Ambient Lighting Venture

[BradG]

Hi Guys

Ive always appreciated ambient lighting so recently ive started experimenting with different lights to get that feel im after while watching movies.

For creating subtle glows i find the cold cathode tubes work great behind the LCD, but i want to fill the room with blue light..

I tried painted light bulbs, and it was quite poor. I think a glow stick gives off more light

Ive toured with the LED light strips, but i dont think they will emit enough light for what im after

So this is what im attempting now

I've ordered:
bulkhead light
Blue Gel sheets
100W lightbulb
a remote control dimmer faceplate and cabling

For those which dont know, Gel sheets are used in Par can lights which are used in theatres and stages. They are flame retardant to a certain degree so can be placed very close to the heat source.

The plan is to wrap the gels around the glass cover of the bulkhead light and fit it within the alcove of my room so i can have a variable blue light


If you would be interested in seeing how this project turns out, let me know and il post the pics of it in the making and testing

[fredd500]

Sounds interesting. As an occasional theatre lighting designer I can appreciate the effect you are looking for but for domestic use you might find a bulkhead a bit harsh. Also, gel is designed to filter out light frequencies that you don't want and as a result, they let less light through and therefore appear dimmer. To get a good true blue, you are going to need quite dark gel and this may reduce your 100w bulb to next to nothing - in the theatre we use 650w or 1.2Kw lights depending on how much light we need and with the really dark gels, even the 1.2Kw lights can seem quite dim.

You could try the ubiquitous rope light that so many people on this forum love. TLC do it in blue, its mains powered, can be dimmed and since it is rope light you can conceal it quite nicely. Haven't used it myself however so your milage may vary.

[BradG]

Thanks for your reply Fredd

I had pondered on how much light would be emitted through the Gel. The rope light seems like a good idea i had completely overlooked the fact it can be dimmed. Il have a look in to that

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Your best bet would be the humble flourescent tube imho. Cheap to run, come in a variety of colour temperatures, dimmable and you can easily fit a coloured gel.

[BradG]

hi,
Thanks for your post but i cant see how you could dim a flourescent tube?

[Zog]

the key to this is to hide the source and leave yourself with just the effect of the light.

The best way to do that is to use indirect lighting. Simply put... uplighters. Or if you want something a little more sophisticated, cove lighting.

As for the light source.... blue dichroics are available from this manufacturer.. BLV - THE SOURCE OF LIGHT - MADE IN GERMANY - HALOGENGLÜHLAMPEN - METALLDAMPFLAMPEN - SPEZIALLAMPEN

These are easily controllable but its more difficult to create an even wash as its a point light source.

As has already been suggested, fluorescent lamps with a coloured sleeve offer the best solution as they are a linear source and so will deliver an even wash. However though dimming is certainly possible. its not quite as straight forward. You will need a fitting with dimmable HF control gear and a controller.

[neilball]

Originally Posted by BradG

hi,
Thanks for your post but i cant see how you could dim a flourescent tube?

Part of the flourescent fitting includes a control ballast which comes in many different types. There are versions that operate at high frequency to reduce tube flicker and some of these can be dimmed. Again lots of ways that this is achieved, some use 1-10v analogue control in addition to the mains connection, others use a variety of digital signals such as Dali or DSI. You need to make sure your dimming control is compatible with the ballast control and in most cases you can replace the ballast in the fitting if necessary. Certainly not as straight forward as direct mains-dimmable fittings but still quite common.

[m4rky_m4rk]

I sometimes use the fluorescent lights normally used for aquarium night viewing. These tend to be more blue and give a nice colour.

Also a couple of these in corner works great. Almost infinite colours with RF remore control.

Philips Living Colour

[BradG]

Zog, Neilball & m4rky_m4rk thanks for your posts,

Never knew they could be dimmed.. you learn something every day

I have ordered the Gel sheets so i will have a play with an old tube i have in the garage somewhere

I found a cheap source of the tubelights so think i may pick up a roll of the blue and have a play with that too.

Uplighters are not so much of an option to me unfortunately. As i can conceal a wire getting to the alcoves, i wouldnt be able to hide a wire going to the middle of a wall for instance.

Never the less your posts have been very insightful and have given me a few more options to look in to

[BradG]

oh now i do like that "living colour" lamp :D