[nobail]

Hi Folks,


My HT room is in my basement and below my family room. Like most basement, it is ceiling height challanged and it will have 7' ceilings when completed. The room is roughly 15x20 and it will have a tray ceiling with rope light around the perimeter. I will also have 4 sconces on the walls.


My question is about lighting the "main" portion of the ceiling. I definitely do not want to put recessed light cans in the ceiling for acoustic and sounding proofing purposes. So, what are my options? Here is the way I see it.


1. Do nothing. Just use the rope lights and sconses as the light. This will be fine for movies, but may not be enough light during non-movie times.


2. Investigate some "low profile" track light options. Does anybody have any recommendations?


3. Use cans that are designed for HT use (if they exist). Perhaps very small ones?


4. Don't worry about it . Just use cans and make sure to put in insulation around them.


Thanks for any replies.


Regards,

Hal

 

[ChadA]

I picked up 4" cans at Home Depot that were labelled as being "air tight." I'll still be insulating around them and sealing any gaps. I'm more concerned about rattles than sound escaping.

 

[Patrick C]

How about surface mounted halogen lights (similar to the under-counter lights). You'd need many of them, but you'd only have to punch a small whole for the wire, caulk it up real good and stick the lights to the wall.


Patrick

 

[nobail]

Thanks for the replies. I would like to know how those can's from HD worked. I have seen the "hockey puck" under counter lights at HD. I would think those would put out too much heat to be surface mounted to drywall. Has anybody done that?


Any other creative options? What have you folks with low ceilings done?


Regards,

Hal

 

[rgladiator]

Have you thought of using side lit fiber optics instead of rope light? A bit more expensive but you can hook up some pretty powerful light sources and the fiber doesn't give off heat.

 

[Scrimpin]

Quote:

Originally posted by nobail 1. Do nothing. Just use the rope lights and sconses as the light. This will be fine for movies, but may not be enough light during non-movie times.

Hal, I don't think you will be happy with the do nothing option. My room is 12x18x7.5 and is set up similar to you. Presently I have 4 100 watt halogen wall sconces and about 50 feet of rope light. It is enough light, but barely, and i haven't yet 'darkened' the room with the lower black GoM. My plan includes two additional sconces at the front which should round it out nicely. With your room being bigger I do not know that 4 sconces will be enough. Depending on the wattage of your sconces and room colors you may want to seriously consider some table lamps or floor standing halogen torchieres.

 

[Sime]

Just an FYI, the home depot under counter lights are just that......even thay can be recessed, they are clearly NOT listed for soffit fitment, only UL listed for cabinet fitment.


However...if you wanted to do a 'dodgy brothers', you could still install them in the ceiling, just make sure that there is no insulation in contact with the lights or the wiring itself. Also, you would want to have some cavity space above the lights.


HTH.


Cheers,

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

I wouldn't give up on the Recessed option.


Next time you are at HD see if they have the Progress Lighting Product Catalog. My HD sells it.


Anyway turn to page 397. There is a picture of a design of a "fire box" built with a double layer of drywall. I'm sure it would keep any sound in as well. Also they show a product of their design a recessed can (square) that comes with a box of drywall attached to the fixture. I'm sure both of these solutions mitigate some of the damage done of punching a hole in your ceiling.


I'm using their regular In Contact Air Tights. They are made of a much heavier weight metal than the stocked fixtures at HD. I surrounded with insulation and glued my first layer of ceiling (soundstop board) to the surface of the fixture. It will be several weeks to until I see if this solution is acceptable.

 

[pcdoctor]

What about sconces on the sides of your wall and no lights on the ceiling.

I only have 4 sconces in a 12x37 basement room.

During non-movies times no one is in the room.

Well. actually, the only time someone is in the room during non-movie time is when they walk in before I turn the projector and other equipment on.

I have dimmers installed on my light switches so I can increase or decrease the lighting for the sconces.

The sconces in the front of the room are rarely turned on.

I really only turn on the rear sconces 99% of the time compared with the ones in the front.

I have a ceiling tile ceiling so I didn't want to use recessed lights.

In my opinion recessed lights look better with a sheetrock ceiling.

I couldn't use a sheetrock ceiling because my theater is in the basement.

Pipes in the ceiling, yada, yada, yada.

I also have rope lighting installed on my seating platforms.

 

[bpape]

How about modifying the tray ceiling to a coffered one. That would provide you with a lot more area in which to put rope lighting. You could still keep the existing ropes on one dimmer and the balance on another for better control.

 

[nobail]

Thanks for all the replies. With the holiday, It's been hard to get to the computer, so I will try to address some of the comments.
From rgladiator
Quote:

Have you thought of using side lit fiber optics instead of rope light?

Well, no. I have not thought of it because I don't know what it is. It sounds a little beyond my abilities. Anyway, I bought the rope light years ago and have been looking for a place to use it.


Scrimpin, I agree with you, I think I will need more light. It is more of a media room than dedicated HT, so there will be times when light is needed.


Sime, thanks for the info. I don't think those under counter lights are for me. My wife won't allow any Dodgy Brothers in the house. She is worse than any inspector.


BIGmouthinDC, thanks for the info. I will look into those options. They sound promising.


Thanks for the info pcdoctor. My worry is that the 4 sconces I have will not light up the room very well because they are under soffits. They will light the ceiling well on the soffit itself, but not in the center of the room. I am not expecting much from the rope lights, other than a cool look. I have pipes and other stuff to deal with as well. Unfortunately, my ceiling will drop to 7 feet to bypass all the obstacles. However, since there is no back row or riser, this should be OK.


Bpape, an coffered ceiling is an interesting option. However, since it will be 7 feet at the highest, I want to get to that height as quick as possible. The soffets themselves will be about 6'6" in height.


Thanks again for the replies.


- Hal

 

[frostlich]

Like BigmouthinDC said, the HD might have your answer. I beleive ICT rating might be what you're looking for(HD spells it out pretty clearly).


Just make sure if thats what you decide on, try to buy the entire kit including the trim. They are very proud of them, and buying these parts seperate cost me more.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

I actually bought the Progress In-Contact-air-tights at tri-state electric, they had them in stock at various locations. They shipped to my location free and they were cheaper than HD.

 

[bpape]

The coffered option can be done in as little as 3" and still leave room for lighting. The nice thing about the coffer is that the perceived height does not change since 90% of the ceiling is still at 7'.


Your choice.