Lighting and Oven Questions...

[Swanny80]

Hi

I'm just planning some wiring for my flat and have a couple of questions:

Lighting:
Since I'm going to sell the flat on and buyers love halogen spots, I'm running spots throughout, using spotlight runs from junction boxes (8 spots in living room, 6 in bed 1, 6 in bed 2, 4 in hall, seperate circuit for bathroom and kitchen)...

I plan on using Mains Voltage fire Rated GU10 spots. A total of 24 spots will run from 4 junction boxes. Although I have checked load etc, I read somewhere that no more than 10 lighting points should be serviced on a single lighting circuit. Does each spotlight count as a lighting point, or each junction box (i.e. each switched point on the circuit?)

Oven:
I'm going to put in an electric oven and gas hob with an electric pilot. The oven will be wired with 6mm 2-Core and Earth to a connection unit with a 30A fuse. I plan running 2 wires from the connection unit, one to oven, one to hob. Should these both be 6mm 2-core and earth?

Thanks!

 

[Steve]

The 10 lighting points thing is based on 100w lamps.

You should put no more than 1300 watts of light on any one 6 amp light circuit. Do the maths.


I strongly recommend you get an electrician to do this work. Your buyer will want to see electrical reports for any work done recently, and it could affect the price if you dont have these ready.

Read about part p, see the wiki at the top of this page, there is an article there.

It is illegal for you to commence this work without being part of a registration scheme, or notifying your local council in advance.

I recommend the former, since the level of knowledge your post demonstrates doesn't fill me with confidence, no offence intended.

 

[Swanny80]

Thanks Crafty

No offence taken - appreciate your honesty.

I'm aware of Part P etc and will be notifying Buildings Control beforehand and have all work EIC certified. Although I will be getting advice from an electrician to make sure I do it right, I'm taking this on as a project to learn.

I'm pretty confident and will have my plans checked before commencing the work, but if I don't do it I'm not going to learn! I have basic wiring skills but just want to be certain of every detail before starting...

Thanks for clearing up the question.

 

[securespark]

I will be getting advice from an electrician to make sure I do it right

So why don't you point these questions to him/her?

Further, you make no mention of the size of your oven.

 

[Swanny80]

Currently at the planning stage and getting things clear in my mind. There's no point going into something without doing a bit of background - thought that was the point of these forums...

Don't worry, oven is less than 12kw, hence the 30A MCB/ fuse and the 6mm 2-Core and Earth...

 

[slippyr4]

Don't worry, oven is less than 12kw, hence the 30A MCB/ fuse and the 6mm 2-Core and Earth...

But 30A at 230V is 6900W, not 12KW.

 

[Steve]

Don't worry, oven is less than 12kw, hence the 30A MCB/ fuse and the 6mm 2-Core and Earth...

I'd be a bit worried if the oven was drawing 12kw! Ovens generally take 2-3kw, less than a kettle!

Cookers, on the other hand, can be rated up to 12Kw, even more sometimes.

 

[dingbat]

I will be getting advice from an electrician...

If he's got his head screwed on he'll only give you one bit of advice about your proposed downlighters. Don't do it.

GU10s in a flat - Building Regs parts B, E, L and P need to be complied with. Not cheap, not sensible... but when did sense ever come into it?

 

[slippyr4]

What are parts B&E of the building regs? (briefly)

 

[Steve]

And as you go up, where does one flat stop and the other begin? I mean, in that void between the 2 flats, strictly speaking, is only one party allowed to run cables?

 

[dingbat]

What are parts B&E of the building regs? (briefly)

B - Fire Safety
E - Resistance to the passage of sound

(I really think that all DIYers should take more notice of the building regs - they affect everybody, not just tradesmen.)

 

[slippyr4]

So is, generally speaking, a 50W GU10 fitting (not fire rated, plain open one) in a plasterboard ceiling with a 6" air gap then floorboards above (fairly standard house construction) OK from a heat/fire point of view?

 

[dingbat]

In a single dwelling, generally, yes. However, the OP is talking about a flat, where he has responsibilities to other occupants.

I still reckon the only circumstances in which you can justify halogen lamps with regard to Part L1 is if you replace 100W of GLS lighting with 100W of halogen (two 50W halogens for one 100W lamp) because of the fractionally higher luminous efficacy of the halogens. But that's not what people do, is it?