lighting - no earth

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Sussex
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United Kingdom
I have just moved into a new flat and want to replace the lights. I bought some from Ikea and from the instructions they look pretty easy to install. However, the existing lights have no earth - while my shiny new ones have a space to connect the earth wire. Is it dangerous to install them?
I can't afford to have all new wiring put in - what is the best option.
Are there lights I can buy that don't need an earth wire? Should I stick with the (ugly) ones that I have got?
thank you for your help
 
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If your lighting circuit has no earth then you must not install lights which need an earth, or metal switches. You can only use lights which are described as not needing an earth, or Class II, or double insulated, or have a symbol which looks like this:

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It's been a while since lighting circuits were allowed to not have an earth, so your installation might be getting on a bit, and it might be a good idea to have the whole house checked.

But make sure - sometimes when lights that don't need an earth are installed by gormless idiots they cut the earth core back. The problem though is that even if you do find you have an earth in the cable, you know that at some point a gormless idiot has been fiddling with the wiring when he didn't have a clue, so you should worry about whether the earth is actually connected properly anywhere else, and does actually work.
 
www.thelightingcompany.net
The above site was useful they had some nice lights that don't need an earth cable. I would say it's worth getting an electrician to have a look at the wiring. Better safe than sorry.

I have just moved into a new flat and want to replace the lights. I bought some from Ikea and from the instructions they look pretty easy to install. However, the existing lights have no earth - while my shiny new ones have a space to connect the earth wire. Is it dangerous to install them?
I can't afford to have all new wiring put in - what is the best option.
Are there lights I can buy that don't need an earth wire? Should I stick with the (ugly) ones that I have got?
thank you for your help
 
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