4x Spot Lights ?

[richard1600]

ok, so having the kitchen moved from back of house to front, thats all booked for mid march, with an electrician to sign off for main appliances etc.

my question is, the room has a normal 1x light in the middle of the ceiling, but wife wanted spot lights so she went out and brought them,,,

its a pack of 4, how are these wired up? i mean is it 4 seperate lines from the ring main. or can i somehow use the original light cabling??

thx

 

[sparkwright]

ok, so having the kitchen moved from back of house to front, thats all booked for mid march, with an electrician to sign off for main appliances etc.

my question is, the room has a normal 1x light in the middle of the ceiling, but wife wanted spot lights so she went out and brought them,,,

its a pack of 4, how are these wired up? i mean is it 4 seperate lines from the ring main. or can i somehow use the original light cabling??

thx

Don't know how they are wired up.

Are they 230 v or 12 v?
Do they come with lengths of cable?
Any of it pre-wired?

They need to be wired to the lighting circuit.

Can you let your electrician deal with this when the rest of the work is carried out?

 

[richard1600]

they are 240v,,, they dont come with wiring apart from 2 terminals on the light unit themselves, basically, i could disconnect original room light and put 1x spot light up using the wiring in the cieling already,,

the electrician is already getting a fortune out of me, so dont want to have to pay more for a light...

 

[sparkwright]

they are 240v,,, they dont come with wiring apart from 2 terminals on the light unit themselves, basically, i could disconnect original room light and put 1x spot light up using the wiring in the cieling already,,

the electrician is already getting a fortune out of me, so dont want to have to pay more for a light...

But you have 4 new lights.

The ceiling light you have already is probably in the middle and will need re-positioning.

You would therefore need to pull existing wiring back to a new light position. If you have many cables you will need to fit a junction box at the new position. Carefully note how they were connected and do the same at the new junction box. From here run a 1.0 or 1.5 mm twin and earth cable to next light, from there to next light, from there to next light.
If you struggle getting two sets of cables into the fittings use a junction box above each light, with a short cable to the fitting.

Use earth sleeving on the bare earth wires and connect them all up, even if the fitting doesn't require them. Do not cut them off.

Do not fit lights too close to joists.
Ensure wiring doesn't lay on top of lights.

 

[richard1600]

i have alot of new wire as it is,, had to redo most the house,, basically your saying wire them in series, so from 1 light to the next, to the next,,,

 

[sparkwright]

i have alot of new wire as it is,, had to redo most the house,, basically your saying wire them in series, so from 1 light to the next, to the next,,,

From one light to the next, to the next, yes; but that's not actually in series

 

[Taylortwocities]

As you are doing this work yourself, in a special location.
You must notify the local authority BEFORE you start any work. You'll have to pay a fee.
See the WIKI for details on the legalities of this.

Might be better to use your electrician (assuming he is reistered ).


Now, are you going to see anything in the kitchen with only four directional, narrow beam torches lighting up, well, the floor?
You are replacing a reasonably efficient 60watt light source with 200watts of hopeless light.

So thats more than three times the amount of electricity used for a negative benefit - brilliant (if you'll excuse the pun).

 

[ban-all-sheds]

with an electrician to sign off for main appliances etc.

The electrician has to design and install all of the electrics for the kitchen, not just "sign off for main appliances" (whatever that means).

is it 4 seperate lines from the ring main.

Why would you want them on a socket circuit?

Would the switch just do those, or other lights too? If the latter are you aware of the rules for having more than one circuit in a switch?

the electrician is already getting a fortune out of me, so dont want to have to pay more for a light...

So when are you going to install these lights?

And what is your objection to paying someone who knows how to do it when you clearly aren't there yet? How much extra would it be on top of all the other work the guy will be doing?

i have alot of new wire as it is,, had to redo most the house

Who did this rewiring?

What design work was done, what testing was done, and what certificates were issued? Was Building Regulations approval obtained?

 

[richard1600]

i removed all wiring and connections, and sockets and everything including the kitchen sink and i have rewired everything brand new as per regs, and all is certified. i am an electical and electronical engineer and have studied electricity for many years,
no i am not a "sparky" thus had to spend along time learning regs and how household electrics should be done, which has all been checked and certified by qualified electrican. (he inspected in stages and gave advice)

my question was simply whats the score with these 4x spot lights. was not expecting to be patronised, although i understand its something most people should "play" with,
it was a job i wanted to do today instead of waiting til next week to bother my electrian with. thats all guys,,,

 

[ban-all-sheds]

how are these wired up? i mean is it 4 seperate lines from the ring main.

basically your saying wire them in series

i am an electical and electronical engineer and have studied electricity for many years

i have rewired everything brand new as per regs,

Building Regulations, or Wiring Regulations?

and all is certified.

Did someone certify to Building Control that they did the work, and it was all in compliance with the Building Regulations? Did someone sign an EIC to day that they did the design and construction?

was not expecting to be patronised

I wasn't patronising you - I made a straightforward observation that, based on the things you were asking and saying, I didn't think you were up to doing electrical installation work.

And I still find it hard to reconcile you being an electrical and electronic engineer, and having studied how houses are wired, and having actually rewired a house with hands-on assistance from a qualified electrician with you thinking that lights go on a ring main and should be wired in series, but there you go.