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Lighting for a big woody

Original Post
Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

Soon I will be finished framing the woody in my spare building, but before I start putting the plywood on I have to figure out the lighting situation. Right now I am thinking to put various flood lights around shining on the walls. My question though is how bright does it need to be? How many total lumens should I plan for? The building is 864 square feet of floor space, with approximately 768 square feet of actual climbing surface (24 sheets of ply), including a three sided cave with a roof. Please reference my last five pics for an idea. :) Any help will be appreciated, thanks so much

rock-fencer · · Columbia, SC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 265

I'd get some relatively cheap work stand lights from harbor freight. They are like 1000 watts each per stand. Get two to start you off with

Hanging fluorescents are pretty cheap too

Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

Hanging fluorescents are not an option because of the design of the wall, basically every surface is climbable so the lights need to be small and not easily breakable (in case they get kicked). LED floodlights fit the bill but they are expensive, so I am trying to figure out how many I would have to buy to adequtely illuminate the walls. The stand lights are a good idea to start though, very bright and cheap and not permanent. Still trying to figure out the permanent solution...

John Byrnes · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 392
Tavis Ricksecker wrote:... Still trying to figure out the permanent solution...
We used simple recessed "can" fixtures in each side-wall with standard floodlights. You'll need to cut a 6" hole in the climbing surface for each one. Mount them high on the wall, so they illuminate the opposite wall.

For the cave, use a standard "dome" fixture(s) that takes two bulbs.

We had excellent results. Good illumination and we never had a broken light due to someone kicking them.

Oh BTW, if you can put a skylight in, facing south, it makes a huge difference in both light (in daytime) and warmth.

Recessed "can" mounted high on the wall.

Dome fixture in the ceiling and another can in the background. You can see bright light coming in from the skylight, too.
Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

I like that solution, it looks like a good design. I ordered enough of these to light the place up:



Mounting them recessed in the actual walls seems feasible. Do I need to run conduit put a new junction box for each light? I currently have three boxes around the area each coming from a separate switch. It would be awesome to run all the lights from the three switches.
Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766

What's up Tavis! I climbed with you in Rock Creek a while back. Lots of fun. I noticed that using spit lights can really lights some things up more than others and cause a glare especially on overhangs when your looking backwards at your next holds. I used Led Christmas lights on one of my super overhanging wall to add to the lumens without any glare. I just stapled them on all the edges of my wall

Old wall
Or you can get all artsy with some track lighting.

New wall

Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766

Carefull of those led spot lights. They really are just "spot" lights. There's no diffuser on the lens so the ambiant light is horrible. It really does just light up the area that you point them at and not much else so test them out before you try to cut them into your wall. I'm a fully licenced electrician as well so if you want to give me a call about wiring them up my number is 8057984715.

Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

Sweet! Thanks Jon! Good to hear from you, I will drop you a line when its time to mount them up :) These have a 120 degree beam angle so I think they will be pretty diffuse? Anyway, will try them out :)

Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766

Did you ever send Blood Brothers?

Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

LOL nope I still haven't. Haven't tried it since October probably. Had a good fall season then got hurt falling off Pope's Prow a month or so again, still slightly injured so I'm investing my time in future training apparatus. Will be back cranking as soon as this wall is done :)

Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280

Rope lights. Get a few 18 ft. sections and link together. White for brightest, blue or red for a nice mood. We light up a totally huge ice formaion outdoors with rope lights and it glows enough to climb without headlamps most nights. Indoors should be even better.

TBlom · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2004 · Points: 360

'Can' lights get very hot. Make sure you build in the required air space and ventilation around the can. Most require 1.5" away from combustible material, but the packaging should say.

You do not need conduit for electrical wire (aka Romex), as long as the wire is running behind your walls. You do need junction/fixture boxes anywhere there is a connection or splice to meet code. (ie, a light fixture will usually have a plastic or metal junction box that houses the connections.)

Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

Sweet, thanks man. All the lighting that I bought is LED, not halogen, so the bulbs themselves will be cool. I'm not sure about the ballasts though, I notice the ballasts have cooling fins on them so I think they may run warm but not hot like halogen. Anyone have experience with this?

Tavis Ricksecker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,246

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7x30w LED floods. They are mounted such that they are recessed by ~1/4" from where the surface of the ply is going to go. Ordered some prismatic lexan diffuser material to screw onto the ply over the tops to protect them, and to protect our eyes. These puppies are BRIGHT

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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