Got any ideals?

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kevinware

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Louisville, KY
I have been asked if I could install some type of lighting in some dormers on a large house. The owner want's it to look like an upstairs, and they asked to have it on a switch by the front door. The only issue I have is having to climb on this very steep roof to have access the dormer area. There is a small scuttle to the attic but this is on the other side of the house and I would have to walk to the dormer area through the attic on the other side of the house and still climb a ladder to get to the dormer area, which the owner is frowing on at this point. Has anyone out there installed lighting for this area before and if so how did you complete this task? I have thought about a switched receptacle and then I thought about trying to find some kind of solar lighting fixture that could be placed in the dormer and have the small solar panel mounted outside. Do they make such a fixture?

Thanks for your opinions,

Kevin

Sorry for any spelling errors, I haven't found spell check yet :lol:
 
I assume these are dormers in an unoccupied attic area that the owner wants to illuminate to make the windows look like it is an occupied area.

Sounds like you are making a big deal out of this. You are going to have to access them by whatever means possible however I would much prefer an interior attack.

I don't know why you would want to consider solar, it seems to me that an incandescent fixture, probably something cheap like a porcelain keyless and a 40 watt bulb will do the trick.

The bigger trick will be for the owner to provide curtains and maybe a backdrop of some sort so from outside you won't just see the inside of an attic.

-Hal
 
The line from the movie Point Break stuck with me about surfing being for little rubber people who don't shave yet. At 6'0" and 250 lbs., my helper is one of the little rubber people. Definately a job for the helper.

Mark
 
hbiss said:
Sounds like you are making a big deal out of this. You are going to have to access them by whatever means possible however I would much prefer an interior attack.

I don't know why you would want to consider solar, it seems to me that an incandescent fixture, probably something cheap like a porcelain keyless and a 40 watt bulb will do the trick.

Gotta agree. A long attic crawl is better than a steep roof climb, anytime. I also agree with the keyless, exept I would perfer a compact fluorescent.
 
I don't think they'll like the neighborhood seeing their attic, which is what will happen if you just mount a bare bulb up there.

Have done something similiar to this before...use an old theater technique:
-Build a box, painted matte white on the inside that will cover the window and then some. Make it at least a foot deep, 2 feet if possible. Leave about a foot of box below the window sill.
-Now, mount a T-8 strip fixture on the bottom of the box. Don't forget an access door of some sort for fixture maintenance. If the owner wants curtains, that will make it look a LOT better. Get some that will let a lot of light through them
-The better you seal the box, the less cobwebs and stuff you will have on the curtains in the long run
-Get some filter tubes for the flourescents for the holidays!

FWIW- Whatever you do, use a flourescent fixture: For energy savings, and for the long life. If you don't want to crawl up there to install this, the owner won't want to crawl up and change the bulbs every 750 hours of use (incan bulb life). Flourescent is 10,000-20,000 hours, and much more efficient. Oh, also, consider putting a photocell ahead of your switch to prevent daytime operation and give a dusk-dawn "auto" setting.
mike
 
If you want to use an incandescent use a 130volt bulb and then dim it to lower the system voltage. That baby will last forever, so you wont have to climb up there so much.
 
safety

safety

If the attic is the safe route, why would the HO prevent you from using it? Have them rent you a boom lift. A grip of $ for a little lighting. I have crawled across entire attics from the "only scuttle we have" to find one right where I needed it. Reckon the HO didn't realize I could actually see it from the attic! Whatever you do don't kill yourself, or your helper, because an HO doesn't want you in their attic.
 
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