Table Lights

Recently, someone read this blog (amazing!),
and wanted advice on lighting for his pool table,
so I figured I'd share the reply:

I chose halogen lights,
only because I wanted to standardize on them
throughout the entire condo,
but I didn't know how many or what wattage to use,
so I probably overdid it with six of them,
71w each, with 40-degree beam, and on a dimmer.
Together they put out more light than needed,
and also a lot of heat,
so I use the dimmer to turn the lights down.

I'm going to try 50 watt, 38-degree beam bulbs,
to reduce heat.

They are about 65 inches above the playing surface,
(eight foot ceilings)
and cause multiple shadows under the balls,
but that doesn't bother me,
and nobody else has complained about it.

I would suggest that you
NOT put a light source DIRECTLY over each pocket
because then half of the light will be wasted,
and will cause more shadow under the rails.
I suggest that you place the lights
more toward the center of the table.
Two rows of 3 lights each sounds like plenty.
The end lights should be inset as far from the end of the table
as the rows are inset from the sides.

One source I just read suggested
that the lights should be low enough
so that they illuminate UNDER the rails,
and while that may be ideal, it is not practical for ceiling lights.

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