember four numbers in between the times when you’re not at home. And, at night time, the numbers on the keypad lit up, which only sweetens an already determinately sweet deal. The keypad was composed of a layer of printed silicone above a backlight. Keypad and membrane switch backlights can make life a lot easier. Suppose you walk outside to grab the mail at night only to find that you’ve locked yourself out. Not to worry: you’ve got a backlit garage door keypad to let you back in. Suppose you work as a security guard, manning a gate at an arena parking lot. What happens if, in the dark one night, you need to access the membrane keypad that lets you into your booth? If the keypad is a backlit membrane switch, boom. Crisis averted.

Membrane switch backlights are simple yet highly-functional tools that can take the difficulty out of entering keypad commands.