DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi
I'm not a qualified electrician but do plan on having all my work checked and tested by a qualified electrician. WOuld someone be able to advise me if it is possible to have 8 x 50 w led recessed downlighters on one light switch. This is for a kitchen. I do seem to remember all switches come with a total wattage rating? i.e. 250w however, this would seem too low?
Many thanks in advance.
Lee

I would not think you will find 50W LED lights more like 3W for LED and 11W for cold cathode. With 400W in theory that’s 1.75 amp well within what a 6 amp MCB can supply but in practice the inrush may cause the MCB to trip and two sets of 4 lamps would be better. The inrush is in milli-seconds so even if you switched both on together there would normally be a few milli-seconds between each switch and so it would not trip the MCB. I would also be selective and pick down-lighters which can take the low energy bulbs. The low energy type are often longer than normal GU10 bulbs and when the tungsten bulbs are with drawn you do not want to have to change the fitting.
I would also go for Low Voltage (230V) rather than Extra Low Voltage (12V) as cold cathode lamps can then be used.
Eric