Re: Lights to game/paint by

Brian spake thusly upon matters weighty: 

> Greetings,
>  I have just moved into a new house in June. Now that I have a job
again
> (I've been out of work since Feb.), I can now by tables for the game
> room. The room has 7' celing and 2 small windows. It currently has 2
> overhead (condesent) single bulb light fixtures. The walls are off
white
> with a lot of wood (wall closet and 1 wall has 1/2 height paneling).
And
> unfortunatly, very few outlets.

Hi Bri. Glad to hear you're back in the ranks of the employed. That's 
always a reassuring feeling.  

> But my question is the following: What type of lighting would be best?
> 
> Overhead bright condesent bulbs
> Overhead florescent bulbs (I am uncertain that I can accomplish this)
> Torch style Halogin bulbed floor lamps
> Other

Well, I have these 6' high upward shining halogen floor lamps that do 
an excellent job of casting indirect light (if you actually have a 
solid white ceiling rather than rafters. They were about $20.00 a pop 
on sale, and I think regular somewhere in the $40-50 Canadian range 
(About $2.50 US these days....).  The other good alternative is a 
flourescent bar fixtures - I find the two bar flourescent fixture to 
cast a good soft light. And it doesn't generate as much heat as the 
incadescents, which can be important in an area where ventillation is 
problematic. If you want to work with what you have, have you thought 
about moving existing sockets and trying flourescent bulbs? They seem 
to give off a less harsh light but you may (depending on layout) want 
or need to move your existing lights. A typical 15 A circuit can 
handle at least 6-10 sockets, so if your lights aren't wired in with 
much else, you may also be able to add additional bulb sockets w/out 
too much difficulty. 

You may want to go to your local Home Hardware, Home Depot, Builder's 
Warehouse etc. and talk to one of their staff in lighting. They 
generally have good suggestions and are at least mildly conversant 
with local bylaws. 

I find I like good lighting when I game, but not so intense I think I 
need to wear shades - I find the floor lamps work excellent with a 
solid white ceiling. They cast a good light, but diffuse because of 
the reflection off the ceiling. I used to use two of these to 
illuminate my gaming area. And you don't get the glare of overhead 
incandescents. But flourescents are good too, but the fixtures for 
real flourescents can be a little pricey.

Tom.  
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