Awww crap. Working fountains! noone said I could have a working fountain!!!
I love water features, built a big waterfall, pond and bridge in the back
yard.
Ok a couple of things
First, one bonus of multiple down lighting was that when I stuck my hands in
the room there were no discernable shadows preventing me seeing what I was
doing while I placed things.
Secondly, thanks for the advice from both Heb and Gerald. Seems I am on the
right track. If a grain of wheat bulb is about a 60 watt bulb true life,
what might be a 100 watt bulb?
Last, changing topics
Talk about Common Sense. After I placed a few toys in my light box to get an
idea of brightness I let my little girl ( one year five months ) have a play
to see what she did. Her solution to the toys strategically placed in the
box? Climb right on in and pull them all to the front. Ever seen a one year
old climb into a box 1"x1.5"x2"deep? Almost died laughing.
But now I can see that my carefully placed bedrooms on the upper floor will
have everything taken out of them and put into what I thought was going to
be the family room.
OH well, it's her toy I guess. And my lights performed well. The bulbs
quietly pushed up into the holder while she played (climbed in) and dropped
back down when she pulled out.
Very satisfying.
"Herb" wrote in message
. ..
Glen -
Based on "average" bulbs and an "average" dollhouse, Cir-Kit offers
a
"six-room" kit that includes a 10W, 12V transformer (if my memory of high
school
physics is correct, that's about 800 mA), or about 1.6 watts per room -
very
close to your estimate. But that won't account for flickering fireplaces,
working fountains, working ceiling fans, or faux-fluorescents that are
about an
inch long and eat up the power.
Overall, the big difference between a dollhouse and reality is that the
dollhouse is for looking AT, so you do what looks good from the outside.
It's the brightness of each individual bulb that matters, not the total -
too
bright and it will be glary and distracting. Too dim and it will look ...
too
dim. Illumination is NOT the goal - appearance is! You can't expect
overall
guidelines any more than you could get guidelines for oil painting.
That's why
your wife likes the look of your ceiling as is - because it LOOKS GREAT!
There are LOTS of basic instructions out there - particularly with regard
to
electrification. Books, web pages, and more. They're usually in terms of
lights
per room, and mA per bulb for rating transformer requirements.
You're building a scale model, so the thickness of your construction
materials
should be in scale, not measured for load-bearing. If you're building a
toy
rather than a scale model, then sturdiness becomes more important.
Anyway, time to go enjoy an Independence Day BBQ!
- Herb
Thanks Herb.
The huge array of lights in the test box was so I could turn some off
one at
a time (eight are switched) until I got down to what I want. Trouble is
the
missus saw them and just went "Oh I want them all" so I came looking for
some sort of guide lines so I could talk her out of some. Never mind.
I'm on a $300 pawer supply (don't ask) so if it's too bright I can turn
them
down.
Someone should come up with some guide lines though because, quite
frankly,
there really is little information out there for the absolute beginner
about
"how much of what" for anything. (that was general!) I mean, using mdf -
what thickness, picking a transformer - watts - ft2 (i say that because
if
your using 3v as some seem to bulbs become another issue again unless
you go
back to a general input rule.
With planes we say, generally, 50watts/pound, sport flying,
80watts/pound
aerobatic and 100-120watts 3d/pound . Now we have all sorts of
variations as
well but it's a starting point.
.
Just seems that the only way to learn is buy a kit. and that's not an
option
for all. (I've never bought a plane or boat kit, it's just me.) Ideally
I
look at some existing examples but that's proving harder than I thought
to.
Just missed the big Easter display because I didn't know it was on etc
etc.
Anyway. It's all fun and just toys in the end.
Just hope my little girl likes it!
"Herb" wrote in message
.. .
Glen Sayers wrote:
could you possibly check
http://www.allthingsmini.com/forum/i...9a7bd73eba7ee9
ad0&act=ST&f=28&t=1084
and make comment?
Well that didn't work
It worked just fine - because the URL is so long, it wrapped to another
line.
You have to cut and paste the url back together. A trick is to use
TINYURL
www.tinyurl.com that will create a very small, PERMANENT substitute url.
Here's the TinyURL equivalent to your link:
http://tinyurl.com/b5wry
but here's my question.
Now working on finalising lighting. There really don't seem to be any
written suggestions out there. i.e. watts per square foot seems a
logical
way to do it for me.
Ahh.. We have the engineering mind at work! 
It's not an engineering question, but one of artistic and human factors.
If you were an architect designing the lighting for a 1:1 scale house or
room
(i.e., a REAL one), you certainly wouldn't use some fixed ratio. You'd
consider
dozens of factors, such as
What's the room to be used for?
When is it to be used (at night or day)?
How good is the residents' eyesight?
What kind of ambiance is desired?
What color is the decorating scheme?
What is the purpose of the lighting? (Not to fall down when walking,
desk
work, watching TV, reading, cocktail parties, light shows)
What KIND of lighting - overall even, spotlighted areas,
Where is the lighting going to be placed?
How far away is it from the area to be lighted?
Are we talking about built-in lighting or separate fixtures?
For a dollhouse, some other factors:
Where will it be located - what's the lighting OUTSIDE of the house?
What's the purpose of the lighting? (Visibility, realism, decorative)
What kind of maintenance is needed or possible? There's nothing worse
than
tearing up floors and ceilings because a connection came loose.
What's the dollhouse for? - a plaything and a showpiece have vastly
different
needs.
The array of lights in your photo is very impressive - it may
overshadow
(pun
NOT intended) the content of the room.
Wattage isn't a measure of light, but of power. A 20 Watt fluorescent
bulb
produces the same amount of light output as a 60 Watt incandescent. If
you must
measure the light, you need to measure it in lumens or candlepower or
teraphotons per nanosecond or ...
small lights, low power = more lights to get up to a recommended
wattage.
One big light = watts in one hit.
What would you do in your own house or flat? Use one megawatt floodlight
or a
selection of well-placed smaller fixtures?
Can anyone suggest a starting point?
My conclusion is 1.73 watts/square foot would make an acceptable
starting
point.
Per square foot ... a pretty meaningless measure - what is being
lighted?
The
floor? And then where are the lights? If you're lighting the floor, you
need
more generated lumens if the lighting comes from the ceiling than if it
came
from table lamps - or in-the-floor panel lights
Yes I realize there are lots of variations like types of bulb but I'm
looking to a safe starting point.
There is none. Your basic judgement and instinct will be far better than
any
formula! What LOOKS right? We sometimes use a combination - hidden
lighting to
light up a room for being viewed, plus lamps and fixtures that don't
produce a
lot of light, for a realistic look.
- Herb