Non-motoring > Wiring an outside lamp Miscellaneous
Thread Author: CGNorwich Replies: 20

 Wiring an outside lamp - CGNorwich
Nex project is to put up an external PIR controlled light on the garage wall.

I'm no electrician but after consulting various websites here I what I propose to do. The easiest place to access power is from a mains cable running from the mini consumer unit in the garage to a double socket. There is a bit of slack in this cable so I propose cutting into it and adding a junction box. I then will run a 2.5 mm cable from the junction box to a switched fused connection unit. I will. Then run a 1.5 mm cable from the FCU to the outdoor lamp via a hole I have drilled in the wall.


Any electricians out there confirm this is all ok and the way to go.

 Wiring an outside lamp - Clk Sec
>>Any electricians out there

www.niceic.com/Page/SearchContractors
 Wiring an outside lamp - Fursty Ferret
I see absolutely no reason at all why this shouldn't work, and in fact I did something similar in my loft for the lighting.

Provided you put an appropriate fuse in the connection unit when you step down the cable size it's perfectly safe - 1.5mm cable is good for 15A anyway, but common sense dictates a 3A fuse or similar. I assume you're using an LED flood?
 Wiring an outside lamp - Zero
>> I see absolutely no reason at all why this shouldn't work, and in fact I
>> did something similar in my loft for the lighting.

No reason at all, I have employed very similar methods for a few external PIR floods


>> I assume you're using an LED flood?

No No NO, this is the land of WATT. It needs to be hot, it needs to be coily it needs to burn a bright yellow, it needs to burn out.

Nothing else will do.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Fursty Ferret
Don't think it really matters provided you've set the PIR to a hair trigger and carefully angled it at the bedrooms of all your neighbouring properties.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Zero
>> Don't think it really matters provided you've set the PIR to a hair trigger and
>> carefully angled it at the bedrooms of all your neighbouring properties.

Well as long as the power consumption is over three figures I guess you are right.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Crankcase
OVER three figures? We have a 500w one and I thought that was bright. Not changed the lamp since it was put in, in 1998. Does the job very nicely.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Zero
>> OVER three figures? We have a 500w one and I thought that was bright. Not
>> changed the lamp since it was put in, in 1998. Does the job very nicely.

Hey watt is king in here, and anything under a K is considered wimpy.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Crankcase
I'm putting a second one up tonight then.

Actually we did put a couple of those ten quid solar ones up, just to puddle light the odd corner when taking the bins up the drive or whatever, and they're not bad considering.

Back to the OP - is it still the case that as soon as you think about adding anything to a circuit you technically are supposed to give building control £800 to allow you to be inspected for a Part-P certificate otherwise your solicitor will tell you your house is unsaleable in modern Britain so you need to buy insurance against any comeback?

Or have we moved on?
Last edited by: Crankcase on Mon 13 Apr 15 at 10:36
 Wiring an outside lamp - VxFan
>> Any electricians out there confirm this is all ok and the way to go.

If you happen to have some old twin and earth cable (black and red coloured cables) still kicking around that doesn't tell tales then great. However if you use the newer stuff (blue and brown) then IIRC it needs to be tested and certified by a competent electrician to verify the work has been done correctly. You are also supposed to let your local council know before you start if you're installing new circuits or electrical equipment outside your house.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Crankcase
And to add, I fell across this the other day. There are other links of course, this one just has bullet points, for those who like me are hard of understanding.

www.windowsactive.com/domestic-site-safety-the-focus-of-cdm-regulations/

Looks like you now have to Do a Load of Things you didn't have to do before this April if you do anything much constructioney in the house. This may or may not be a good thing.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Fullchat
I've done a fair bit of electrical work (although not qualified :S ) and you are spot on with your intentions.
I've discovered these: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KhBoxgyXgI

I've updated and replaced a lot of the circuits in a house I am doing up at the moment. I've utilised these connectors and they are really good.

Of course I will have to get the upgrade checked and certified.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Cliff Pope

>>
>> Of course I will have to get the upgrade checked and certified.
>>

Of course you will.
All my work has been direct replacement on a like for like basis, or else I get a previous owner to do it thirty years ago with old-colour wiring.
 Wiring an outside lamp - tyrednemotional
>> If you happen to have some old twin and earth cable (black and red coloured
>> cables) still kicking around that doesn't tell tales then great. However if you use the
>> newer stuff (blue and brown) then IIRC it needs to be tested and certified by
>> a competent electrician to verify the work has been done correctly. You are also supposed
>> to let your local council know before you start if you're installing new circuits or
>> electrical equipment outside your house.
>>

The regulations were tightened up over the last 20 years or so to make a very large amount of electrical work notifiable (and in support of the distressed electricians fund; it being effectively not cost-effective to have anyone but a qualified self-certifying electrician do it, as notifiable work also needs to be certified ;-))

As at least partially external work, I believe the work in the OP would in the past have been notifiable.

However, it must have been proving a nightmare to police (or maybe the admin was just to much) as the regulations have recently been loosened-up again.

Very little is now notifiable (and thus certifiable) other than addition/replacement of the consumer unit, addition of a new circuit (to the consumer unit), and work in notifiable locations (broadly, within a given distance of a bath or shower).

All work (even DIY) should still conform to the current edition of the wiring regulations, which are worthwhile researching for both safety and legal purposes.

Though no expert, AIUI, the proposed work would currently not conform if the new "spur" is being taken off an existing spur (you can't spur off a spur) as opposed to being a new spur inserted into a ring-main (though the mix of main and lighting circuits may have some play in this).

 Wiring an outside lamp - Fursty Ferret
Yes, much good advice in wiring regulations but ultimately take a pragmatic approach and apply common sense during work.

My new-build was entirely signed off from an electrical point of view, but when I moved in I realised that the washing machine was connected to the supply side of the fused spur, breaking the ring main and leaving it permanently live and protected only by the 32A breaker.

Given a kitchen regularly demands 8kW or more, it should never have happened, nor should it have passed inspection. The law is somewhat woolly too - it says "competent" person, not "qualified". I suspect the reverse took place here.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Dave
Just put a regular plug on the end of the light wire, and plug it in a suitable socket.
 Wiring an outside lamp - CGNorwich
OK thanks do the advice.

Have just finished installing and working fine.

In answer to points raised.

It's a 150 W halogen lamp. In mitigation I would say that it didn't cost me anything and has been sitting on the garage shelf for 10 years. At say 5 minutes a day usage nor really worth buying LED. Payback time would be sometime after I'm dead.

I have put a 3 amp fuse in connection unit

I don't think it needs inspection or approval. it's' a spur from a radial circuit not a spur from a spur and is therefore specifically exempt from inspection requirements.


Not sure 20 feet of flex draped across the garage would be the ideal solution.



 Wiring an outside lamp - No FM2R
>>Not sure 20 feet of flex draped across the garage would be the ideal solution.

On that point in isolation, there is no reason why the flex should not be fixed and fitted, just so its connected to the house wiring via a plug and socket, then its not part of the house wiring.
 Wiring an outside lamp - tyrednemotional

>> On that point in isolation, there is no reason why the flex should not be
>> fixed and fitted, just so its connected to the house wiring via a plug and
>> socket, then its not part of the house wiring.
>>

Indeed. Prior to the recent reversion to a lighter touch, as stated above, addition to external wiring was subject to notification (and therefore certification).

A number of DIY places sold kits (with armoured cable if necessary), specifically designed to plug into an existing interior socket, rather than be permanently connected; an approach deemed to bypass any notification and certification issues.

An ex-colleague of mine wired his greenhouse thus.

But to reiterate my post of above, very little now falls into the notification and certification category (since, I think, April 2013) though some electricians will still maintain otherwise.
 Wiring an outside lamp - CGNorwich
"On that point in isolation, there is no reason why the flex should not be fixed and fitted, just so its connected to the house wiring via a plug and socket, then its not part of the house wiring."

No technical reason, its just the same as a spur via fused connection but the socket is inconveniently located and the light would permanently utilise one of the sockets. Not totally convinced you should use flex as a long time solution either.
 Wiring an outside lamp - Ted

I have two redundant downlighters above the garage doors...no weather issues. These are wired into an old PIR unit which is wired into a normal plug. The double socket is just inside the door.

I use one of the sockets to keep the caravan powered up and the other to work the lights.

Either can be unplugged to use a power tool or other item.

No problems so far.
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