Introduction and some help please

[Timur1982]

Hi all,
I am new here and i was hoping for some help.
I have loved snooker since i was about 4 years old, i am in the process of building a large 'man shed' which will house my table.
im at the point of lighting... Can i light the table using standard downlights?
If i run 5 rows of 4 lights over the table on a seperate switch to the rest of the room is that ok? the ceiling height will be 2.7m over the table.

Appreciate any help.

Thanks
Tim

[mikee]

Two five foot office lighting ceiling tubes with silver reflectors is the best thing ,exactly the same as the peradon ones but at a fraction of the price .use the anti flicker daylight or white tubes ,and yes have them on a separate switch .

[Timur1982]

Thanks so much for your reply, much appreciated.
I looked at those too but would prefer downlights, just wasn’t sure if anyone had done it that way and if there were any issues?

[DeanH]

here is our club after the new lights fitted replacing three old coffins! much better.
High Frequency - daylight/bright-white(?) florescent tubes.

https://i.ibb.co/9bjKGvq/BBSC-Snooker-Hall-Lights.jpg

[Timur1982]

Looks excellent, Really well lit... Still wondering if i can use standard downlights though

[DeanH]

Looks excellent, Really well lit... Still wondering if i can use standard downlights though

I have not used a table with "downlight" for many years. To my thinking downlights are too narrow with their range of illumination and you would get a lot of shadows off the balls - not good

Difficult to see but the units we have are fitted with louvres that reflect the light to many angles and hence we barely have any shadows on the balls.

Key to this is also the height the lights are above the playing surface, I would say minimum distance would be 4ft, best would be 5ft (as per table fitter recommendations on TSF)

Are there any clubs near you, can you pop in and see what they have, see for yourself what the playing condition are like for different lighting methods, and have a chat?

let us know how you get on
Photos always help :thumbs-up:

[Timur1982]

Thanks very much for the advice... I have been into 3 clubs already and they have a combination of traditional lights with tassles and
the grid type like you have which look great.
the only thing with mine is its not just a snooker room, its an office and will have a TV etc in there, having a light hung low 'ish' over the table would obstruct the viewing from the rest of the room to say the TV etc.

I think with 20 downlights over the table the light will certainly be enough, it is just the shadows im worried about.
I can always hang a light retrospectively if needed i guess if the downlights dont work!

[DeanH]

You have to decide whether the room is going to be a TV lounge or a snooker room!
Just promise me one thing, the space under the table does NOT become a storage space for the "wife's bits 'n' pieces - that "wont be there long she promises""! LOL!

[Timur1982]

HA HA, not at all... Im building massive storage cupboards all around for her 'bits' !!
I have had a company come back to me just now saying they have had clients successfully replicate a snooker light with downlights as long as i focus the light on the boundary of the table!
I'll let you know how it goes!

[itsnoteasy]

We have down lights in the ceiling. If you have enough of them they would definitely be bright enough the big drawback would be the amount of light reflection in the balls. I think it would make it impossible to play on.
We used lighting from Rosetta, it can be hung right up at the ceiling.

[mikee]

My strip lights are bolted straight up on the ceiling ,distance from table surface is 5 foot just over ,you will get the best even lighting with this set up .If you do go down the led route ,be careful as some lights can fade the cloth in places .Forget the old canopy set up and go for two five foot strip systems with four anti flicker tubes ,mines been up years and not changed a light yet ,most clubs have these now because it’s the best lighting .

[Danger Steve]

Office style louvre light fixed to the ceiling is best for snooker, as already suggested. I have a perimeter of LED spot lights on a separate switch for when I’m in the shed but not playing snooker!

[toastandmarmite]

The best table light I ever saw was over a nine-foot pool table in Chicago. It was almost the same size and shape as the table slate… like a huge LED panel screen.

The illumination was superb, could not possibly be bettered in any way. Every inch of the playing surface was lit with perfect consistency.

[Timur1982]

Amazing help guys, thanks very much.
Once the man cave is finished i'll share pics and the lighting!

Thanks again.

[Rich the fish]

Hi Guys, I can't seem to find where I can start a new thread so just posting here. I'm going on holiday today to Chulmleigh for a week and wanted to know a) if there are any clubs close and/or b) if any of you fine people wanted to meet for a game? Willing to travel from where I'm staying. Rich