routing wiring for new downlights.

[ali5438]

Hi all.

Wondered if anyone could help with some advise on the best way to route new wiring for down lights.

Just moved into new house and are having the ceilings skimmed in a couple of weeks. Prior to having this done I want to replace the single centered light fitting with some down lights.

I've fitted and wired down lights before so that side of it I'm fine with, but before I was putting the plaster board up to so I could put the wiring in place before the ceiling went up.

In this case the only wiring up there is from the center light fitting. This is ample to run the down lights I will fit, but the bit I cant quite work out the best solution is getting the wiring around the ceiling for the different down lights.

I'm only fitting 6 down lights, and will daisy chain them, but what is the best way when trying to create minimum repair work when routing wiring.

Upstairs is new carpeted so I didn't really want to go and lift new carpet and then floor boards up to route the wiring from above, and will need to be able to get wiring through across joists. Don't really want to chop out bits of plaster board ceiling from below to allow me to route the wiring either.

So the question is, is there an easy way or better way? The other rooms downstairs will have the same thing done to them too so will have the same situation in living room, kitchen and hallway.

Thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

How much of a surprise did these downlights come as?

 

[1john]

If you dont want to lift the floor or damage the ceiling then you cant have them.

 

[ali5438]

If you don't want to lift the floor or damage the ceiling then you cant have them.

lol, I thought that was the case but was hoping there was a way it could be done that I didn't know about that would save me having to do either. If it was you, which one would you prefer?

 

[1john]

I would prefere a center light, with an 11W lamp in it, not 300W worth of down lights. I am concerned about my energy bills mind, you may not be.

I would normally remove a strip of plasterboard perpendicular to the joists for the kind of job you describe, and onc efinished, noggin the edges, re-fit the old plasterboard and then get the ceiling re-plastered.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Just moved into new house and are having the ceilings skimmed in a couple of weeks. Prior to having this done I want to replace the single centered light fitting with some down lights.

Why do you want to make your lighting considerably less efficient?

I've fitted and wired down lights before

Don't limit your designs to only the bad solution you're familiar with,

I'm only fitting 6 down lights

Doesn't the fact that you're replacing 1 light with 6 tell you that the ones you're putting in don't do a good job of lighting up rooms?

So the question is, is there an easy way or better way? The other rooms downstairs will have the same thing done to them too so will have the same situation in living room, kitchen and hallway.

So your plan is to try and light the ground floor rooms by deliberately installing lights which are specifically designed to not light rooms up rather than putting in lights designed to do what you need them to do.

Why?

was hoping there was a way it could be done that I didn't know about that would save me having to do either.

There are 4 other ways.

1. Get a time machine and go back to a point before you carpet the 1st floor.
2. Just clip the cables to the ceiling and paint over them.
3. Use mini-trunking fixed to the ceiling to enclose the cables.
   (2 & 3 won't look hugely worse than the downlights will anyway.)
4. Install a false ceiling.

 

[flameport]

having the ceilings skimmed in a couple of weeks

Upstairs is new carpeted