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Post by jlwii2000 on Jul 31, 2014 14:36:07 GMT -8
I am in the planning stages of an around the room layout. The layout will consist of modules going around the room and about 36 or 39 inches off the floor. The part of the basement I am going to use for the layout is a utility room with an unfinished ceiling (Floor braces are visible/accessible).
My questions are:
1. If I use 48 inch long dual fluorescent lights, how far apart should they be? (ie. 1 four foot set of lights every 10 feet or something like that)
2. How many feet from the surface of the layout should they be?
3. Lastly, are there any brands of bulbs you suggest?
Thanks!
-James |
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Post by riogrande on Jul 31, 2014 15:21:07 GMT -8
Right now in my smallish layout room of 10 x 18 feet, I have four 48" fixtures with 2 32 watt fluorescent bulbs in each, but I do need more for good lighting. Right now two are suspended over one long wall 2 feet apart end to end. The other two are over either end of the 10 foot wall. IMO, I need two more over the other long leg of the layout and that would be just adequate. I'm thinking I would be good to have some brighter fluorescents l;ke those described by Al Mayo in an older thread.
My bulbs are Phillips 5K temperature which is natural light. IIRC, 5k or 6k is in the natural light spectrum
Cheers, Jim
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Post by atsfan on Jul 31, 2014 15:23:45 GMT -8
Search here on Al Mayo he was foaming about a certain type of bulb.
I am building to not use long tubes but just regular screw in sockets every 3 feet. Then I will be using CF or LED screw in bulbs which don't draw much current.
Consider that as it costs less and is easy to install. No need for long fluorescent anymore.
How high is your ceiling? Do you plan on using a valance to block the lights? That will help determine height above 3 feet layout height.
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Post by jlwii2000 on Jul 31, 2014 16:35:05 GMT -8
Search here on Al Mayo he was foaming about a certain type of bulb. I am building to not use long tubes but just regular screw in sockets every 3 feet. Then I will be using CF or LED screw in bulbs which don't draw much current. Consider that as it costs less and is easy to install. No need for long fluorescent anymore. How high is your ceiling? Do you plan on using a valance to block the lights? That will help determine height above 3 feet layout height.
I am not using a valance because (recurring theme) I move a lot. So the layout is low and the lights may be high. The ceiling is at 10 feet. But I can use the chains that come with the fluorescent housing to drop them down a bit. Just trying to nail the length without it looking goofy with lights hanging 5 feet down to about my midsection when I walk into the room. I did find the lights Al was talking about. -James
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Post by valenciajim on Jul 31, 2014 17:05:57 GMT -8
The sockets that can be used with LED bulbs sounds really appealing. When I was at the NMRA regional convention in Utah, there was a presentation on using LEDs to light your layout and I saw two layouts that were lit by LEDs. Very impressive indeed.
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Post by atsfan on Jul 31, 2014 17:33:20 GMT -8
The sockets that can be used with LED bulbs sounds really appealing. When I was at the NMRA regional convention in Utah, there was a presentation on using LEDs to light your layout and I saw two layouts that were lit by LEDs. Very impressive indeed. With the screw in type now it is cheap and easy to just get basic electrical boxes and covers and some 12 or 14 gauge wire at Home Depot and go to town. Very easy to install in series. A 15 amp breaker will light one heck of a bunch of them as they draw limited power. |
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Post by atsfan on Jul 31, 2014 17:34:51 GMT -8
Search here on Al Mayo he was foaming about a certain type of bulb. I am building to not use long tubes but just regular screw in sockets every 3 feet. Then I will be using CF or LED screw in bulbs which don't draw much current. Consider that as it costs less and is easy to install. No need for long fluorescent anymore. How high is your ceiling? Do you plan on using a valance to block the lights? That will help determine height above 3 feet layout height.
I am not using a valance because (recurring theme) I move a lot. So the layout is low and the lights may be high. The ceiling is at 10 feet. But I can use the chains that come with the fluorescent housing to drop them down a bit. Just trying to nail the length without it looking goofy with lights hanging 5 feet down to about my midsection when I walk into the room. I did find the lights Al was talking about. -James
I would only hang them down about 2 feet or so. Any lower and it would look odd. |
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Post by jlwii2000 on Jul 31, 2014 18:02:58 GMT -8
What fixture would be good with the F54T5/841/HO/ALTO lights Al suggests? Does any T5 fixture work? I have no clue about fluorescent lighting.
-James
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Post by MONSTERRAILROAD on Jul 31, 2014 18:24:09 GMT -8
James I swear that you will NOT regret going with the HOT5 F54 lights. I bought and tried out one and was hooked. I have now added more than 13 on my layout and just two regular fluorescent lights are left. I sold off 5 of the old ones and have 5 left that I will just give away to someone local.
The BEST lighting you can easily see at Home Depot is the F54T5/842/HO lights. I am even adding two or three into my garage in the nest couple of weeks for my workshop.
No other lights compare, there is no other equivalent when you consider price and ease of install. Now we all know that you can go with ALL LEDs but the Good daylight bulbs sell for $20 a piece and the light color is still with a tint of Blue OR the ugly yellow. The 841 is a 4300K color which is not yellow at all and not blue either, it is pure SUNLIGHT white. I will say this comment and stick by it,
These lights are the BEST lights out there for ALL train layouts and even home lighting if they made those more versatile for various light fixtures. Best lighting EVER!
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Post by jlwii2000 on Jul 31, 2014 18:31:39 GMT -8
James I swear that you will NOT regret going with the HOT5 F54 lights. I bought and tried out one and was hooked. I have now added more than 13 on my layout and just two regular fluorescent lights are left. I sold off 5 of the old ones and have 5 left that I will just give away to someone local. The BEST lighting you can easily see at Home Depot is the F54T5/842/HO lights. I am even adding two or three into my garage in the nest couple of weeks for my workshop. No other lights compare, there is no other equivalent when you consider price and ease of install. Now we all know that you can go with ALL LEDs but the Good daylight bulbs sell for $20 a piece and the light color is still with a tint of Blue OR the ugly yellow. The 841 is a 4300K color which is not yellow at all and not blue either, it is pure SUNLIGHT white. I will say this comment and stick by it, These lights are the BEST lights out there for ALL train layouts and even home lighting if they made those more versatile for various light fixtures. Best lighting EVER!
I will go see what the cost is and try to go with them. Any florescent is an improvement to the horrible lighting I had in my old basement, but I might as well go for it since you recommend them and they won't be much more than regular lights. Especially if I can put up less fixtures because they're much brighter. I'll head to home depot tomorrow!
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Post by MONSTERRAILROAD on Jul 31, 2014 18:31:54 GMT -8
The regular T5 bulbs they sell are actually just 28w but the new High Output (HO) bulbs are 54watts. They are $9.74 a piece. The regular 28w T5 bulbs will not work in the High Output light fixtures. I actually bought so many HO lights and now I can break down the final cost. I added plugs to the lights and many pull switches so that I can turn off each light if I wanted to dim an area. Here is the price break down
$39.99 The T5 HO light fixture Home Depot
$9.74 x 2 - F54T5/841/HO/ALTO lights (remember you want the 43k (or 41k I forget) color #841 Home Depot
$4.80 - Regular plug & wire at Walmart
$2.87 Pull switch at Walmart
_____________
Total about $70 per light
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Post by jlwii2000 on Jul 31, 2014 18:46:45 GMT -8
The regular T5 bulbs they sell are actually just 28w but the new High Output (HO) bulbs are 54watts. They are $9.74 a piece. The regular 28w T5 bulbs will not work in the High Output light fixtures. I actually bought so many HO lights and now I can break down the final cost. I added plugs to the lights and many pull switches so that I can turn off each light if I wanted to dim an area. Here is the price break down $39.99 The T5 HO light fixture Home Depot $9.74 x 2 - F54T5/841/HO/ALTO lights (remember you want the 43k (or 41k I forget) color #841 Home Depot $4.80 - Regular plug & wire at Walmart $2.87 Pull switch at Walmart _____________ Total about $70 per light Sweet, that's very helpful. Now I just need to figure how many feet apart I should go to determine the # of lights I'll need. |
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Post by espeestacktrain on Aug 1, 2014 4:53:03 GMT -8
One suggestion you may want to try, if your layout area is not carpeted... paint the floor white! My layout room (17x30) has only 4 light fixtures (48" fluorescent 4 bulb T-8) , but with a white ceiling and white floor make it seem like a lot more! Behr cement paint is an amazing thing!!!  Crappy pic, but it gives you an idea of how bright it is in there. ![]() |
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Post by raptorengineer on Apr 8, 2015 19:55:02 GMT -8
i'm looking at upgrading my lights from ge brights sticks to Costco LED shop lights now i'm doing research and GE brights sticks has 725 lumens where these innova led shop lights at costco have 3150 lumens. i guessing that should be bright enough to make the MTH Crossing sensors work right. here my lighting layout  |
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Post by oldmuley on Apr 9, 2015 17:49:54 GMT -8
Oh my, I think lighting has been on of the most vexing issues i've had on my railroad. I've got two-bulb 4' florescent fixtures that are aligned end to end. There are probably 7 or 8 around the one room and they provide some nice even light. My biggest issue is that the ballasts keep dying on me. I've not replaced any since they started crapping out, and when I they will be with LED's. My only advice would be not to cheap out on the fixtures. Spending $20 three times is more expensive than spending $45 once.
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