Dartboard lighting

Dartboard Light

In the design of the basement layout we knew we wanted to make a space for a dartboard.  For safety we wanted it to be out of the main walkways.  We also wanted flexibility in the room layout so we could move things around over time.    More importantly, the flexiblity allowed us to move forward with construction without feeling like we had to have the design perfect.

We settled on three potential locations for the dartboard that allows for two different placements of a pool table.    At each location, we wanted an outlet (for an electric dartboard game) as well as a light.  While this may sound wasteful, the costs were minimal since I supplied the labor.    For the two extra locations, I needed four boxes (two outlets, two lights), two combination switch/outlets,  20 feet of wire, and 2 lights.   The material cost is about $70, $50 of it for lights.

The first light configuration we looked at was a recessed low voltage light.    It was low profile and had several degrees of adjustment, but it was also very pricey, about $200.    Next I considered track lighting.  I figured with one or two lights on a two foot track I could provide low cost, shadow free lighting.  But I just am not thrilled with how the track looks on the ceiling.

I found that they make a canopy into which you can install a single track light.  The canopy was about $10 and I found a light I liked for about $15.  It works well and I like the look.

Those darn miniature Christmas lights!

Last week the family decided to surprise me by getting the holiday decorating kicked off.  So in addition to setting out cheery Christmas decorations inside, my daughter strung miniature Christmas lights around the deck.  This is something we have been doing together for years now and has become one of our traditions.

Normally I check the lights before putting them up.  But since I wasn’t there to help, this step got skipped.  Unfortunately, of six strings, only about half of three of them were working.   She was pretty disappointed.

For the last couple of years, I’ve given up on trying to fix light strings.  They’re pretty inexpensive, so when they don’t work, I toss and replace them.   Given that I didn’t really want to take all the lights down, I bought a LightKeeper Pro based on a recommendation from a co- worker.

I was pretty skeptical, but I found one on Amazon marketplace and ordered it on Saturday.  It arrived Monday (great delivery time) and I tried it out.  You just plug the light string into the tool and pull the trigger a few times.    Darned if it didn’t fix three quarters of the lights  on the first shot!

I did have to replace two strings that had some kind of a short in them.   In addition to the quick fix feature, the LightKeeper tool has a bulb and fuse tester and a voltage continuity tester.  It really worked great.  I’m not big on gimmicky tools, but I can highly recommend this one.  Check out http://lightkeeperpro.com.