Lighting with High Ceilings
Alan Gibbons
I'm moving to a new house and the only room that will accomodate a 4.5 X
9 table has a 20 foot high ceiling (and happens to be the living room).
My wife isn't to happy about hanging a traditional pool table lighting
fixture from the ceiling. The Electrician suggested "high hats" (aka
recessed ceiling lights with indoor flood light bulbs) but using halogen
bulbs. Has anyone seen this done before? Your thoughts would be
appreciated.
-Nixon
Alan Gibbons wrote:
Alan,Yes. The Senior Center here has them over two Gold Crown
Billiard tables and some and PingPong tables.
They are the very best
lights I have ever played under.
They are out of the way; very unobtrusive.
No heat is noticeable below them.
They shine straight down from recesses in the ceiling.
Somehow they are diffused so they do not give a "spot" effect.
The ceiling is quite high, approx. 20 ft like your living room
and the lights are spaced on about 15 ft. centers.
There are almost no shadows. They do not make people's
skin turn to a shade of purple like MercVapor lamps.
Other:
The fixtures are expensive. The bulbs burn out frequently.
The bulbs are expensive. Entirely lighting a large room
uses a lot of electricity. But, if you have a living room with
20 ft. ceilings, you can probably afford them!! chuckle
Good Luck,
Dave
=====
/s/David Nixon/n...@ibm.net/KE4JIO/Okie-at-Large/77W x 39N
Compromise! - - Perfectshun is for the Next World !
http://www.m-y.net/~dbarnes/LH.html
DBAllred
In article <351E61E7...@concentric.net>, Alan Gibbons
<alan...@concentric.net> writes:
>I'm moving to a new house and the only room that will accomodate a 4.5 X
>9 table has a 20 foot high ceiling (and happens to be the living room).
>My wife isn't to happy about hanging a traditional pool table lighting
>fixture from the ceiling. The Electrician suggested "high hats" (aka
>recessed ceiling lights with indoor flood light bulbs) but using halogen
>bulbs. Has anyone seen this done before? Your thoughts would be
>appreciated.
I have a 12' ceiling and put in two banks of track lighting (four 75-Watt bulbs
on each side). This provides sufficient light for the table, but it does
consume 600 watts. Doing this also allows you to install an overhead camera
facing directly downward.
Dan Allred
OKC
geoff
recessed 4' halogen lights. I have 6 of them. The electrician said it would
work fine but it does not. There are 'spots' and shadows giving the surface
(4.5 x 9) a mottled look. I, and my wife, agree with your wife, a hanging
fixture is not what we want. I am being patient and looking and waiiting for
a solution. I know one is out there, I haven't discovered it yet tho.
I would suggest a mock up first and use a light meter. According to the BCA
you want 48 foot candles (520LUMS) at table level.
Hope I have been of a little help,
geoff
Corwyn
> I'm moving to a new house and the only room that will accomodate a 4.5 X
> 9 table has a 20 foot high ceiling (and happens to be the living room).
> My wife isn't to happy about hanging a traditional pool table lighting
> fixture from the ceiling. The Electrician suggested "high hats" (aka
> recessed ceiling lights with indoor flood light bulbs) but using halogen
> bulbs. Has anyone seen this done before? Your thoughts would be
> appreciated.
Having the lights higher up will contribute greatly to getting an even
lighting over the whole table. If you place all the lights an equal
distance from their neighbors, (a filled hexagonal grid would be optimal,
but certainly isn't neccesary) you should have very even illumination. In
fact it will be far superior to most 'pool lights', which my simulations
say fall off greatly on the sides and especially in the corners. The
difficulty may be in getting sufficient amounts of illumination (BCA
recommends 48 foot-candles).
The difference between halogens and incandescents shouldn't affect the
play on the table any (IMHO of course), however I highly recommend getting
a test drive of any light you expect to spend considerable time under.
For instance, the transformers in some halogen lights drive a friend of
mine crazy (though they don't bother me). Also check that the color
balance is pleasing to you.
Note, that I have been trying to make myself knowledgable on this subject,
so would be happy to try to find answers to any questions you have.
Corwyn
Mark Avlon
On Sun, 29 Mar 1998 15:37:36 -0500, geoff <giy...@aol.com> wrote:
>My celing is low, 60 inches above the slate, which is why I installed
>recessed 4' halogen lights. I have 6 of them. The electrician said it would
>work fine but it does not. There are 'spots' and shadows giving the surface
>(4.5 x 9) a mottled look. I, and my wife, agree with your wife, a hanging
>fixture is not what we want. I am being patient and looking and waiiting for
>a solution. I know one is out there, I haven't discovered it yet tho.
I use two 4 foot shop light fixtures with parabolic egg crate louvers.
The top of the fixtures are 48 inches above the slate. I get very
even lighting and minimal shadows. The louvers come in a 2 foot by 4
foot panel and are available in the lighting section of most hardware
stores. I cut them down to fit the fixtures and hold them in place
with large rubber bands. They aren't the best looking, but they light
the table very well.
-Nixon
Alan,
With your high ceilings, I don't think you have to worry about
the "spot" effects of your halogens. Spot effects and too much
heat shoulnd't be a problem for you.
Dave
Alan Gibbons wrote:
> I'm moving to a new house and the only room that will accomodate a 4.5 X
> 9 table has a 20 foot high ceiling (and happens to be the living room).
> My wife isn't to happy about hanging a traditional pool table lighting
> fixture from the ceiling. The Electrician suggested "high hats" (aka
> recessed ceiling lights with indoor flood light bulbs) but using halogen
> bulbs. Has anyone seen this done before? Your thoughts would be
> appreciated.
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