Lighting and sockets advice in refurb

[veedee]

Whole house is being gutted and refurbed from top to bottom

The Ceiling height in loft rooms is 2.3m

Is this okay for a pendant light, or shoud I use downlight only?

Regarding the sockets (for bedroom areas), is it a good idea to have at least one double on each wall? Or is that excessive?

For modern living (ie phones, laptop chargers etc) what is a good/ recommended height for the sockets?


Are there any guides/ general good practices I should follow regarding lighting and sockets in bedroom areas?

 

[flameport]

Pendants OK, they are available in various lengths.

One socket per wall is the absolute minimum, even for a small bedroom.

500mm from floor level for sockets, so they can actually be reached without grovelling on the floor, you can also easily reach them when in bed, sitting on a sofa, etc.
Shoving them on or in the skirting boards was only done a very long time ago as it was convenient for installation - it certainly wasn't convenient for use.

For lighting, wire with a neutral at the switch to allow smart switches and similar to be installed if required.

 

[veedee]

Pendants OK, they are available in various lengths.

One socket per wall is the absolute minimum, even for a small bedroom.

500mm from floor level for sockets, so they can actually be reached without grovelling on the floor, you can also easily reach them when in bed, sitting on a sofa, etc.
Shoving them on or in the skirting boards was only done a very long time ago as it was convenient for installation - it certainly wasn't convenient for use.

For lighting, wire with a neutral at the switch to allow smart switches and similar to be installed if required.

That's brilliant. Thank you.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

think about any other sort of sockets you might want to put in now ie cat 5/6 for computers tv's etc . wiring for alarms/cctv etc, aerial sockets for freeview/sat etc. imagine how you might use the rooms ie where tv etc might be and plan for it now whilst you have a blank canvas

 

[AndyPRK]

Well I thought sky were phasing out satellites. Going to broadband

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Regarding the sockets (for bedroom areas), is it a good idea to have at least one double on each wall? Or is that excessive?

I would suggest as a mimum (I do mean minimum), only use double sockets everywhere and again as a minimum one socket to each corner, plus at least a single near to side of door hinge sides - to avoid flexes across the floor at doors.

A 2.3M ceiling is quite low, not enough height for anything too fancy hanging down. Consider fittings which fix direct to ceiling where possible. The low ceilings will make downlighters less usuable than useable than normal, they will produce pools of brightly lit areas. Consider wall lights, or wall light uplighters with a light coloured ceiling for the light to bounce off.

 

[BS3036]

A 2.3M ceiling is quite low

Interesting, I assume that plasterboard comes with a height of 2.4m to save having to have a join, so I guess that 2.3m is less than 100mm lower than most homes. I detest pendant lights anyway, but that is my choice. Using the ceiling to reflect upward facing light has always been my favourite.

 

[winston1]

A double each side of the bed will give you a bedside light and electric blanket each side. So what about an electric alarm clock, phone charger, and whatever else you want near the bed? So two doubles either side doubles in the corners and two doubles where the TV will be. Thinking of the TV remember aerial and satellite sockets and CAT 5 connections.

 

[winston1]

Well I thought sky were phasing out satellites. Going to broadband

Sky have more capacity on satellite than they do on their broadway system called “glass”. Plus you cannot get a stand alone glass sky box only a not particularly spectacular TV.

 

[JohnD]

So what about

When you decide where you want your AV or IT nook you can put a vast number of sockets on dado trunking if you feel the need.

But if you look in a rack cabinet you will probably find an extension strip.