Black Lights for Game Room - Types and Range

tta583

Active member

Donor 2011, 2013
Joined
Jun 10, 2006
Messages
2,328
Reaction score
18
Location
Kentucky
I'm about to start on the basement. Going to with BL and BL carpet plus some other things I'm sure. I have not done a lot of poking around so I am not sure of my options. Are there Black Light BLACK and Black Light WHITE versions of the 48" tubes? If so, thoughts either way? What can I expect coverage wise? The long run is about 25' long by 8' or so wide. Due to the ceiling the width varies wall to ceiling hump for the ducting above the drywall. I'm planning on doing the entire floor so I am thinking I am going to have to go a bit overboard on the lighting to get the carpet closer to the opposing wall to react.

I also have a square side room I am going to light as well.

Good places to buy bulbs in bulk?

Fixtures? From the hip I was thinking standard direct wire fixtures that I may or may not paint to knock the shine off of the typical white finish..that is unless I can find them gray or black for a good price to offset the time.
 
I'm just starting down this road as well. Wiring elec this weekend so I have
been planning out my space. I have a similiar room to yours. 25x12.
I am planning recessed lights on 2/3rds of the ceiling which will be eventually
finished with drywall and and recessed lights on the other third which
is going to be a drop ceiling (pipes in the way).

I am wondering about blacklights as well. The 48" tubes cant be beat
for output vs cost.

I am struggling to find a way to make them look nice in the drywall
ceiling. I hate the look of surface mount or hanging flourscent lights.

In the drop ceiling part.. an integrated flourscent fixture is cool.

Then their is the question of how many tubes is enough. If I am
going to spend over 1500 on blacklight carpet it better dam glow well.
 
I bought a dozen 48" blacklights (normal black ones, not white) from a DJ supply store... I think in TX. I found them through Google, and they were about $60 for 12, and then about $30 shipping.

I used cheap "stainless steel" fixtures from Wal*Mart... they're actually silver painted metal shop lights (they reflect the UV, and don't glow). Then I built a wooden frame around them out of white painted doorway trim, to give them a wooden enclosure, and used silver egg crate (from Home Depot) on the bottom. White egg crate glows in the BL, and any of the plexi covers filter the UV, so there's no "glow".

Edit: cheaplights.com is where I got my BLs from: http://www.cheaplights.com/cart/page19.html . It's 118-F40T8, which are 40W T8 BLB. It says that they're longer than some, but I had no problem putting them in my normal Wal*Mart fixtures.

DogP
 
Last edited:
Malice95. Sounds like we are doing close to the same room saver mine is already dry walled. I have access to about 2/3 of the ceiling due to a a drop ceiling in the bath. The other 1/3, and the square room, are going to be the pain.

Dog P. Thanks for the link and thoughts on an enclosure. I have not seen the lights you mentioned. Direct wire or do they have a cord?


Anyone have ideas on coverage?
 
Lowes has a nice 4 foot fixture, complete with power cord and hanging chains for about 10 bucks, its black in color.
Black lights, as well as all flourescent lights, come in T8 and T12, 32 and 40 watts, they both are interchangeable, but the one uses less juice theoretically. I have a 4 car garage arcade, and i have one of thoae fixtures in the arcade area, and it works very well with my 10 foot round black light rug. It also makes certain graphics on certain cabinets glow. I have to turn off my neon beer signs for the full effect however.

I think one 4 foot fixture with 2 blacklights is plenty for a 15 x 15 area.
 
This is the cheapest deal I could find a year ago for mine (bulk): http://cgi.ebay.com/x12-GE-F40BLB-4...967?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a3c94327

I have 6 fixtures (12 bulbs) covering a 24x27 room and I'm happy with the coverage.

As for black vs. white blacklights, I believe white blacklights are bad for your eyes and are therefore not designed for use where you can directly see the bulbs.

BL Blue...Humm...

I am starting to think 3 to 4 fixtures down the long run I have to cover, 2 in the square side room, and perhaps one or 2 fill in's due to the ceiling contours.
 
Dog P. Thanks for the link and thoughts on an enclosure. I have not seen the lights you mentioned. Direct wire or do they have a cord?

Anyone have ideas on coverage?

The enclosures are basically a shop light, so they have a cord and pull chain. I cut the pull chain short, then wired the lights into my recessed lighting cans, which are switched by the switch on the wall.

For coverage... I have 6 48" lights in each room... one room is about 20x22, the other room is about 16x16. Then I also have three 24" lights, just to fill small parts that are shadowed by games, and for the entryway.

DogP
 
What fixtures are you using?

Not sure what he is using but I am thinking these unless I can find some at a similar price in a dark color.

080083517541lg.jpg

$20 at Lowes.
 
If budget is a concern, Walmart sells $10 24" BL fixture + bulb. Cheapest solution I found. And 4 of them light up my 10x11 room perfectly...
 
Back
Top Bottom