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Home theater lighting
#411992 05/06/15 02:42 PM
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I am building a better home theater / listening room for myself. I have the room right now in the half built stage and as I am doing all the work myself it probably is going to take a bit more time to get it done.

I had some grandiose ideas or visions in my mind on what it is going to look like. But reality or more to point, cash flow will beg to differ from what I would like. I decided from a design standpoint that I was not putting in any ceiling pot lights for sound isolation purposes. (*1)

So my initial vision was to run a track of those LED tape strip lighting in the corner edge of the ceiling all the way around the room on a remote dimmer. It would look spectacular, but the $600 price tag for that lighting seems to have lost it's luster on me.

I have as a secondary lighting option, put in 3 wall sconces that look similar to this on the two side walls and the back. The plan was these would be run using CFL daylight 6k bulbs that don't dim, but turned off for TV and music listening.

I am not against getting some form of floor lamps, but getting them to dim, and even better on remote could be costly if not very difficult.

Are there any other lighting idea's that I have not considered. Best to get that solved before I finish plastering the walls and ceiling as it's far easier to run electrical wires now than when that is done.

Notes:

1. I will also live without any downward ceiling mounted speakers, so ATMOS is also out. I have wired for both front and rear height speakers (and mounted some Energy Take5 that I have extra)


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Re: Home theater lighting
MMM #411996 05/06/15 03:06 PM
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I just installed some LED strips in my kitchen. There are lots of inexpensive options available. Unless your room is enormous, or you're looking for something really elaborate, you can get 5m strips for around $15-$20 each. Add in a power supply and dimmer switch for another $40-$50.

This is the place I used, but there are many others.
LED Wholesalers


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Re: Home theater lighting
MMM #412002 05/06/15 10:06 PM
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I feel your pain for cashflow. You are on the right track for keeping your lighting simple. Dimmable sconces are a great compromise to zoned potlights. Nick had a good idea I took him up on. He suggested 2 zones of sconces dimmed seperately. In my room this meant the two side lights closest to the screen became a zone, and the lights beside the seating area became a seperate zone. This will add the convenience of dim lighting without affecting the screen image with glare/washout. I will add an IR remote dimmer to each zone to keep things simplified (lutron maestro 37$ at HD)

Lighting is highly preference based. Some prefer indirect lamps, others prefer spotlights from ceiling. I find a mix is good. There are great inspirational lighting ideas at houzz.com. I went there and found cheap ways to replicate their looks for some stuff I wanted. Professional theater design pics there too.

Re: Home theater lighting
MMM #412021 05/08/15 02:03 AM
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Originally Posted By: oakvillematt
I am not against getting some form of floor lamps, but getting them to dim, and even better on remote could be costly if not very difficult.

Are there any other lighting idea's that I have not considered.

The big "new thing" for me is remotely controlled *bulbs*, which could give you some interesting options for floor lamps. Might also be possible to get individual brightness control for sconces without having to wire separate zones but haven't played with them yet.

http://www.insteon.com/led-bulbs/

I have a similar wiring arrangement (front vs back dimmable zones) to what SerenityNow described in the loft where my HT is living and that works very well.

Last edited by bridgman; 05/08/15 02:04 AM.

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