Loft Conversion Down Lights HELP!

[bouncer123]

OK, as mentioned above i am in the middle of converting my loft into my bedroom. It should be mentioned straight out here that my house still has its original wiring and NO earth wires.

Since i am a student and as such doing this on a low budget i m trying to do as much as possible on my own.

One thing i want to do it fit down lights however i want to make sure i know what to do.

I take the wires going into the single light in the room and put them into a 4 way junction box, i then run the 4 other wires from the junction box into the down lights and hey presto?

just as a side question does my not having earth cables limit my ability to use a junction box?

Thanks,

Sean

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The junction box needs to be easily accessible, therefor can,t be left in the ceiling void where it can''t be got at.
The majority of downlights are rated so they don't require an earth.
You will need to consider using fire rated fittings though.
And no metallic switches on they circuit either.

 

[bouncer123]

OK a couple more questions lol

Where is best to put the Junction Box?

What do you mean about fire rated?

By metallic light switches you just mean the light switch casing must be plastic or does this include the metal fitting bracket?

Thanks again,

Sean

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Continue this on your other post or gets confusing.

 

[bouncer123]

It is two different rooms this is for my room and about using the junction box the other is for my brothers room and was only about the earth which i get now sorry for the confusion

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It's best either to not have one and have all the connection at the fittings, or if the hole you are making for the lights is big enough, so you can have an accessible connection there and it can be pulled through for inspection.
Fire rated lights are to stop the the spread of fire in the ceiling void. You are breaking in to the ceiling by making holes for the lights, this is a fire hazard.
Personally I would daisy chain the lights rather than connect them to one junction point.

 

[bouncer123]

Right ok there is going to be a new celing strip put in with the down light holes put in if i modify it so the junction box can be accessed easily then that should do the trick thanks!

Sean

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Providing the junction box can be easily accessible.
Also ideally each length of cable, from the junction box to the fitting, would want to be somewhere near the same length.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

i am a student and as such doing this on a low budget ... One thing i want to do it fit down lights

So you've got limited funds but you want to install lighting which will need a stupidly high number of fittings and will cost a fortune to run?

Doesn't make sense.

 

[flameport]

It should be mentioned straight out here that my house still has its original wiring and NO earth wires.

There is no way that extending 45+ year old wiring with no earth can possibly comply with wiring regulations, the law, or even be safe.

just as a side question does my not having earth cables limit my ability to use a junction box?

Yes. You can't fit ANY new wiring, junction boxes, lights or anything else until the serious problem of no earth is resolved by rewiring the affected circuits, and if the wiring is original, this will mean a new consumer unit and various other things as well.

 

[EFLImpudence]

What about sockets in your new bedroom?

Are there any? Where is the supply to them?
If there are sockets and they are being installed 'properly' you could supply your lights from them and have an earth. However, this would be inconvenient when a fault arose on the socket circuit.

It would, also, be sensible to rewire the upstairs lights before you board over the cables.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The phrase "polishing a turd" comes to mind...

 

[JohnW2]

It should be mentioned straight out here that my house still has its original wiring and NO earth wires.

I'm a little confused by all this. Do you know roughly how long ago this original wiring was installed? What do the cables look like?

Whilst lighting circuits using acble without earths can be found more recently, as far as socket circuits are concerned, it's an awfully long time since cables without an earth were used - unless it's a system with 'single' wires (separate for neutral and live) in metal conduit.

As everytone else has said, if the entire electrical installation is without any earth wires, then you simply must have that sorted out as soon as possible, since it's neither acceptable nor safe in itself, and probably implies that there will also be other worrying/dangerous features of the installation.

Kind Regards, John.