Switch / fused spur combination

[Thejobsagoodun]

The light switch by our back door has two toggles, one to control the utility light, the other to control the outside security light. The security light is usually left switched on as it's PIR controlled, but other people in the house sometimes turn it off.

Is it possible to buy a combination of a light switch (for the utility) and a separate fused spur for the external light in the same square plate? Thanks.

 

[jamesmcbride]

best bet would be a grid -

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Product...=adwords&kw=&gclid=COqV4eyI2roCFWTHtAodMS8Ahg

+

+

+

 

[jamesmcbride]

although, for what you're trying to do, a fish key switch would be a better option than the fuse:

 

[Bluehair]

Check the depth of your existing back box before you start. It might not be deep enough.

 

[OwainDIYer]

Put the 2 wires for the PIR light into the same terminal and it'll be continuously live whatever people do to the switch

 

[JohnW2]

Put the 2 wires for the PIR light into the same terminal and it'll be continuously live whatever people do to the switch

I'm not sure that a light fitting, particularly an outdoor one, with no means of functional switching or isolation is all that clever. Indeed, ideally one would have a double-pole switch/isolator (which one could have if one used grid modules) for when the outdoor light filled up with water and tripped the house's RCDs!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Bluehair]

Indeed, ideally one would have a double-pole switch/isolator (which one could have if one used grid modules) for when the outdoor light filled up with water and tripped the house's RCDs!

If there is no neutral at the OP's switch then there would be no use for the DP switch. But you already knew that.

If there is a neutral at the switch then your suggestion is the way forward.

 

[JohnW2]

Indeed, ideally one would have a double-pole switch/isolator (which one could have if one used grid modules) for when the outdoor light filled up with water and tripped the house's RCDs!

If there is no neutral at the OP's switch then there would be no use for the DP switch. But you already knew that. ... If there is a neutral at the switch then your suggestion is the way forward.

We don't know whether or not there is a neutral at the switch. It's obviously fairly unlikely, but not impossible - I did say 'ideally'! However, the concept of my point remains, even if there is no neutral. I would certainly want at least a SP switch (maybe using the key-operated grid switch, as already suggested) for any outside light, rather than leaving it permanently powered (as suggested by Owain DIYer). Water ingress into such things does not all that often create a low enough impedance N-E fault to trip an RCD, but the L-E fault does. Hence, more often than not a SP switch would be enough to prevent the house's RCD being tripped by a water-ridden outside light!

Kind Regards, John