Installing outside lights

I've bought a couple of lights to go on the rear wall of my house to light the garden. They didn't come with any cabling or sockets etc.

Our garage is close by so I was hoping to drill a hole through the garage wall at the base and run a cable from the plug inside along the bottom of the rear wall and then up to the lights.

My questions are -

1) Is it okay to run these off a standard 13 amp fused plug?
2) What type and width of cable do I need?
3) How do I cable it so I have only 1 cable from the plug to the first light and then 1 cable from the first light to the second?

Someone said I could either loop between the 2 lights, or I could use something he referred to as a chocolate box? As the cable will be going along the floor I'd prefer one cable to a box hidden below the first light with a cable going up to it and then another cable going along the floor and up to the second light.

What is your garage supply like?

What is the proposed load?

Is the garage at all damp?

Connections are best made inside at high level, with a hole drilled for each cable exiting to the fitting.

Choc blocks on their own are not sufficient. You are best with a junction box, and an IP rated one if the environment is damp.

The garage has a light switch and a double socket coming off the main supply. The garage itself is not damp at all.

What would I need to look for with a junction box - do they do them in B&Q and what would they look like/be called? And what does a choc block look like?

What about the cable, I have seen lots of different widths, like 1mm, 1.5mm, 2.5mm but which one do I need?

Is the main supply from a 13A switched spur, or directly from the CU?

Junction Box is called Junction box. Or you can use a chocbox with terminal blocks inside. You cannot use terminal blocks on their own.

Cable type for external use in your situation would probably be Arctic.

Size depends on load: what are these fittings & what is their loading and what size fuse/breaker is covering the garage wiring?

We cannot help without this information.

You also need to think about RCD protection for the garage if you don't have it already.

Also, if your garage is detached, the work is notifiable.

securespark said:

Is the main supply from a 13A switched spur, or directly from the CU?

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In the garage there is 2 cables going into the house, one goes to the light and light switch and the other goes to the double socket. In the main fusebox in the house there is a fuse marked garage so I guess both cables go straight to this.

securespark said:

Size depends on load: what are these fittings & what is their loading and what size fuse/breaker is covering the garage wiring?

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I'm not sure what the load from the lights is, pretty low I guess - I'm at work right now so can't check. I assume this is what you mean.

securespark said:

You also need to think about RCD protection for the garage if you don't have it already.

Click to expand...

I have a plug in RCD thing which I can plug in and then plug the lights into that if that is sufficient?

securespark said:

Also, if your garage is detached, the work is notifiable.

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No, the garage is directly attached to the side of the house.