What are your pool table light requirements?

W

wantat

New member
I was finally able to get a pool table installed in my home last week. Hooray for me. There are still a several things I need to do in the room, but the most glaring (pun intended) is the addition of a light over the table.

I think it is safe to say that my wife will have her input heard on this subject in terms of the style of the light, and that's fine with me. But I want to ensure that what she picks meets the basic functional requirements of a pool table light.

My question: What do you consider are the essential functions of a pool table light? Must it have multiple light sources (three or four bulbs in a row)? Does it need to have a "shade", or could the bulbs/filament themselves be exposed in all directions? I have a 8' table in a room with a relatively high ceiling, which is way too dark with the overhead lighting that already exists. I might be over thinking this, but I do appreciate any/all feedback.

Thanks!
 
wantat said:
I was finally able to get a pool table installed in my home last week. Hooray for me. There are still a several things I need to do in the room, but the most glaring (pun intended) is the addition of a light over the table.

I think it is safe to say that my wife will have her input heard on this subject in terms of the style of the light, and that's fine with me. But I want to ensure that what she picks meets the basic functional requirements of a pool table light.

My question: What do you consider are the essential functions of a pool table light? Must it have multiple light sources (three or four bulbs in a row)? Does it need to have a "shade", or could the bulbs/filament themselves be exposed in all directions? I have a 8' table in a room with a relatively high ceiling, which is way too dark with the overhead lighting that already exists. I might be over thinking this, but I do appreciate any/all feedback.

Thanks!
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I went to Lowes and bought an eight foot fluorescent light for around $50. Holds two eight foot tubes (bulbs).

Bought enough chain to hang from the ceiling. One chain on each end and one in the center.

Hang it high enough so you don't hit your head when racking and so it's high enough for your super masse' shots.:grin:
 
wantat said:
My question: What do you consider are the essential functions of a pool table light? Must it have multiple light sources (three or four bulbs in a row)? Does it need to have a "shade", or could the bulbs/filament themselves be exposed in all directions? I have a 8' table in a room with a relatively high ceiling, which is way too dark with the overhead lighting that already exists. I might be over thinking this, but I do appreciate any/all feedback.
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1) Table light must evenly illuminate the whole playing surface.
2) Table light must NOT illuminate the floor besides/under the table--that is the light must stop at the rails of the table.
3) The table light must not cause glare to the shooter down on a shot under the light. That is the light illuminates the playing surface unobtrusively.

property 1 is obvious
property 2 allows the rest of the room to be lighted independently from the table lighting.
property 3 prevents the shooter from needing a hat to get down on a shot.
 
I just bought a Brunswick lite that matches my Gold Crown, what a beautiful lite and what a tremendous difference it makes. I had plenty of lite over the table before but it was lighting more than just the top of the table, now the lite just illuminates the playing surface and I can leave all other lites in the room off.
 
Very nice rexus. I built a nearly similar one as well. Uses two 4 foot florescent light fixtures side by side. Each holds 4 bulbs. I really wanted 8 foot bulbs but the cost was too high to justify it. The 4 foot fixtures were about $40 a piece at home depot.

My frame is much simpler. Just a basic 4 sided frame of mdf that's 4 inches high with a lip of 1/4 inch hardboard on the bottom to hold the lights in. Total cost was somewhere around $100 and the amount of nice white light on the table is amazing. I was able to get away with buying a single plank of 4x8x1 mdf and ripping it into 3, 4 inch wide pieces to make the whole light. Hanging it was harder than making it lol.


rexus31 said:
I made my own fixture to match my table. It houses two tandem 8' fixtures which use (4) 4' bulbs each. The lighting is great using the 5000K fluorescent bulbs.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=325290&highlight=custom+table+light



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