Baizewick guide
Games-room lighting: pool tables, darts and table tennis
Light the playing area evenly, with no hard shadows and no glare in players’ eyes. Plan it before you plaster, while cables are still easy to run.
What good games-room lighting does
- It lights the whole playing surface evenly, cushions and corners included.
- It keeps glare out of players’ eyes, both direct and reflected off the balls or table.
- It casts no hard shadows from players, cues or darts across the target.
- It stays out of reach of raised cues, bats and heads.
Lighting a pool or snooker table
Hang a dedicated table light over the centre of the table. Its shades should point the light down onto the cloth. A fitting with two to four shades suits most pool tables, and long canopy-style fittings suit snooker tables.
The light should cover most of the playing area, so check the corners as well as the middle.
Hang it high enough to clear cues and heads. It should still be low enough that the shades hide the bulbs from players standing at the table. Many fittings hang with the bottom of the shades about 75–90 cm above the playing surface.
Follow the fitting maker’s guidance. Then check from a player’s eye level before you fix the final height. The table light height calculator works out the drop for your ceiling.
Lighting a dartboard
A single ceiling light behind the thrower casts the player’s shadow onto the board. Light from the side makes the darts cast shadows across the segments.
A ring light fitted around the board fixes both problems. So does a light mounted above and in front of the board.
Lighting for table tennis
Table tennis needs even light over the table and over the space behind each end, where players step back. Avoid bright windows or lamps behind either player, because they make the ball hard to follow.
Keep pendant lights high enough to stay clear of lobs and high balls.
Choosing bulbs and colour
| Choice | What to consider |
|---|---|
| Colour temperature | Many players prefer neutral white light because it shows cloth and ball colours accurately. Very warm light can make similar colours hard to tell apart. |
| Brightness | You want to see the balls clearly in every corner, with no dark patches. Dimmable general lighting lets you soften the rest of the room. |
| Diffusers and shades | These cut glare and hide bare bulbs. |
| LED | LED fittings run cooler and use less energy, which helps over a long session. |
General room lighting
Put general lighting on its own switch or dimmer, separate from the table light.
Seating areas, bars and scoreboards need their own light. That way spectators can see without spilling uneven light across the table area.
Wiring and safety
Plan where pendant fittings, switches and sockets will go before you decorate. Fittings must be fixed securely to the ceiling structure.
New circuits and fixed wiring should be installed by a qualified electrician.