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Extending the garage lighting.
ash_hammond - 5/10/16 at 03:38 PM

Hi.

My house was build in 2006 so it falls into the part P regulations, currently it is compliant as nothing as been altered since it was built and I want to keep it that way.

In my garage there is a single fluorescent light tube which is fed of off the upstairs lighting ring main. What I would like to add two more tubes to give me some additional light at either end of the garage but keep the single switch.

The easiest way to do this is to daisy chain the two new lights from the first lights connector. I know this won't overload the 1.5mm cable supplying the garage as that is rated at 16 amps and the total load for the three lights will be less than 1 amp. So in my mind this is safe as the cable is well under its capacity. I would like to know if this is the normal practice to add lights in this fashion? I would like to do it by the book rather than "bodging" it even though it is safe.

I dont plan to keep the house that long, so I dont want to have to remove the new lights once I sell up if the installation method is questionable. I would rather do it right and once.

Cheers
Ash


Ugg10 - 5/10/16 at 03:59 PM

TLC direct do LED strip lights that are designed to be daisy chained. You could replace the existing one with three or four of these ?

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Ultra_Slim_KBU/index.html


ash_hammond - 5/10/16 at 04:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ugg10
TLC direct do LED strip lights that are designed to be daisy chained. You could replace the existing one with three or four of these ?

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Ultra_Slim_KBU/index.html


Those do seem like a nice option, the main down side is the link cables are a 1m long and they will be spaced wider than this.


indykid - 5/10/16 at 05:03 PM

What you're proposing is the correct way, Ash.

One light to the next to the next, though splitting out two ways from one should be fine if you have the space in the terminals.


avagolen - 5/10/16 at 05:03 PM

From what I understand, as it is only extending an already present lighting circuit, part P does not apply.


If it was a new circuit from the consumer unit, then that would invoke Part P.


ash_hammond - 5/10/16 at 06:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by indykid
What you're proposing is the correct way, Ash.

One light to the next to the next, though splitting out two ways from one should be fine if you have the space in the terminals.


Thanks for the reply.

The light have a standard 3 pin screw connector in it for the usual LNE. This is why I thought adding extra cables to it was a bad idea.


stevebubs - 5/10/16 at 06:53 PM

As it's in the garage, is there space to add a junction box next to the original fitting? As long as it's accessible, I don't think moving the main feed to there and then linking out to the other lights is an issue? Might require you to relocate the original light by a few inches...

[Edited on 5/10/16 by stevebubs]


ash_hammond - 5/10/16 at 07:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
As it's in the garage, is there space to add a junction box next to the original fitting? As long as it's accessible, I don't think moving the main feed to there and then linking out to the other lights is an issue? Might require you to relocate the original light by a few inches...

[Edited on 5/10/16 by stevebubs]


I agree this would work to using a hub and spoke idea and still overload the cable.

I'm wanting to know what is the "by the book" way.

Perhaps I'm over thinking it.


Andybarbet - 5/10/16 at 09:01 PM

Has anyone used those led strip lights ?

I have finally managed to buy a house with an integral garage, I've painted the walls & floor, im now looking at lighting options, the idea was to put one 5ft long above the bench at the back & one 5ft long each side of the car, hopefully giving good coverage of the whole garage as it's only a single garage.

These led ones will only be about 60 watts in total for the whole garage which sounds good to me.


coyoteboy - 6/10/16 at 06:13 AM

Adding or changing lighting points is not controlled.

Assuming you can fit it in the terminals, I'd hub/spoke them because Daisy chaining can lead to voltage drops along the cable. That said, the load it's so small and over such a short distance it's really not worth worrying.


v8kid - 6/10/16 at 08:07 AM

No point in mucking about if you are going to the trouble of adding lights do it properly. I've got 18 5 foot tubes in my garage and I can certainly see what I'm doing now.
There are two types of fittings, corrected and uncorrected fittings, the uncorrected fittings draw much more current, are cheaper but cost the same to run.
Needless to say I used the cheaper fittings but the downside is I had to run 3 circuits to cope with the poor power factor - so the moral of the story is you have to check out the details and sometimes the apparently cheapest option ain't
Cheers!