How can I make a lighting unit?

[dyates]

Advice please. I am a complete novice so keep it like a noddy guide if possible.

I want to make an arrangement of about 5 inset halogen lights in a boxed unit to put on the ceiling. I want to wire each of the lights up to a single wire coming out of the unit and then put a plug on the end of that wire so that I can plug it into the mains. I would quite like to put an on/off switch on the side of the unit to turn the whole thing on and off from there.

Is there any reason why I should not do this?

Should I wire the individual halogen lights in series or parallel?

Would it be better to get an electrician to do it for me?

 

[breezer]

make the unit first, then decide which lamps you want, they must be wired in paralel

 

[Spark123]

What material are you looking at making the box out of? What size halogen lamps, could be a heat issue is what I am thinking.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I want to make an arrangement of about 5 inset halogen lights in a boxed unit to put on the ceiling.

Why?

What do you plan to make the box from?

Will it look better than lights you can buy?

Have you designed the enclosure to have enough clearance and ventilation to be able to cope with 5 halogen lamps?

I want to wire each of the lights up to a single wire coming out of the unit and then put a plug on the end of that wire so that I can plug it into the mains.

You want a ceiling mounted luminaire with a flex and plug coming out of it?

Why? It's going to look crap...

I would quite like to put an on/off switch on the side of the unit to turn the whole thing on and off from there.

Are you very tall, or are your ceilings very low?

Is there any reason why I should not do this?

Fire safety, aesthetics, practicality....

Would it be better to get an electrician to do it for me?

I doubt you'll find many electricians prepared to start making lights for you....

 

[breezer]

to be fair, i have seen something vaguly like what the op wants, it was mdf and cloud shape, but it wasnt plugged in, suspended form the ceiling by chains.

reason was if you get fed up with shape or colour you can take it down and make a new one you cant do that if you make holes in the ceiling for halogens

 

[dyates]

Thanks for all the input.

Problem: low ceiling in a dimly lit office.
Objective: need to provide light over a meeting table.
Solution: Inset halogens pointing down over the meeting table
Options: (a) Get a spark to do it for me (b) do it myself cheaper

Given option b: I do not think I could inset these into the ceiling myself and wire them up to the normal light switch - that would certainly be a safety and aesthetic disaster!

However, I thought I could make a tidy unit and then put that on the ceiling and place the wire into conduit running to a nearby plug.

Following your input I am concerned about the heat and materials issue. If there is no feasible way of achieving this safely, I will get an electrician in and pay the extra.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Options: (a) Get a spark to do it for me, as he will have knowledge of a wide range of light fitting options and this will ensure that the work is done safely and competently and that I will comply with the terms and conditions of my, or my employer's insurances and applicable legislation such as the EAWR and the CDMR (b) do it myself cheaper but probably not in the best way and risk invalidating insurances and placing myself and/or my employer in the position of having contravened health & safety legislation.

 

[dyates]

Thanks for all your advice. I now realise why this site is called DIYnot.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There are limits to what may, or can sensibly be DIYed, and unqualified people making lighting units for installation in places where, like it or not, there are health and safety laws, and there are employee and/or public liability risks which are usually insured, is beyond that limit.

Ask a genuine DIY question and you'll get a genuine DIY answer.

Ask questions about electrical installations in workplaces and you'll get a workplaces answer.

 

[breezer]

standard upward pointing lamp

 

[dyates]

Thank you once again.

ban-all-sheds:

I came here as a self declared novice, asking whether this project could be sensibly DIYed. I am certainly one who is not sure of the line between DIY and commercial installations (my office is a home office and only I work there).

Ultimately I got the answer I was looking for but i cannot help feeling that you have demonstrated your superior knowledge in this area by making capital out of my own inferior knowledge. You could have been as helpful without being so patronising.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I came here as a self declared novice, asking whether this project could be sensibly DIYed. I am certainly one who is not sure of the line between DIY and commercial installations (my office is a home office and only I work there).

First there was no mention of it being an office, then you said it was in an office with a meeting table, now it's a home office where only you work. You've not been very clear. Even now I wonder why there's a meeting table if only you work there. And I also wonder why you can't just put lights on/in the ceiling like you would in any other room in your house...

But back when I thought it was a commercial office, my advice was sound - you should not have been going anywhere near it if it had been the environment you described. Believe it or not we have had people here in the past looking for advice on how to do things in a work environment when all they have is average DIY knowledge and should not, for legal reasons, be doing what they are asking about.

 

[breezer]

dyates, ban-all-sheds does have a valid point, you first never said its an office, then it is a office, then its a home office, then its for lighting a table for meetings, but you also said only you work there.

we can only go by what information you give.

I would still opt for uplighters as it solves a lot of probelms

 

[dyates]

Even now I wonder why there's a meeting table if only you work there.

Jesus wept.

As you say, I obviously have not been very clear.

Forget the bloody layout. I want to put some spots on the ceiling in a simple and easy way. Why, is not important. Whether anyone thinks it is going to look crap is not important. I just want to put some bloody lights on the bloody ceiling. People all over the world do i - or perhaps only their electricians do.

Genuinely I thank you all for your input, I think that I am now going to lie on the floor, adopt the foetal position, and bang my head against the floor until I pass out.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Forget the b****y layout. I want to put some spots on the ceiling in a simple and easy way.

Then put some on there in the way that they are designed to be installed, and wired into the lighting circuit like they are designed to be wired, and controlled by a switch on the wall like they are designed to be controlled, not fitted into some home-made and possibly dangerous box with a flex and a plug and a switch up by the ceiling.

I just want to put some b****y lights on the b****y ceiling. People all over the world do i - or perhaps only their electricians do.

They do. They install them properly, wire them properly and switch them properly.