Night light and security light

[SUNRAY]

They don't. - green led glow all the time.
It was an accidental benefit (for me).
Needed an emergency light for the stairs.
But have found that emergency lights almost always
have a green led status light that is on all the time and provides a great night light for the stairs.
For me two birds with on stone).
Sfk

At work I used to remove emergency fittings quite regularly for various reasons and fitted a couple of really neat ones at home, in the hall such that it lit a fair bit of the under stairs cupboard & CU and other at top of the stairs. I loved the amber glow all night for the wee hours visit & ms Sunray though it was great when the grandchildren slept over too.
Several years ago we decorated hall, stairs & landing and removed all fittings. Suddenly we needed new lights... of course, and new smoke detectors... of course, oh and do we really have to have those ugly lights?... no but yeah! so they're now stashed away. Guess who now complains about having to leave the light on when the youngest stays... and guess who stumbles about in the dark so I don't get moaned at when ms Sunray can't get back to sleep.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Would a 1mm 3 core flex with a 5amp fused plug suffice? I don’t have a 3amp in the shed.

Hi Jupe. Apologies but, after all of the electrical work that you have done over the last several years, you really, really should know the answer to that very elementary question without having to ask.
Have a look at the spec for 1mm flex cable….is it ok for 5amps? If it is then you are ok to protect that cable with a 5amp fuse.

 

[Jupiter01]

Hi Jupe. Apologies but, after all of the electrical work that you have done over the last several years, you really, really should know the answer to that very elementary question without having to ask.
Have a look at the spec for 1mm flex cable….is it ok for 5amps? If it is then you are ok to protect that cable with a 5amp fuse.

I think because I do this so infrequently, I do struggle with the ratings. It’s certainly not second nature for me as I suspect it is for you.

I was hoping there is something printed on the cable but all I can find is this.


I was basing it on lighting cable which is 1.5mm/1mm T&E and protected by a 6amp breaker. I’ve only got one light on this cable.

Thanks for bearing with me

 

[Taylortwocities]

Well, 1.5mm² twin and earth is rated at 18amps (depending on the installation method).
For domestic lighting, 1mm² cable (rated at up to 10amp) is more than adequate especially with a 6amp CPD.

If you don’t have a cable catalogue, browse through the information on any supplier’s website. Here’s the link for 1mm² flex on the TLC site. Hit the “description” button and you will find a wealth of information.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CA1F3slash50.html

 

[EFLImpudence]

I was basing it on lighting cable which is 1.5mm/1mm T&E and protected by a 6amp breaker.

Well, 1mm² is normally regarded as 'lighting' cable although there seems to be a 'fashion' for 1.5mm².
1mm² T&E has a rating of 16A, 1 mm² flex 10A and 1.5mm² T&E 20A.

Why the UK fits 6A MCBs, I have never figured.

I’ve only got one light on this cable.

What is that? 5W and one forty-sixth of an Amp.

 

[Jupiter01]

Well, 1.5mm² twin and earth is rated at 18amps (depending on the installation method).
For domestic lighting, 1mm² cable (rated at up to 10amp) is more than adequate especially with a 6amp CPD.

If you don’t have a cable catalogue, browse through the information on any supplier’s website. Here’s the link for 1mm² flex on the TLC site. Hit the “description” button and you will find a wealth of information.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CA1F3slash50.html

Excuse the ignorance but if this cable is rated at 10amps, I would interpret that my plug fuse can be up to 10amp. However, presumably the light fitting also has a bearing on this? Let's say this for instance:
Fire Rated 240v GU10 Shower Downlight - White - IP65 | Aurora (EN-FD103W) (tlc-direct.co.uk)

I can't see where it states the amp rating. If this did have one and it was lower than 10, I would be inclined to fuse at the lower level.

I would appreciate your advice on this.

 

[Jupiter01]

What is that?

It has a 5W LED GU10 bulb

 

[Taylortwocities]

It has a 5W LED GU10 bulb

Use ohm’s law to calculate the current rating.

If you remember,
P = V × I
so
I = P/V

So current of a 5watt 230v lamp is
5 ÷ 230 = 21 milliamperes

that is tiny.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

A thought: I have a socket in my loft. Could I have a ceiling light (low wattage) and then plug this into a socket with a 3amp plug?
The socket could have one of these smart plugs that I can then schedule and operate via the mobile.

I can then set a schedule for this to remain on through the evening and overnight hours.

Yes, that would work. A quick fix is the plug in LED's with light sensor and PIR's sold by the pound shops.

 

[winston1]

Excuse the ignorance but if this cable is rated at 10amps, I would interpret that my plug fuse can be up to 10amp. However, presumably the light fitting also has a bearing on this? Let's say this for instance:
Fire Rated 240v GU10 Shower Downlight - White - IP65 | Aurora (EN-FD103W) (tlc-direct.co.uk)

I can't see where it states the amp rating. If this did have one and it was lower than 10, I would be inclined to fuse at the lower level.

I would appreciate your advice on this.

Yes you can fuse it at 10a if you want to, the fuse is to protect the cable not the fitting. In Europe it would only be protected by a 16amp MCB and they don’t seem to have problems.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Yes you can fuse it at 10a if you want to, the fuse is to protect the cable not the fitting. In Europe it would only be protected by a 16amp MCB and they don’t seem to have problems.

Indeed. But our friend @Jupiter01 doesnt have even a 3amp fuse to use for this, let alone an even rarer 10amp fuse.
Can’t believe this has generated all these posts over a simple basic application.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Indeed. But our friend @Jupiter01 doesnt have even a 3amp fuse to use for this, let alone an even rarer 10amp fuse.
Can’t believe this has generated all these posts over a simple basic application.

It keeps us amused

 

[Jupiter01]

UPDATE: finished this earlier today and used a 3amp fuse in the plug. Could I have gone as low as 1amp (if it exists!) given how little the bulb is pulling?

Here are some pictures from the project.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[RandomGrinch]

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLF1.html

 

[Steven Prentice]

Going to just add a comment and stand back and watch you all explode "You can't do that"....

Yes, that would work. A quick fix is the plug in LED's with light sensor and PIR's sold by the pound shops.

Which is what I did in my small landing. There is no conventional socket so I have wired one into the lighting circuit next to the landing light in the ceiling (this is the point I expect you are all spitting out your cocoa). So into that is a cheap and cheerful plug-in LED with light sensor. If I wanted to I could add a timed switch, smart controller or whatever in as well. Point is, when it is dark and the lights are off the light shines enough to see the bathroom, job done. My house used to have just under 1kW of old style lights on that circuit, now about 60W, in the future I cannot see any reason why this will ever increase again, so from the point of view of overloading the circuit with this in the extreme case the socket is used for anything other than a night light, I don't think it will.

It won't be to everyones cup of tea (or cocoa) specially if you have a smooth and flat ceiling with night lights but the way mine is it isn't obtrusive.