How to Calculate Overhead Lighting for Pool Tables

The addition of a pool table in your home can add endless hours of entertainment and a unique, decorative flair. Selecting the pool table and placing it is one thing, but installing the right kind of lighting with the right overhang and proper clearance is another matter altogether. There are hundreds of types of overhanging pool table lighting systems available. However, there are some basic considerations that should be made before installing your light system.

Instructions

1

Measure the length of your pool table. Standard pool table sizes range among 7-foot, 8-foot and the regulation 9-foot tables.

2

Select a light system that is long enough to completely light the length of pool table that you have. The standard rule of thumb for pool table lighting is that a 7-foot table calls for a two-fixture light; an 8-foot table calls for a three-fixture light and a 9-foot table requires a four-fixture light.

3

Select bulbs that will provide even lighting across the pool table's surface. According to Billiards.com, fluorescent bulbs accomplish this goal the best. According to World Pool Billiard Association rules for billiard lighting, bed and rails of the table should get 520 lux, or 48-foot candles, of light at all points.

4

Suspend the lighting fixture so that the distance from the bottom of the lamp shade will be 36 to 42 inches above the pool table's surface. Have an assistant watch the light covering the table as the fixture is hung.