Basic question regarding Fuse box

[alphabet]

Hi,

I live in a flat whereby when all the ceiling lights are on the fuse trips. All I have to do is turn off some lights and then tunr the fuse back on and everything is ok again.

I presume this means the fuse is overloaded when all lights are on. So my question is can I just get a bigger fuse to accomodate my lights and is this an easy job or do I need to re wire my house?

Just need some answers before I call out an electrician.

Thanks

 

[ColJack]

without being there, or some more information from you regarding cable size, there is no way to know if changing the breaker size is ok..

also changing breaker sizes / type is notifiable as it's altering the circuits protective measures..

 

[Lectrician]

What sort of breaker trips? Whats written on it?

How many lights do you have on the circuit, and how many are one when it trips?

What type of lights are they, and what wattage lamp?

 

[ColJack]

easiest, cheapest, and most environmentally friendly and economical solution would be to start going round your flat and changing all the 100W "bulbs" to 20W CFL lamps ( the low energy lamps.. )..

or just remember to turn the light off when you leave the room..

in reality, it's very unlikely for a flat to have enough lights to trip a general lighting circuit.. even a 2 bed house is normally ok on one light circuit..

 

[JohnD]

Maybe he has lots of (ugh) downlighters

 

[securespark]

I have had plenty of call-outs to customers who complain they have a "dangerous shorting fault" with their lights.

I tell them it is indeed a fault, but a design fault.

Most common are when the whole house lighting is wired in one circuit, or where the original pendants are replaced with multi-lamp fittings or, as John says, downlighters.

My favourite was a whole house circuit. Customer convinced she had a major short:

Why?

There's a huge bang and then the lights go off.

Where does the noise come from?

The porch (where the CU is).

Is it just when you have a few lights on, or when you have a lot or the majority on?

Usually when I have quite a few on.

Does it pop off immediately you switch a light on or after a time?

After about 5 minutes.


After investigation, I found a total of 2400W on the lighting circuit and with all of them on at once the brave little BS3871 Type 1 5A breaker popped after an incredible 9 minutes...It doesn't add up, but maybe the abuse was taking it's toll on the MCB...

 

[RF Lighting]

the brave little BS3871 Type 1 5A breaker

Any relation to the brave little toaster?

 

[securespark]

Shh. Don't tell my kids, or they'll want to watch it....

 

[alphabet]

By the sounds of things all my ceiling lights are connected to 1 circuit. If I turn on bedroom, hallway, kitchen and living room lights on (total of about 16 light bulbs and 6 halogen spot lights) pretty much guranteed the breaker will pop.

Will have a look at the breaker box to get some more detail and look into getting lower voltage bulbs.

Cheers

 

[Spark123]

Will have a look at the breaker box to get some more detail and look into getting lower voltage bulbs.

Cheers

I hope you meant lower Wattage lamps

 

[alphabet]

Actually I had a look last night and most of my lightbulbs are 60W including my spotlights, so not sure if I can improve my Wattage by that much anyway.

I checked the breaker box and it had 240V written on it, not sure if that is enough for all the ceiling lights in my flat?

 

[JohnD]

240V is Uk standard voltage. It is Amps that trip the breaker.

You can fit Energy Saving bulbs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps). These are the ones that last 5-10 times as long as Filament bulbs, and use one-fifth the electricity. Your supermarket or DIY shed will have shelves full of them. They are usually a bit longer than filament lamps so see if yoiu have any small light fittings and try them out (you can get short CFLs too). You can get ones with a round globe that look better if exposed.

A 20W CFL will be about as bright as a 100W filament; an 8 or 11W will only be bright enough for a table lamp.

The cheaper value-brands may be slow to warm up or a funny colour of white.

You can get CFL spots but they are not so widely stocked.

"Which" did some tests recently and best buys were:
General Electric Electronic T3
IKEA Sparsam bulb
Osram Duluxstar
General Electric Mini Eco
IKEA Sparsam tube

Wilko brand are OK but get dim with age. B&Q a bit worse. Homebase slow to start up. Ring not very long-life