Custom Fluorescent Light

A

antinul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm putting a 9' Brunswick Gold Crown V in my basement, and I'm looking at fluorescent light fixtures. There is a custom light I'm interested in, it's the "Pro Ultra Thin Billiard Light" about halfway down this page:
http://www.stylitelighting.com/professional.php.

There's two options I'm considering:
1) 4 x 6' T8 bulbs in a 3' x 7' box with diffuser
2) 4 x 8' T8 bulbs in a 3' x 9' box with diffuser

I want to make sure there's enough light, but also enough room for masse shots (it's a 9' ceiling if that makes a difference). So my preference is the smaller light, but only if it's enough to light the table. Are four 6' bulbs enough light for a 9' table? Anybody have a similar set up? All opinions welcome.
 
The T-8 lamps, I think, would be more than than enough. I think option two would be the better choice. You may want to recheck the item I think it's a 4x4' fixture.
T-8 lamps also stay brighter long, what's known as lamp lumen depreciation. The place I play league at with 7' bar boxes just replaced one of the 4' 2 lamp fixtures with a 4' two lamp T-8 fixture and the improvement is significant. Of course the old fixtures had old lamps. The fixture is open, no diffuser. Perhaps the fixture could be ceiling mounted to give you the most clearence possible.
Another option to think about would be to install, downlights in the ceiling.
I have six over my table, one on each corner and two down the middle. You can use either incandescent lamps or cfl floods. I did this since my ceiling is at 8 1/2'.
 
Item 1 is 6' bulbs, 4 bulbs in parallel. Item 2 is 8' bulbs, 4 bulbs in parallel.

Really my question can be boiled down to... Are 6' bulbs (4 of them) enough to light a 9' table? I'd like to hear from people using fluorescents, what do you use and how it works or doesn't work.

I've done a lot of research, but research is no substitute for experience. Here's what I know about fluorescent bulbs. The 8 in T8 refers to the diameter of the fluorescent (expressed in eigths of an inch), so a T8 is one inch diameter, and a T12 is 1 1/2 inches. (The T in T8 means tubular). They come in various lengths, commonly 2', 4', 6' and 8', although you can get 1', 3', or 5' bulbs (and more). There are also different color temperatures of the bulbs, and different wattages. I think generally, the higher the color temp the closer it is to natural light (up to a point), and this is better when you're spending several hours at a time under the light.
 
BobTfromIL said:
The T-8 lamps, I think, would be more than than enough. I think option two would be the better choice. You may want to recheck the item I think it's a 4x4' fixture.
T-8 lamps also stay brighter long, what's known as lamp lumen depreciation. The place I play league at with 7' bar boxes just replaced one of the 4' 2 lamp fixtures with a 4' two lamp T-8 fixture and the improvement is significant. Of course the old fixtures had old lamps. The fixture is open, no diffuser. Perhaps the fixture could be ceiling mounted to give you the most clearence possible.
Another option to think about would be to install, downlights in the ceiling.
I have six over my table, one on each corner and two down the middle. You can use either incandescent lamps or cfl floods. I did this since my ceiling is at 8 1/2'.
Click to expand...

T8 is the size of the bulb. You want a 5000+kelvin T8. This will give you a very nice color separation.

That light looks very nice.

Ray
 
They are wonderful!

The room I play in has 12 of these fixtures - one over every table. I think they are eight feet long, but I'd have to double check to be sure. They are hanging on cables, just like the ones shown in the photos. You might want a more decorative hanger of some kind for a home.

The lighting on the tables is the best I've ever seen, including the ones available from Diamond. The coverage to the ends and corners of the table is really good. No dark spots.

The only difference between the ones in the photos and the ones where I play is that we have built in "beads" - actually done with balls about the size of table tennis balls - ten per player. Games like 14.1 are scored on traditional beads and races are scored on the big beads over the lighting fixture.

You won't be sorry you bought these.
 
antinul said:
... Really my question can be boiled down to... Are 6' bulbs (4 of them) enough to light a 9' table? I'd like to hear from people using fluorescents, what do you use and how it works or doesn't work.
Click to expand...

With four 6-foot bulbs you'll probably get adequate-to-good lighting, at least compared to what you see in most pool rooms and homes.

For really good lighting, get the 8-foot bulbs, since they come much closer to the full length of the playing surface and therefore reduce the likelihood of heavier shadows on the rail side of balls near the end rails.

I'd also caution you against getting a fixture "box" that isn't wide enough. With four 8-foot bulbs, you'll have two fixtures with two bulbs in each fixture. It's much better to have those two fixtures separated quite a bit rather than right next to each other in the middle of the table. The old Diamond Professional Table Light was 50" wide, and the two fixtures could be positioned with considerable space between them (i.e., closer to the side rails of the table), thereby reducing the likelihood of heavier shadows on the rail side of balls near the side rails. In fact, in the old Diamond Pro Table Light, you could request an extra fixture down the center, for a total of 6 8-foot bulbs. That produces great lighting, particularly if you want to mount the light fairly high above the table. Perhaps Stylite would build one that way as well.

Hope that helps a bit!
 
I put the wrong width in my first post, the 8' bulbs are in a 4' x 9' box, so there's a little more width there. Thanks for the info, it does help a bit. With a larger box I'm going to have to hang it pretty high to keep it out of the way, I'm not sure if that's better than the 6-foot bulbs which I feel like I could hang lower. I'm not sure why this is such a big deal, except that I've been waiting 20 years to get a pool table in my house...

AtLarge said:
With four 6-foot bulbs you'll probably get adequate-to-good lighting, at least compared to what you see in most pool rooms and homes.

For really good lighting, get the 8-foot bulbs, since they come much closer to the full length of the playing surface and therefore reduce the likelihood of heavier shadows on the rail side of balls near the end rails.

I'd also caution you against getting a fixture "box" that isn't wide enough. With four 8-foot bulbs, you'll have two fixtures with two bulbs in each fixture. It's much better to have those two fixtures separated quite a bit rather than right next to each other in the middle of the table. The old Diamond Professional Table Light was 50" wide, and the two fixtures could be positioned with considerable space between them (i.e., closer to the side rails of the table), thereby reducing the likelihood of heavier shadows on the rail side of balls near the side rails. In fact, in the old Diamond Pro Table Light, you could request an extra fixture down the center, for a total of 6 8-foot bulbs. That produces great lighting, particularly if you want to mount the light fairly high above the table. Perhaps Stylite would build one that way as well.

Hope that helps a bit!
Click to expand...
 
antinul said:
I'm putting a 9' Brunswick Gold Crown V in my basement, and I'm looking at fluorescent light fixtures. There is a custom light I'm interested in, it's the "Pro Ultra Thin Billiard Light" about halfway down this page:
http://www.stylitelighting.com/professional.php.

There's two options I'm considering:
1) 4 x 6' T8 bulbs in a 3' x 7' box with diffuser
2) 4 x 8' T8 bulbs in a 3' x 9' box with diffuser

I want to make sure there's enough light, but also enough room for masse shots (it's a 9' ceiling if that makes a difference). So my preference is the smaller light, but only if it's enough to light the table. Are four 6' bulbs enough light for a 9' table? Anybody have a similar set up? All opinions welcome.
Click to expand...


I just found these same lights yesterday. Have you tracked down pricing yet? I'm not a fan of most of the lights I've seen on the internet. This particular light is more of what I'm looking for.
 
dont think you could go wrong with the 9' light diamond sells. the "diamond" legend on the ends are actually decals you can elect not to stick on it. the light is easy to hang and there are essentially two 1x3s spaced at 4' centers that have pre drilled 3/16" holes so you can flush mount it on your cieling joists or suspend it. i ended up using my own fixture which consists of four 4' T8 bulbs ran off single ballast.
 
I light my 9' table with four 6' tubes. They're recessed about 10" in a fixture which is just a little longer than the tubes and painted white on the inside. There is no diffuser.

The light I get is very good but not perfect. The last foot or so on both ends are not as bright as the rest of the table, though they are definitely bright enough.

My advice is to opt for the 8' tubes. That way you're sure to get an even distribution of light over the whole table.
 
Sorry, I hadn't seen this question until now. The pricing I got is $950 for 6' and $1150 for 8'. Still haven't made up my mind on which one is best.

rdbecker said:
I just found these same lights yesterday. Have you tracked down pricing yet? I'm not a fan of most of the lights I've seen on the internet. This particular light is more of what I'm looking for.
Click to expand...
 
I still like the 6' solution, I feel like 9' for the light is just too big. I'm hoping the short depth of the fixture and the diffuser will make the ends just a little brighter but I'm no expert; I'm just guessing.

Rich93 said:
I light my 9' table with four 6' tubes. They're recessed about 10" in a fixture which is just a little longer than the tubes and painted white on the inside. There is no diffuser.

The light I get is very good but not perfect. The last foot or so on both ends are not as bright as the rest of the table, though they are definitely bright enough.

My advice is to opt for the 8' tubes. That way you're sure to get an even distribution of light over the whole table.
Click to expand...
 
My only contribution is to say, don't make it 9' long. Your taller opponents WILL hit their head on it unless it is unusually high (which seems to be improbable given your 9' celing height).

I'm 6'-4" tall and have two 4' fixtures (making a nearly 9' long fixture) over my table & I hit my head on occasion. Besides, the fixture does not need to be the same length as to the table to ensure it lights everything...the light will splash to the sides & front/back adequately.
 
The light in my avatar is essentially 4X8. I has two 8-foot dual fixtures in it, each uses 4 4-foot T8 bulbs (8 total 4-foot bulbs).

I have different diffusers in it now than what's in the picture. I've now got silver parabolic 1/2" diffusers, and there is virtually no light "spillage" from them. In other words, you can't directly see any of the bulbs unless you're directly under them and looking straight up through the diffuser.

It lights the hell out of my table.
 
More bulbs = more light

In the last ten years I have moved 3 times and made improvements every time to my pool table light. First I had 1, 8 foot double lamp mounted low with no diffuser. Then 3, 8 foot double lamps no diffuser (6- 8 foot bulbs), and now I finally got it right, four 8 foot double lamp (8- 8 foot bulbs) with parabolic diffuser and the light box is 10 feet off of the ground!! The lighting is great and no interference from it even if I'm jacked up vertical on a Masse' shot!

Just like the last poster said, its perfect!!!

Don't kid yourself into thinking that your going to be happy with less light, although you sound like you've decided on the smaller one. IMO get the big box and put six or eight bulbs in it and attatch it to the ceiling for max head room. That way you still have over 102 inches of clearance.

Good luck, just remember MORE BULBS= MORE LIGHT=HIGHER RUNS
 
sjb said:
The light in my avatar is essentially 4X8. I has two 8-foot dual fixtures in it, each uses 4 4-foot T8 bulbs (8 total 4-foot bulbs).

I have different diffusers in it now than what's in the picture. I've now got silver parabolic 1/2" diffusers, and there is virtually no light "spillage" from them. In other words, you can't directly see any of the bulbs unless you're directly under them and looking straight up through the diffuser.

It lights the hell out of my table.
Click to expand...


Where did you find the diffusers? So far I've only found one (maybe two) sites that'll sell these things in small quantities.
 
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