"Best lighting for a Wargames Room?" Topic

My new game room is in our basement. There's a window , but small and so there's very little natural light.

Trying to decide between fixture using tube LED or fluorescent bulbs or a regular pendent lamp with incandescent or cfl bulbs.

Any advice appreciated.

speaking for me personally, there are great options for all of them. I'd go with the most appealing (aesthetically) fixture for the space. They're all capable of being very good. Technology aside, I'd suggest just making sure its diffused so that you your eyes can don't make all the shadows on your table go black.

Congratulations upon your new game room.

Consider the heat gain from the lighting you choose. Added heat is good for cooler climates, but an issue during warmer weather perhaps. A mixture of lightning provides flexibility and interest through contrast. There are very nice daylight bulbs that provide a warm, natural light.

LEDs are my choice due to reliability, lumens and energy savings. The type of fixtures is as important as the type of bulb if not limited by the configuration of your basement. I agree about avoiding shadows, so recommend fixtures directly over the table, and if compatible with the fixtures/bulbs selected, a dimmer switch to vary the lighting depending upon the mood you wish to set on your gaming table.

I went with two 48" fluorescent fixtures over my ping pong table. My basement is windowless and has an additional fixture over my painting table. Works well for me.

I like a nice bright incandescent light but I think some of the newer LEDs are a good alternative

I just converted my garage into my game room and I went with the LEDs Absolutely the best choice I could make I'm even adding in some spot LEDs in areas where I do my painting

Shop lights

A continuation from Condotta's post -
When looking at lighting, consider colour rendition. The old incandescent tungsten bulbs, as they heated a filament, had a heavy red component in the colour output so they not only gave off heat, they felt more warm and cosy to the eyes.

Most fluorescents are an actinic white which, for doing specific tasks like painting, is good but for relaxing, reading or sitting with the buds and chatting, is not good. So always check the colour of the tube, warm pinks being best for mood, colder blue for painting.

If using LED's, same principle applies.

Personally I stocked up on several hundred old incandescent bulbs for general man-cave lighting and use dedicated LED's for illuminating the work table.

My room has three pendant lights with single bulbs across the middle of the room, directly down the centre of the table. Since this was not enough I mounted fluorescent strip lamps in the corners of the ceiling along the long edge of the table. This works pretty good for gaming and taking photos of games. I need some spot lights for doing some terrain construction which I should organise soon.

If I planned the building properly in the first place I think I would have mounted seven pendants above the table, but that may have worked out to be too harsh.

Fluorescent lights have a constant high-frequency flicker that one does not consciously perceive, but which is rather tiring to the eyes when used for long periods, especially as the sole source of light. They also emit ultraviolet light which can fade colors, just like direct sunlight, so you really need UV filtration if the space also holds antiques or any really valuable artwork.

Don't forget the strobe light or black light. Party on…

Bearing in mind the quality (what a joke) of my painting I would go for candles!

Hey, ashill, as long as it looks good from 'table distance'; don't be too hard on yourself!

I have a similar situation – a basement room/future game room that doesn't get much natural light, but it has two ceiling fixtures with two bulbs each. I believe I have 75w LED bulbs in them, so 300w total, but I always figure even more wattage would be better!

I have just added LED lighting. Really happy with it. And no heat problems.

As a rule of thumb…. wherever possible always use the same light you paint under for the area you play under. Fundamental light theory will tell you that changing the quality of your lighting will change the appearance of figures you have painted. This is most apparent for areas of flesh which are unforgiving if off by just a little bit.

A friend has just converted an outbuilding to a wargames room. He used inset LEDs, I think they are the 5000k type, with an output of about 400 to 450 lumens. The lights are spaced about a metre apart. I have similar lights in my kitchen; I thoroughly recommend this option, it gives a nice even light level, with colours rendered quite accurately.
Iinitial purchase price is fairly hefty, but my experience is that you save the cost of 10 LEDs in electricity within a year.

My gaming room is 20'x20' with a drop ceiling and 48" recessed lighting panels. The walls and ceiling are light colored with about 35-40% of the walls covered with medium stained oak woodwork.

I just updated to 5000k LEDs and installed three additional recessed lights (5000k 100w equivalent LED bulbs) over the actual table area to help eliminate any remaining shadows.

The result is fantastic with a constant bright light and no shadows. That makes photography of the games much easier as well as a noticeable general improvement.

After watching the electric bills for the last few months the cost savings on the LEDs have a 5-6 month payback. Everything after that is money in my pocket.

Good luck with your project!

What is the best lighting for a war games room?
Whatever is most complimentary to your shoes and make-up, of course.