by ericmark »
Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:53 pm
For my bedroom lights I have 3 x two ways switches at the door and 2 x intermediate switches one side of the bed and 2 x two way switches other side of bed one centre light and two bed side spots. The switch at the door will switch all lights and the switches at the bed side will switch on bed side light and the main light all power taken from ceiling rose of main light.
If one wants to be able to switch main light you need to route cables up the wall and in most lofts the lighting cables are accessible so to chase down the wall seems silly may as well go up. And if your going to bury one cables in wall why not bury three and do the job proper?
The only bit not standard is one intermediate switch needs wiring as two way switch which means simply not using one hole.
If taking light feeds from power in most cases there will be something which will limit the current to 6 amp. Most lighting switches, ceiling roses, wall lamp etc. Are only rated 6 amp and even if not the wiring regulations for more lighting circuits limit you to 16 amp so a fused spur would be required if taking from ring main.
I am a little uncertain on how far you need to go when altering or adding to a circuit as far a RCD protection is concerned and if your ring main is already RCD protected and your lights are not then because you don’t need to add a RCD when supplying from the ring it may seem a better option but to me that would be spoiling the ship for a halfpennies worth of tar.
I used conduit end boxes behind my wall lights both to give room for wiring and because the centres for the mounting screws used in the lights I used matched those found in conduit boxes which made final mounting easy. Also if I want to temp remove for papering I can replace lights with box lid.
Much of course depends on the type of bed side light you are using at one point I used Klik lighting sockets and plugs powering bedside lamps allowing me to switch off the bedside lamps from the door.
Yes you can use fused spur switches to each lamp which if you house is wired to 17th Edition may give the advantage of two separate RCD’s connected to lights as with most jobs it has to be considered as a whole and not just the bed side lamp.
Ceiling spots and pull cords is easy way out saves any wires in walls but don’t think my wife would let me get away with that!
All best Eric
