im rewiring my house and putting the upstairs and downstairs lights on diferent circuits. which circuit should i put the landing lights on would it be right to put the downstairs landing light on the downstair circuit and the upstairs on the upstair stair circuit.
landing upstairs and downstairs lights
- Thread starter leeco
- Start date
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Thats the logical way of doing it, at least then the mcb that says 'upstairs lights' will mean upstairs lights! Makes wiring easier if you are doing loop in 3 plate wiring.
Just remember that with the usual set up (landing light switched from downstairs on same plate as hall switch) there will be two circuits present behind the switch.
Yes, to reinforce that, leave a note on the CCU and inside the switch to remind the next guy that both mcbs must be turned off to isolate the switch.
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Taylortwocities said:
It's standard to wire that way, I've never seen a note.
Anybody removing switches to work should be aware of the possibility of multiple circuits and be capable of safe isolation.
461-01-03
Where an item of equipment or enclosure contains live parts that are not capable of being isolated by a single device, a durable warning notice shall be permanently fixed in such a position that any person before gaining access to live parts will be warned of the need to use the appropriate isolating devices..............
Its not just to remind sparkies (who should know better) its for the householder who switches off the downstairs lighting cb thinking it will isolate his two gang switch in the hall and then tries to install a shiny new switch. The upstairs two way wiring to the switch will still be live.
We would always use safe isolation procedures but B&Q man may not....
Where an item of equipment or enclosure contains live parts that are not capable of being isolated by a single device, a durable warning notice shall be permanently fixed in such a position that any person before gaining access to live parts will be warned of the need to use the appropriate isolating devices..............
Its not just to remind sparkies (who should know better) its for the householder who switches off the downstairs lighting cb thinking it will isolate his two gang switch in the hall and then tries to install a shiny new switch. The upstairs two way wiring to the switch will still be live.
We would always use safe isolation procedures but B&Q man may not....
I have seen the downstairs hall light run from the upstairs lighting circuit and vice versa so that if a breaker popped, there was at least one working light left on each floor.
MCBs were marked up as 'Upstairs + Hall' and 'Downstairs + Landing'
MCBs were marked up as 'Upstairs + Hall' and 'Downstairs + Landing'
TicklyT said:
Makes the place safer to live in.
Taylortwocities said:
This cropped with an NICEIC area engineer recently, who stated if the landing and hall lights were off the same double gang switch (and on different circuits) , then the warning notice should be on the switch itself. Obviously, as nobody would wish for this in their house, and this is the usual setup for most houses, most houses would have a code 2 or maybe 1 on a PIR !
Other than using a separate switch for one or the other lights, does anyone know of a way round this ?
Plave a durable label on the consumer unit and inside the light switch box itself. Anyone opening the accessory will then see the warning.
This is a common issue too with large grid switches. Those nice MK people supply a label to stick inside just for this purpose.
This is a common issue too with large grid switches. Those nice MK people supply a label to stick inside just for this purpose.
By the time you have found a warning label in an ordinary lightswitch box you have already pulled the switch away from the wall and possiblly had wires pop out (depending on how well it was wired in the first place and how many times it has been pulled away/pushed back since).
Using a grid system is the best soloution IMO. You can then put the warning label on the grid (which becomes visible after removing the faceplate but before interfering with live parts).
Using a grid system is the best soloution IMO. You can then put the warning label on the grid (which becomes visible after removing the faceplate but before interfering with live parts).
Thats true, but I guess that you'll be doing that with the power switched off? But yes a 2 gang grid fits the bill as would those switches that have a pop on front plate.
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