Installing a halogen lamp in my loft...

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Decided that seeing as I am planning on doing some plumbing work up in my loft soon I will install the loft light I have been planning on for the last 2 years!

I was thinking that in order to provide plenty of light I would like to install a 500W halogen floodlight. Now, whilst this would be somewhat overkill for a sitting room I reckon it would be great for seeing exactly where I am putting my feet and checking I have done things correctly.

In order to wire this into my lighting circuit I was thinking I would install a junction box and spur off the lighting ring (the "How To" section suggests this).

How to wire the floodlight in poses a problem though. Screwing a ceiling rose to the joist and using that to provide connections for switching seems logical, but for 500W? Is there something more appropriate I can use?
 
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Could I possibly use a junction box of some type perhaps? I was just thinking, if there are three sets of terminals each able to hold 3 conductors, it could be used... any thoughts or suggestions?
 
I would urge you NOT to put a 500W halogen in your loft, the heat they produce is a serious hazard shoul;d the light be inadvertantly be left on, the light is so intense that at close range it can damage your eyesight, and if you walk into it it could leave a nasty burn.

The ideal light for this situation would be a fluorescent, 1500mm single or twin fittings are more than sufficient for this purpose, bear in mind that a 1500mm 58W fluorescent lamp is equivilent to a 220 Tungsten Halogen lamp, requires less maintenance and uses less energy. It also does not present a significant fire hazard.

The easiest way to power this light, which ever you decide, would be to find the light point nearest you loft hatch, probably your upper hallway/landing, drop the rose down and run a cable from this to the position you wish to locate the switch, then run a cable from this point to the light position. If you use a DOUBLE POLE switch, so it breaks both live and neutral, then you need only run a sinlge cable from the switch to the fitting, it is perfectly safe and acceptable to do it that way for a loft light.
 
I had thought about the heat, hadn't considered it being left on inadvertently... fluorescent is the way to go then!

Problem with the rose suggestion is that all the nearby lights are on batten fittings and thus not very practical to wire into.

Is it ok to break into the lighting mains with a juntion box, then run a cable from this to a double pole switch, then run a single cable from switch to fluorescent light fitting then?
 
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AdamW said:
I had thought about the heat, hadn't considered it being left on inadvertently... fluorescent is the way to go then!

Problem with the rose suggestion is that all the nearby lights are on batten fittings and thus not very practical to wire into.

Is it ok to break into the lighting mains with a juntion box, then run a cable from this to a double pole switch, then run a single cable from switch to fluorescent light fitting then?

You can do it as you are asking, batten fittings are just as easy to connect into as cieling roses.

The one thing you need to ensure if you go the junction box method is this.

The Power is OFF and you have identified a feed between lights. If you inadvertently connect into a switch line then the loft light will not work.

Ensure that the Earth is sleeved in the JB and that they are connected INSIDE the JB and is continued throught the switch to the fitting.
 
Thanks for the info FWL, off I go to buy the necessary parts.
 
If your loft has little headroom, you could consider buying an anticorrosive, which is all enclosed. If ou knock into it, the lamp will survive, and even if it doesn't the breakage is contained by the cover.
 
In the end I installed a junction box, took a double-pole switch from that to a 5 foot fluorescent tube. In terms of breakage I put it where it lights up the loft but isn't liable to be headbutted when I am clambering around! I am fortunate to have a loft that is 7-8 feet high at the apex so it should be safe.

Still I think I am going to fit a plastic diffuser cover over it just to be on the safe side: I used to have to throw old tubes in a dumpster as a teenager working Saturdays in a DIY shop and the powder they throw out is probably no good for ones lungs and eyes when they break!
 
AdamW said:
In the end I installed a junction box, took a double-pole switch from that to a 5 foot fluorescent tube. In terms of breakage I put it where it lights up the loft but isn't liable to be headbutted when I am clambering around! I am fortunate to have a loft that is 7-8 feet high at the apex so it should be safe.

Still I think I am going to fit a plastic diffuser cover over it just to be on the safe side: I used to have to throw old tubes in a dumpster as a teenager working Saturdays in a DIY shop and the powder they throw out is probably no good for ones lungs and eyes when they break!

Actually the Magnesium Sulphate coating inside Fluorescent tubes is highly toxic and can kill in large enough quantities.
 
All lamps these days can be disposed of correctly in a special lamp crusher, and some wholesalers have collection bins for them.
 

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