Looking for recommendations for attic lighting

[Lil'John]

Title states it but to expand a bit.

Quick house info:
House was built in the 40s/50s and is ~50 foot long and ~14 feet deep(funky shape for 700 square foot) The roof is a plain gable roof for the full 50 foot. No hips or valleys.

I'm in the process of doing a full house rewire and want to add a permanent lighting solution in the attic that goes full length. It will have a switch at the access hole which is ~15 foot from one end of the house.

Ideally, I'd like the lighting to be able to light up all spaces.

Is the "best" solution to do something like T-8s on both sides of the ridge?

How about LED ropes?

I won't say I'm NOT worried about initial cost or overall electric consumption. But from an electric consumption, it really isn't a huge deal because they aren't going to be used a lot(hopefully under 20 hours per year)

The initial cost while somewhat a criteria won't stop me from paying much more for the perfect solution. (Buy once, cry once)

 

[Mustang51js]

Rope light won't give you much light,I would do the t8 fixtures or a couple keyless fixtures with a spiral bulb in it.

 

[pattenp]

I have the keyless fixtures in my attic with CFL bulbs. That's the cheapest solution. Just don't place the lights where you can whack your head on them.

 

[rburke65]

I also would thing the keyless lamp holders with CFLs. Get the 200watt equivalents and they will be plenty bright by the time you crawl up there.

 

[87jeepwrangler]

I used those cheap incandescent ceramic bases and incandescent bulbs. They are reliable, bright and cheap. For as infrequently as they are on, I can't imagine they use more than a few pennies in power per year. I also ran outlets in my attic.

 

[The Cobbler]

I have 100 watt incandescent lamps . CFLs dont work very good in cold climate outdoors thus the incandescent . they run max 1 or 2 hr per year so no energy wasted by using them over CFL

 

[Lil'John]

Good point on the cold weather part.

I'm in the Sierra foothills and it does get cold.

Looks like I should consider plain incandescent lamps.

The exposed keyless lamp holders worries me a little bit because room is a bit tight in the attic and I'd worry about either burning myself on one or breaking a bulb.

Also good point on the outlets... adding that to my check list

 

[Mustang51js]

Good point on the cold weather part.

I'm in the Sierra foothills and it does get cold.

Looks like I should consider plain incandescent lamps.

The exposed keyless lamp holders worries me a little bit because room is a bit tight in the attic and I'd worry about either burning myself on one or breaking a bulb.

Also good point on the outlets... adding that to my check list

If it's tight up there then you could put the light on the side of the roof rafter so it doesn't stick down at all, you will lose light but could just add more to make up for it.

 

[gatchel]

If you just need some occasional lighting and you are concerned about breaking bulbs or bumping in to them use these. They will take a minute or so to heat up but....oh, and you don't need the occupancy sensor part. Just using the link for the picture

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ProductDetail.jsp?partnumber=9860-BL&section=39796&minisite=10251

 

[Vince1955]

Due to the changes in temperature, I'd have to agree with the incandescent lights. Depending on the placement of the light switch (near your access point), you may want to consider a switch the illuminates when turned on. The should help to reduce the amount of times the lights are accidentally left on and you can't tell because access doors are closed.

 

[Lil'John]

Thanks for all the input. It definitely gave me some ideas.

I think what I'm going to look into is a "clamp light" like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-75-Watt-Incandescent-Clamp-Light-CE-200PDQ/100354513

I am looking at putting a total of four in the attic on outlets spaced 10 foot from each other. The outlets will be on a switch.

New round of questions:
Is there any concern with leaving these up in an attic?

Does anyone know of a good quality version?

Lastly, does anyone see a problem with having these, plus three outside lights and a whole house fan on a single 15 amp circuit? Obviously, I would have the whole house fan off before flipping these on.

 

[87jeepwrangler]

In theory, it sounds good that you might have the whole house fan off when the lights are on, but if it's 140 degrees when you need to go up there, I guarantee you aren't turning the fan off.

Figure out the total wattage, and since it's a lighting/fan circuit (continuous duty), make sure total draw is less than 80% of the rated breaker. If not, upsize the wiring and breaker, or split it between two circuits. Offhand, I'm guessing the load is too much for a 15 amp circuit.