Loft Lighting - A few simple Qs

VimtoIOW · 26 Mar 2010

Hi all, just doing what I thought would be a simple job of adding a couple of lights to the loft (in thory batten lampholder onto rafter, energy saver bulbs, one either end of loft.)

1. The header tank is in the middle of the room. Am i safe and within regs to run a cable above the tank (about a foot clearance), or do I need to give it a wide berth.

2. Using a batten, the bulb is fairly close to the roof felt, how close am i safe to get without causing issues?

Thx

Tim

wingcoax · 26 Mar 2010

If your cable is secured i dont see a problem. Can you mount the batten at right angles to the felt? if so no prob.

ColJack · 26 Mar 2010

you'd be much better off with a / couple of 5ft single fluorescent lights up there.. ( presumably it's just for storage? )..
get the IP ones if you can ( damp up there and all that.. )
as long as the cable if securely fixed and unlikely to be damaged, then you can run it where you like..
presumably the actual connections are not in a position where they are likely to get splashed?

VimtoIOW · 26 Mar 2010

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

I would have liked to put a floruescent in but it's a bit tight up there with the tanks in and everything, would be somewhat awkward, hence the 2 lights rather than one.

The connections are no-where they should get water anywhere near so should be fine and the cable will be clipped securely to the centre joist above the tank so it wont budge.

I'll place the bulbs off of a rafter rather than the centre joist to give slightly better clearance to the felt based on your advice.

I'll let you know how it went when I'm done.

Steve · 26 Mar 2010

Think twice before banging nails in under tiles.

Preference is always screws.

333rocky333 · 26 Mar 2010

A batten holder mounted horizontally with a low energy lamp in tends to fail.
The weight causes the lamp to stoop down and the contact poor, sometimes causing it to go off.

They make an angled batten holder for that purpose.

ColJack · 26 Mar 2010

freaky idea... see if there are any cheap white rope lights going, the kind they put up at x-mas.. not the flashing kind obviously..

stick that up..

Lectrician · 27 Mar 2010

I wouldn't use energy savers. They don't like the cold too much for a start.

They take a while to warm up, and by the time they have you will be back down and the ladders packed away.

Some standard GLS lamps would be my choice. Quick and easy no fuss lighting.

ban-all-sheds · 27 Mar 2010

I've got some regular switch-start 12-18" T5 tubes in my loft and they work fine.

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Loft Lighting - A few simple Qs

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