Connecting Lights to a single switch

[vaderag]

This on the face of it seems like a simple thing but please let me explain

I have recently had an extension and we have a new landing area.
The landing area lights are on the new extension ring main (as I understood from the electrician at the time).
On the same switch panel I have a two way switch for upstairs and downstairs landing and hall

So three switches in total.

I would like both landing lights to be controlled by the same switch (so being able to stick a double switch plate there instead), but because I believe it's on a separate ring I'm not sure if there is a way to do this?

Anyone advise? Thanks

 

[muffking]

Are you sure they're on a ring main?
Go back to the fuse board and check which breakers control either of the landing lights and show us a picture of the fuse board is possible.
Also pop the switch plates off and show us pics if you can.

 

[winston1]

Lights are not wired on rings. Either your electrician is an idiot or you misunderstood.

Anyway it should be easy enough for an electrician to rewire your new lights in parallel with the existing ones and remove the new circuit.

 

[vaderag]

Are you sure they're on a ring main?
Go back to the fuse board and check which breakers control either of the landing lights and show us a picture of the fuse board is possible.
Also pop the switch plates off and show us pics if you can.

Lights are not wired on rings. Either your electrician is an idiot or you misunderstood.

Anyway it should be easy enough for an electrician to rewire your new lights in parallel with the existing ones and remove the new circuit.

In that case I'm guessing they're not on a ring main. We asked if they could link them to the same switch and they said they they couldnt - I'm not sure why now tho...

I'll pop the switches off and take a look over the weekend
Without looking I don't understand why it wouldn't it just be a case of combining the switches in that case - at the end of the day all a switch is doing is breaking the contact...

 

[muffking]

All depends on how it's wired.
My hope was that if you've got 1 Live feeding one of the switch plates and 2 Switched Lives coming out for each of the landings, then it's just a case of moving the 2 Switched Lives together, assuming they're on the same RCD (a photo of the fuse board should confirm that).

 

[AndyPRK]

Extension lights could have a fused spur off a ring main.

 

[muffking]

Extension lights could have a fused spur off a ring main.

Very true. I'm hoping that we can get the OP to find the breaker(s) supplying each of the lights.

 

[vaderag]

Very true. I'm hoping that we can get the OP to find the breaker(s) supplying each of the lights.

Yep - I'll take a look tomorrow to work try work out and post back

 

[vaderag]

Confirmed - they're on different RCDs...

 

[muffking]

If that's the case then you won't be able to merge them.
Just confirm that they are definitely RCD's and not MCB's.

 

[vaderag]

If that's the case then you won't be able to merge them.
Just confirm that they are definitely RCD's and not MCB's.

Layman question - what's the difference? It's at the main "fuse box"

 

[muffking]

No problem. The quick answer is an RCD will take up 2 spaces, have a test button & a switch and there will be up to 2 of them. An MCB will only take up 1 space, have just a switch and there will be several of them.

 

[vaderag]

No problem. The quick answer is an RCD will take up 2 spaces, have a test button & a switch and there will be up to 2 of them. An MCB will only take up 1 space, have just a switch and there will be several of them.

Right in that case they're on separate MCBs, but potentially on separate RCDs. Will need to re-check when I've not had a few beers.
They're on two different halves of the board

 

[muffking]

That's not so bad. If the MCB's are fed from 2 different RCD's then one of the circuits should be able to be moved across so that one of the two MCB's is feeding both lighting circuits. The problem then is that if one goes off then the other will go off with it, even if there's a problem on another circuit fed from the same RCD. That's a decision that you would have to make, but would require a spark to move them over in the board as I wouldn't advise routing around inside the board unless you know what you're doing as it's a dangerous place to be.

 

[AndyPRK]

I don’t see how this can be done over the internet.

If it was easy the builder would have done it