Adding loft lighting

[garmcqui]

Hi all,

I intend to put a light or two in the loft, by taking a 1mm t&e feed off an upstairs ceiling rose. However, when I opened the ceiling rose, there are only two cables, no ring main...

Untitled

• garmcqui
• 15 Aug 2014
• 1

It seems all the roses are this way? Does this mean the lighting circuit is radial? House was only built in May this year...

Am I still ok to tap in here for the loft lighting?

Cheers

 

[plugwash]

First of all lighting circuits are (nearly) always radial not rings.

The problem with taking your feed from that rose is you have no permanent live there only switched live, so if you take power from there you loft lights will only work when that light is on. This is likely to be annoying.

My guess is you have a system where the wiring is looped at the switch instead of at the rose. What does the wiring at the switch look like?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

My guess is you have a system where the wiring is looped at the switch instead of at the rose.

As they are all like that, and the house was built this year, that's a pretty safe guess....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I intend to put a light or two in the loft

Can I ask why? What do you plan to do up there?

 

[garmcqui]

I thought I would wire the lights to the upstairs landing light, so the loft lights would only be on if it is on, no reason for loft light to be on if landing isn't (plus, if someone accidentally leaves the loft lights on and close the hatch, they wouldn't be on 24/7)

 

[AndyPRK]

Yes you could take a feed from the landing light and then via a switch.
It's not a bad idea.

Alternatively look at wires in the loft where the wires drop to the switches.
(Not landing switch) and see if there are 2 or 3 cables.
Tap into the cable which does NOT goto the rosé/light.

 

[bernardgreen]

If you intend to be in and out of the loft on a regular basis it may be preferable to take the supply for the loft light from somewhere other than the upstairs lighting circuit. Two reasons

[1] in the event you are in the loft at night and the up-stairs lighting trips off you will be in darkness and unable to find the loft hatch until someone gets a torch or restores the lights.

[2] you can have the loft light on when you do any work on the upstairs lighting circuit

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I intend to put a light or two in the loft

Can I ask why? What do you plan to do up there?

garmcqui - I wasn't being nosey. New houses these days often have joists which are just strong enough to hold up the ceiling and no more - putting lights up there might mean you plan to use it for storage, move about in it etc, and it could well not cope with that.

 

[garmcqui]

I intend to board out the central part of the loft using timbers laid perpendicularly to the joists, then spanboard on top... this ok?

 

[Greenie9657]

Is there anyway of coming off your upstairs ring with a fuse spur? That way if you ever have to do any fault rectification on your upstairs lighting in the attic you will still have lights up there once you switch the lighting off on the CU.

 

[garmcqui]

Upstairs ring isn't in the loft, it's all below the upstairs floor, annoyingly. The only electrics in the loft are the upstairs lights

 

[JohnW2]

Upstairs ring isn't in the loft, it's all below the upstairs floor, annoyingly. The only electrics in the loft are the upstairs lights

No airing cupboard or suchlike through which you could take a spur cable from below the upstairs floor up into the loft?

Kind Regards, John

 

[garmcqui]

There is an airing cupboard, yes. There's no sockets in the cupboard itself, but there is a double socket on the other side of the wall in a bedroom. I suppose I could take a spur off this, through the wall and run a cable up some conduit inside the cupboard into the loft.

If I did this, would I be able to install a socket in the loft, plus fit a 3A FCU for a lift light? Can I do both off a single spur?

 

[bernardgreen]

Provided the socket behind the wall is not already a spur you can take a supply from it to an FCU in the airing cupboard with a 13 amp fuse. ( or lower ) Then from that you can have several sockets in the loft and via an FCU with 3 amp fuse in the loft feed the lights.

When choosing where the FCU will be in the airing cupboard consider any risk of clothes coming in contact with it. Fuses can get warm when carrying their rated current but an FCU in free air will not ( should not ) over heat but, if buried under clothes it might get a bit hot.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Upstairs ring isn't in the loft, it's all below the upstairs floor, annoyingly.

Trust me - that is hugely less annoying than having to run cables up and down the entire height of the wall if you add sockets.