But you're right about the toilet thing. Some people do actually collect them. Try looking it up on YouTube there are thousands of videos

@sol, even though I definitely have no problem with anyone seeing my lighting collection (not much of a collection as of now,
but almost all of my lighting gets used) I never talk on and on about it to those that aren't lighting enthusiasts like us.
I tend to keep that conversation really short by changing the subject indirectly, mid conversation.
@Dischargecraze, you aren't the only one that had a fascination with toilets. I did too... but the funny thing is I was also VERY
scared of toilets as well. (Overflowing) I don't understand why this was the case throughout my childhood, but normally when something
scared me, I eventually developed a fascination for it. Severe/tornadic thunderstorms. Tornado sirens. (ESPECIALLY Whelen 3016 and Whelen 4004)
Michael Jackson's Thriller, and Beat It. (Both songs scared me as a kid)
And then there are a couple more examples but I can't remember them.

Like many others here, I don't intentionally let my collection show, but it becomes apparent if you were to visit my home and most friends know about it and even give me stuff or ask me questions, i.e can I use this lamp/ballast together?  I wouldn't say I'm embarassed but I do find it awkward when random people ask or I have to explain it to them or even tell someone what lamp/ballast combo will work, yet even in person with lighting enthusiasts (for instance, I have a friend in real life who is a LG member) I could talk for hours about lighting, since they know their stuff. 

I honestly have yet to meet a lighting enthusiast in person. It's never happened... but I assure you if it
ever did happen, I would talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk about lighting until I can't talk
anymore. I have met motorcycle enthusiasts though, and of course I talk non-stop about that, much like how
I would if it were a conversation about lighting.
That being said, although I don't talk about lighting to those that aren't lighting enthusiasts like us, I DO talk
about it non stop to my younger brother, who always visits my apartment. There's even a time I've actually scared
him a tad when I got him to watch an EOL show. Now that was hilarious.

Then I'll be the more extreme type that hides the collection at this time

When I get somewhere permanent I hope to have a shed or garage to put my stuff on display. But I won't stack everything up to the ceiling, I want it nice and tidy.

Then I'll be the more extreme type that hides the collection at this time

When I get somewhere permanent I hope to have a shed or garage to put my stuff on display. But I won't stack everything up to the ceiling, I want it nice and tidy.

Good plan if the lights are a few inches from ceiling you can see the lighting in the ceiling.. I think this would make for a good episode of hoarders the light edition unless you also start collecting ballasts....  I can see it now, the camera crew needs some more lighting and your there rigging it up for them .. 

just bugging .. keep it neat and tidy and the other half will allow you to get more interesting items and you'll get less nagging, and get them some lighting as well, you can get those neon lights that say "I love you" with a little heart in the background, they like things like that, and you get another light bulb glowing softly in the corner of the room... 

Nah. I don't care what people think of me. I even post lighting stuff on Facebook, my non lighting friends can see it too LOL.

I have now put some lamps on a wooden shelf in my room. A SOX lamp in it's socket horizontally and a MV bulb vertically. I figured I might just do it because the collection is going to show up sometime sooner or later.

I keep all my T12s packed in boxes in my closet along with the rest of my hopes and dreams. Theres a few assorted fixtures in there and then in front of the door is 2 troffers, some wraplights and 2 louvered lights, with a couple of media projectors on top of all that. I have a few more 1x4 troffers in my own bathroom along with a few full cases of T8 tubes and in the basement I have more fixtures piled on the top shelf with my wallpacks in a cup board and my 2 yard blasters in a lower cup board. I have a few boxes of various new HID ballasts in my room on a shelf. Also theres a cupboard in my room on the floor filled right up with mostly 2xF40, 1xF40 and several 2x32 magentic ballasts.

My girlfriend knows all about my lighting and has no issue at all, even her parents. I've helped them out with lighting even, introduced LED lamps to them.  My family knows and is okay with it, my dad even helps me pick up lights and drive them home etc. He'll find me fixtures once in a while from his work, usually pepsi signs and such from commercial places hes serviced.

As for friends, only the few I keep in touch with regularly know about it and one of them keeps a lookout for me too, other people i know probably know to a degree about my hobby but I don't really talk to many people and I kinda dislike most of the people i have on facebook. I don't use it much and rarely post. Never lighting.

My other hobbies are computers, electronics repair, a bit of audio/video (Im the guy often asked to hook up a tv or something) and i like collecting receivers and speakers. i also do some electrical but just for myself, not licensed so i wont touch anything for anyone else and i keep things small.

I also like fans, and have taken a recent interest in old table top fans with the coloured blades and the medallions in the middle of the cage. Also included is ceiling fans and even propellers on airplanes and i just love the sound they make when they change pitch while running.

I also have interest in how toilets work and as a kid i have always tried making miniature ones out of containers and bendy pipes and would enjoy playing with that in the tub 'flushing' random items in it until the water got cold lol. Some day i may collect one or two toilets but likely just when I'm going to actually install them.

It's amazing how a lot of fellow lighting enthusiasts seem to have the same interests as me, as well as interests
that aren't quite necessarily the same but very close. And it's awesome your girlfriend knows and supports your lighting interest.

Nah I dont hide it, I bolt all kinds of random fixtures all over the outside of my house. I just got 4 LSI 400w MH parking lot shoebox fixtures to figure out what to do with...

The folks at work see me somewhat like a "mad scientist" because of my open fascination and experimentation with lighting. However, when they do have lighting questions about either work related or personal, they come to me to ask them. Thats kinda nice.

my room has lighting stuff, along with other misc weirdness scattered about, im not really one to care what others think.

Nobody in here except me and the other half to worry about it..! We don't get all that many visitors and those we do get don't seem to take much notice. Although I think my wife is getting the bug, she correctly identified a SOX streetlamp we saw the other day..!

At first, I would not go out of my way talk about my lighting stuff or my interest because I was concerned that most people just wouldn't understand since it's a highly specialized area of interest.  I just kind of kept it to myself and enjoyed my unique interest myself without talking about it much with my family or friends.  However, when I discovered this website, I found out that there are many others from many walks of life with one interest in common, lighting  This LG website has been a God sent to me and has helped me feel so much more secure with my lighting interest.  I have certainly learned a lot about many different lighting technologies here too.

I am much more open about my interest now, with a shelf in my closet devoted to my stash of incandescent light bulbs, and decorations such as antique lamps and a neon sign in my room.  I am really open with my best friend from college and everyone in my family about my lighting interest and my desire to go to graduate school for lighting design next year.  This site has really helped me embrace my lifelong interest and passion for lighting, thank you!

Lighting is awesome. It's also an opportunity to show unique talents. (Camera shots, video editing, etc) Everyone is different, I get
that, but I see 0 reason for me to hide my interest in lighting from people.
LG is awesome to me too for the same reason... meeting others with the same interest in lighting, from ALL walks of life