Installing light and power to my loft

[mcaville]

I've been reading through the Wiki on electrics and feel that I now have a very basic understanding of different types of lighting circuits, but I still feel as though i need too ask for some advice.

I live in a 2 bedroom Victorian terrace house that has definitely been re-wired some time in the last 15 years, and has a modern consumer unit. I would like to install a switched fluorescent light in my loft, as well as a 2-gang plug socket.

First the lights:

From the consumer unit (in the cupboard under the stairs), the wiring for the upstairs lights runs through surface mounted conduit, through the ceiling into a built in cupboard on the first floor. It then continues in surface mounted conduit up the wall and into the loft (the access point to the loft is within the same cupboard). There are 3 flat grey cables that run through this conduit, and once in the loft, each one runs to one of the 3 lights on the first floor.

As this doesn't seem to follow any of the diagrams in the wiki, can i assume that each light is on its own individual circuit? If so, will it be easier to wire the new loft light directly in to the consumer unit, or should just extend one of the lighting circuits to include the new loft light? Or have I got this all completely wrong? Any advice would be helpful.


Power:

Not really sure where to begin with this. In the bedroom that contains the cupboard with the loft access point, there is a 2-gang socket on the wall just outside this cupboard. The consumer unit is in the kitchen cupboard directly below. The first floor sockets all run from the same breaker. Again, any advice on how i would go about doing this would be gratefully received.

Many thanks,

Martin

 

[Chri5]

It would be unusual to have three feeds to three lights going back to the fuse board.

Are you sure that all three are LNE for each light, might a couple of the cable be switch wires to operate the lighting?

Anyway, you should be able to find a LNE on the lighting in the ceiling / loft floor. Use some TE 1.0 mm or 1.5 mm and run to the intended switch location for the new light, then run a cable to the light fitting position.

In the switch back box, join the neutrals, join the cpc / earths and via the switch you will terminate the L and switched L.

As for the socket, take a single cable TE 2.5mm from the most convenient socket (sounds like the one by the cupboard) and run that in to the loft as a spur socket. Wiring a socket like this will limit you to just that socket. If you might want more than one, you will need to run 2x cables from the socket downstairs and as such extend the ring circuit.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There are 3 flat grey cables that run through this conduit, and once in the loft, each one runs to one of the 3 lights on the first floor.

I wonder who did that, and why....

can i assume that each light is on its own individual circuit?

No.

But you can look to see if you have 3 breakers, 1 per light, in the CU. If you do then you have 3 circuits. If they all originate from one breaker then you have one circuit, no matter what the cable topology is.

If so, will it be easier to wire the new loft light directly in to the consumer unit,

No.

or should just extend one of the lighting circuits to include the new loft light?

Yes.

In the bedroom that contains the cupboard with the loft access point, there is a 2-gang socket on the wall just outside this cupboard. The consumer unit is in the kitchen cupboard directly below. The first floor sockets all run from the same breaker.

Is the socket circuit a ring, or a radial?

If it's a ring, is this socket on it, or is it a spur?


If the socket is on the ring you can either extend the ring into the loft, or run a spur. If it's a radial you can just branch off into the loft.

If it's an unfused spur you may not supply a further socket from it unless you first put an FCU before it.

Again, any advice on how i would go about doing this would be gratefully received.

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