# Black light suggestions



## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: Hey Forum Peeps! Okay, so my goal for 2014 is to have my whole front porch hung with various ghosts of different sizes, different looks and the fabric will be soaked in RIT whitener so that when black light is applied, it will glow fantastically. But....I have to find a way to light up my whole front porch with black light to make it work. This is my porch...any ideas?








I was thinking four foot black lights on the back side of the four columns, but I didn't know if that would provide enough black light. Has anyone ever used a black light cannon and do you have an idea of how much that light that puts out? I have read that it will cover 40 feet in black light, but I want something that I can put on a timer so that at 5:30 pm the black lights come on and bathe the whole front porch in the glowing light, so it is waiting for me when I get home. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I fear this is going to be quite expensive, so I have to start now so that come October 1st, I'm not scrambling for black lights. Thanks for any suggestions or ideas and any information from your own experiences that you can give me.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

That will look awesome!
Good question...how do wash the entire front side of you very large house façade with UV? I don't know how it could be done cost effectively. The American DJ Canon blacklight spotlight (seen on Amazon) has 400 watts but they're 200 bucks a piece and you would need more than one. 

With the amount of props you want to illuminate it would be kind of tedious to light it individually. Your idea of using 4 foot uv fluorescents attached to the columns would be my first approach. If you have one then try it to see if it glows brilliantly enough from the street by hanging a white sheet from you window. I think the lights might need to be closer to the props to get a more intense effect but then again it might work.

Bottom line, 2 black light canon's on each side of the porch floor point upward towards the opposite side of the across the façade and 2 black lights stacked on each columns would probably do it. You might have to get a 2nd mortgage though!


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## HavenHaunt (May 17, 2013)

The Walmart by me has 48" light fixtures for $12 and 48" blacklights for $11. The fixtures hold (2) blacklights. They work great and light up a lot of space. I would suggest getting the them at Walmart before getting a cannon.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

You might consider going with a variety of blacklight sources, just like you might with regular light. I think it would make an overall neater effect than just a few sources blasting out a point source light.

I would probably make some 'uplight cans' with CFL blacklights, put one or two by each window and one on either side of the door. Then, use the 48" blacklight tubes behind the posts. Maybe hang a ghost or torn curtains in the windows and light them from below with 18" tubes. Depending on how much your house 'glows' in blacklight, it might be neat to have a blacklight 'spotlight' then have a 'claw' or hand cut out which casts a spooky shadow up on the house. Maybe even have some blacklight LEDs for lighting individual props.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:Wow, thanks guys! You have some really great suggestions. Thanks Lunatic, I was aware that this "vision" was probably going to cost a bit, but I have been saving since last year (I ducked out of 2013 decorating saving for my black light vision...) and your idea of the two cannons, hitting from opposite sides of the porch with maybe the filler lights behind the columns has crossed my mind. And thanks for the "heads up" Haven for the WalMart suggestion...seems like a good way to get the 4 foot blacklight fixtures for the columns, for not so much cash! And Corey, I love your idea of hiding fixtures behind "curtains" on the windows and using a variety of black light sources. Here's the thing, my house is not on the end of the block, so streetlights are not a big issue and when we cut our porch light off, it's pretty dark. I will start experimenting with black lights on my porch and try to get the best look for the least buck, and hopefully with the forum's help, I can realize my big goal of a black light bathed, ghostly front porch to wow and wonder all the little TOT's.....(and their parents...)


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Saw this one on amazon, too. No idea on there performance.


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## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

I couldn't help but notice that nobody mentioned the ADJ UV LED Par 64. They are a bit pricey but they work well. I usually pick up a few led par's at the local Guitar store through out the year and now have a pretty good inventory.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:Thanks Lunatic! I'll check that one out and R.Lamb I have no idea what an ADJ UV LED Par 64 is, but I will definitely being doing some research. Once again, I really do appreciate everyone's feedback. It is so nice to have people that are like minded to bounce ideas off of.


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## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

That would be the American DJ ultra violet par can 64.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

R. Lamb said:


> That would be the American DJ ultra violet par can 64.


:jol: Thanks! I googled it! Those look really cool, I'd love the see the light they put out.


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## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

Nice thing about the UV led is that they don't get hot and they are usually 50 watts or less and a bit more directional.


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## ibjeepin (Dec 6, 2008)

Lunatic said:


> That will look awesome!
> Good question...how do wash the entire front side of you very large house façade with UV? I don't know how it could be done cost effectively. The American DJ Canon blacklight spotlight (seen on Amazon) has 400 watts but they're 200 bucks a piece and you would need more than one.
> 
> With the amount of props you want to illuminate it would be kind of tedious to light it individually. Your idea of using 4 foot uv fluorescents attached to the columns would be my first approach. If you have one then try it to see if it glows brilliantly enough from the street by hanging a white sheet from you window. I think the lights might need to be closer to the props to get a more intense effect but then again it might work.
> ...


I agree two of those cannons would light up the entire house quite well. I have 4 of them and I have not found any other light that can do the same.


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## ibjeepin (Dec 6, 2008)

stagehand1975 said:


> Nice thing about the UV led is that they don't get hot and they are usually 50 watts or less and a bit more directional.


The largest single problem with UV LEDs is their spectrum which rarely is in the proper UV spectrum for proper glow. They are usually in the purple. I find it to be hit and miss.

Here is a really good small and cheap uv led light I was really impressed with it.

NEW Ultrafire Wf-501b G60 Uv 3w Ultraviolet LED Flashlight Torch - Basic Handheld Flashlights - [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@518FmZpMrPL


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

_*Okay Jana, not to be the joy kill here, but have you given any thought about you house being white as well. You're going to have white ghost against a white background (front of house) even with the black lighting, wouldn't it be hard to see the ghost on your porch? Unless you've changed the color of your home recently, but I'm assuming it's still white, right?

Maybe dying them in the Rit white dye, will make the difference that you need. But I know I've always had a problem with white on white showing up when using black lights. Everything tended to blend in because it was all white. I could be way off base here, but I had to put something darker against the white backdrop I was using for the decor I had to stand out! 
*_


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Rarely and hit and miss indeed!
You hit the nail on the head.
Very good advice.



ibjeepin said:


> The largest single problem with UV LEDs is their spectrum which rarely is in the proper UV spectrum for proper glow. They are usually in the purple. I find it to be hit and miss.
> 
> Here is a really good small and cheap uv led light I was really impressed with it.
> 
> NEW Ultrafire Wf-501b G60 Uv 3w Ultraviolet LED Flashlight Torch - Basic Handheld Flashlights - Amazon.com


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

More really good advice.
Nice thinking 



Troll Wizard said:


> _*Okay Jana, not to be the joy kill here, but have you given any thought about you house being white as well. You're going to have white ghost against a white background (front of house) even with the black lighting, wouldn't it be hard to see the ghost on your porch? Unless you've changed the color of your home recently, but I'm assuming it's still white, right?
> 
> Maybe dying them in the Rit white dye, will make the difference that you need. But I know I've always had a problem with white on white showing up when using black lights. Everything tended to blend in because it was all white. I could be way off base here, but I had to put something darker against the white backdrop I was using for the decor I had to stand out!
> *_


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

A thought from the cheap seats.
How about aiming the blacklight at fisheye mirror so that it, the mirror, disperses the light? With the light being on the same side of the mirror as the house itself, and the mirror facing the house, it should/would give you the same kind of visual "spread" or coverage as you see in the mirror. Obviously the more powerful the light source the better.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

The above was my former house with a full length front porch, though it was only one story and not two like yours. I lite the porch with a double tube four foot and four 18" tube fluorescent black lights and that was enough to make it feel like a black room at Spencer's. All the brightner treated ghosts glowed quite nicely, and I did not have a problem with the ghosts blending in with the house, which was light tan. I also limited ambient light on the porch which may have aided in the light color walls not impacting the visual affect. I also used individual black lights for ghossts that were not on the porch.

I would suggest 4' tubes inside of each column, and limiting ambient light. 2 light fixtures painted flat black and 4 foot black light tubes can be found at Home Depot and Lowe's. I also hit Spirit after Halloween for the 18" lights on clearance. These are ideal for individual ghosts.

Hope this helps!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

The ambient light issue can be a real challenge, for many of us, there are light sources that are out of our control (legally at least). e.g. Street lights, traffic/passing cars, TOTs flashlights, etc.
The more you can keep your haunt isolated from external lighting the better your potential effects.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

bobzilla said:


> More really good advice.
> Nice thinking


Unless the house is painted with the proper shade or type of paint it will only be dimly lit by the black-lights. If your ghosts and effects are black light reactive you shouldn't have any problems.


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom (Oct 20, 2008)

Explanation of Black Light and how it works as they say information is king.

The best UV lights in the industry will emit very little visible light to the naked eye as possible, the better the black light you have the less purplish light you will see.

Florescent, long tube style black lights are still the best bang for the buck unless you get LED or mercury vapor blacklights that have a guaranteed analysis sheet, very few companies give a true analysis sheet with they’re lights.

Black light / ultraviolet (UV) light with shorter wavelengths as seen on the scale below have more overall energy and a wider variety of materials will fluoresce (glow) under the shorter wavelengths of UV light.

The type of ultraviolet light and the color of visible light is determined by its wavelength. 
The unit of measurement for light wavelengths is the nanometer (nm). Ultraviolet light is generally considered to be from 200 nm to 400 nm. 

400nm is barely UV, and is right on the border of the visible light spectrum. 
Long wave UV light is the wavelength that familiar fluorescent blacklight bulbs produce.

It is safe in short term exposure, not harmful to the eyes in short term durations and will make fluorescent paints & markers light up brightly. It will also rapidly 'charge up' glow-in-the-dark materials instead of holding them under bright white light for long periods of time use a black light for a quick charge.

The purple glass, old school screw in incandescent light bulbs sold in novelty stores emit very little if any UV light, they pose more of a fire hazard than anything.

Long term exposure to a 300nm to 400nm will result in soar eyes or head aches, we do a lot of our work under black light and it’s common for a employee to wear sunglasses while working in the dark in our shop when doing a black light project as not only will eight hours of black light cause your eyes to hurt but if the sun hits you in the transition from blacklight to sunlight it can be painful. 

However, once you get into the short blacklight wavelengths (such as those under 300 nm) they have enough unseen dark energy that they will burn your eyes & skin ( which is exactly why they are used in high dollar not elcheapo tanning bed machines). 

The UV wavelength of 264 nm is known as 'germicidal' and this very short wavelength of UV light is the particular wavelength that will kill microorganisms, black light in this range is used to sterilize medical tools and surfaces.

When it comes to rating and comparing long tube style bulbs to get the best of the best consider these factors.

When the light is on how much non UV reactive stuff can I see?

How much wattage does the bulb use? 

What is the size / length of the bulb?

What other uses are they’re for black lights? 
Entry control at events with UV ink mark on patrons hands or tickets
Automotive leak detection using fluorescent dyes 
Detecting repairs in antiques, pottery, china, etc 
Insect hunting 
Law enforcement for detecting bodily fluids and UV strips on insignia badge ID's 
Product security QA for detecting authenticating strips on products 
Counterfeit bill detection as some bills are UV reactive
Lab & science experiments, sterilization, specialty marking,


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