Downlighters & Remote Dimmer - Clueless

[SilverSpider]

First "asking for help" post, so go easy on me ...

Some months ago we moved into our Victorian house and now has come the time when I’m able to get one of the Upstairs Bedrooms modernised and redecorated and hopefully turn it into a bit of a Home Cinema/Gaming room, all signed and sealed with the Mrs’ Permission of course


Thing is I have a Builder starting work next week on this room as well as other parts of the house and I haven’t a clue about the Lighting I need for the cinema room, I have had the quote done from the Builder with the Ceiling being plastered and Downlighters fitted included, so now I just need to find the Lights I want and the Dimmer switch also.


Being a complete Noob on anything Lighting or Electrics based I don’t know what type I should get nor how many lights I will need for this sized room.


So I thought as with most posts asking for help, it might be easier if I posted on here what I would like for the room to have, and then maybe make it simpler for someone to advise me on which actual products to buy rather than you folks guessing what I might want.


Okay the room is about 12’ x 11’ and the Ceiling is 10’ high, it has a chimney breast wall down one side with 2 Alcoves either side, it doesn’t have lots of natural light in the daytime or early evening due to the window being North facing.


I would like the Light in this room to have a bit of warmth to it and not be too cold or clinical, if that is possible with Downlighters ?

The only other main thing I can think of is, I would like the lights to be dimmable and be able to use them with a remote dimmer that wont buzz.


I would appreciate any guidance or suggestions on this, hope you can help me out.

Thanks Guys

[SilverSpider]

Anyone ........

[dobbin]

Well I'm no expert but as you don't seem to be getting any replies I will give you my thoughts.
I plan to use downlighters and Wall lights in my cinema room (along with a Star Ceiling, Blue Striplights from IKEA behind the screen, colour changing LEDs and various other lights)
As your Celing is 10' high (and almost as high as it is long and wide) it lends itself perfectly to fitting a false ceiling and lowering it a bit. If you like a star ceiling then this would be perfect for it.
I would also fit a 18" wide surround about 9" lower than your false ceiling that goes right around the outside of the room. This will take the downlighters and also be an excellent way to run your cables around the walls so you cannot see them. You could also put the light controller for the star ceiling there (if you fit one!) and any other controls you need.
For downlighters I would use mains GU10's which can be dimmed by a standard dimmer switch without any buzzing. If you want to have a dimmable switch with a remote control then fit one of the X10 wall dimmers with a keyfob remote. The X10 dimmer switches are about £25 and replace a standard light switch.
This is just a start and there are numerous solutions available. A lot depends on your budget.
I hope I have given you some ideas. If you need any more advice just ask.
Good Luck

[SilverSpider]

Hi dobbin, Thanks for the reply and suggestions - its much appreciated.


Whilst lowering the ceiling idea does sound very smart and pretty snazzy looking with the surround and lights also, its really a bit of a non starter in the room for a few reasons really.

The window in the room is very long Vertically and it doesnt have a huge gap between it and the ceiling as it is now, add in that I want to put some coving on and a curtain pole and it will be tight up there as it is.


I am not on a ridiculously tight budget or anything but I do have various other rooms in the house that require a fair amount of work and money, things like levelling floors and replacing 8 Doors and Architraves for starters as well as a £3500 Kitchen to buy this week to keep the Mrs. Happy and this is just the start of the work and her spending ....


So its more of a case of spending it wisely on the Basics of a home cinema room if you catch my drift as I haven't even bought a HD Display of any kind yet either or speakers etc.

I guess I'm just trying to get the room decorated, lit, furnished and looking half decent and then I'm going to take it from there, one piece of equipment at a time as I am a real newcomer to the whole "AV Scene"


Anyway enough rambling from me, back to the lights and dimmer stuff, I read the other thread on here from "GreenEagle" regarding the difference between Low Voltage and Mains Downlighters and I seem to have got my head round that a bit, it seems that mains are less hassle ? with regards to people mentioning the need for a specific transformer on the LV ones and an appropriate dimmer too.

What wattage should I be looking at seems to be 35w and 50w ? also any idea how many for lights to buy for my size of room .... 1 in each alcove maybe but what about for the main ceiling area ?

Sorry to ask so much but I am still pretty unsure as to what I'm doing.

Thanks Again.

[dobbin]

Sorry that I haven't been able to reply sooner but I've been away.

As I said I am no expert so please feel free to totally ignore what I say!

I think the first thing to say is that a lot depends on your own personnal taste. THat said I hope that I can give you some ideas.

Look at what other people have done by looking at the photos on the two Home Cinema forums.

Home Cinema DIY
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-diy/

and Members Home Cinema Gallery
http://www.avforums.com/forums/members-home-cinema-gallery/

Also 'google' for other sites (US especially have some very impressive home cinemas) that have photos of other peoples Home CInemas. Some great inspiration from these.

Also there are various sites that supply Home Cinema products. See
http://www.htmarket.com/lighting--si...-lighting.html

Here are some home cinema sites that may give you inspiration
http://www.stevescinema.themorris.org.uk/index.htm

AND THE ULTIMATE! AND I MEAN THE ULTIMATE!
http://theater.stevejenkins.com/gallery/complete/

Try 'googling' for some more.

I also don't know whether your room is going to be contempory or traditional? It is a very high ceiling (especially considering the floor size) so I would be trying to reduce that height a bit. That will make it seem bigger and certainly more cosy! You have said that you have a window that vertically is very high which makes it impossible to reduce the whole ceiling height. But what about reducing the part of the room that will have your screen on and leaving a border of about 1-2 feet around the rest? That way you also have a false ceiling in which to put your lights and cables etc. without affecting the high window. Maybe you can you show us a few photos of the room and maybe a simple diagram?

Whether to go for 35 or 50 watt I cannot say. I currently have the same dilema. I think a 'suck it and see' is required. The price of GU10 bulbs is low so you could easily reeplace one with the other in all or some of the light fittings without incurring too much cost.

Above all remember that this is a dedicated Home Cinema room so you don't have the follow the way the rest of your house is designed/decorated/themed.

I hope that some of this information is useful to you.

Just look at the other sites to get some ideas and go for it!

[dobbin]

Here's some more inspiration
http://gallery.avsforum.com/

[SilverSpider]

Hi again dobbin,

Well I've spoke to the Guy who is doing the work the other night and when asked about ordering the lights I told him to just go for 8 of the Mains GU10 Lights as I had to decide there and then and these seemed the easier option.

So thats a decision made on something at least, now I am thinking of the Dimmer, well I know the colour and design I want ...

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...ome/index.html

just not sure if I should go for a 1 or 2 Gang version ? if I went for the 2 Gang I assume from my extremely limited knowledge that this would allow me to split the 8 lights into 2 seperately dimmable groups, like 3 & 5 or 4 & 4 etc ?

Which would give me more options and ability to create more moods. Also curious if a 2 Gang is anymore difficult to fit than the 1 Gang as there is only a standard light socket and one light fitting in the room at the moment.

A quick reply from anyone on this 1 or 2 Gang thing would be much appreciated as I need to order one or the other pretty sharpish as I am off from Work at 3.15pm (To the Pub ) and I currently have no net access at Home, so wanted to get the order in Today what with Bank Holiday and that next week Delivery could be a while.


P.S. thanks for all the Links dobbin, I shall consider the ceiling thing again as when I got Home the other night I realised it wasn't as limiting as the mental picture I had of it was ... Will speak to my Builder about it and see Time and Costwise if its feasible, but I agree it would make the room seem bigger and more Cosy too as well as making the lights easier to fit.


Thanks again for all your help and stuff

[dobbin]

No problem.

I had a quick look at your link and like you I assume that 2 gang will operate 2 circuits of lights, BUT I don't know for sure? You need help from someone with a bit of electrical knowledge.

You will also have to get a dimmer that will handle the total wattage of your lights. You say that you have decided on 8 x GU10. If the bulbs are 50w then that is a total of 400 watts. Whichever dimmer you get must be able to handle that.

Good luck.

P.S. - you must have a look at the Ultimate Home Theatre. It's awesome (but not to everyone's taste!).

[SilverSpider]

Cheers dobbin,

Yip I think we need an expert sparky in here anytime soon cos like the post says I'm Clueless.

If I don't get a reply today I should still be able to nip on one of the Familys PC's over the Weekend and stick in an order then ...

It just seems daft to get the 1 Gang when you can have a lot more control and options with the 2 Gang if it works like we assume it will.

-----

Yip mate, I have seen the Ultimate Cinema before and I personally love it, but can also see why others may think its tacky.

Its that Blue Sky ceiling dome bit I like the most ... I like the way its seems very Childlike and Magical compared to most of the High Tech modern ones.

Great Stuff !


P.S. Your plans for your own Cinema sound really good too.