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I am considering getting remotely controlled light switches for rooms. So I can have flexibility in figuring out where to put the switches and also save the hassle of wiring a physical switch. I can't seem to find anything about building regulations for RF/Wifi switches. Has anyone used these in their properties? Example below.

What is the typical amount of lumens for various rooms of a house. I have seen great variations for the same rooms on line.

We are seeking to put in some additional double sockets and spotlights in our newbuild. Builder initially said it would be c. £60 for each double socket. He is now saying £120! The schneider sockets themselves cost c. £20 each, but £120 sounds like a lot for some wiring. We are also being told £130 for each additional spotlight. Again the fitting is not driving the cost here.... Any advice appreciated. many thanks, Steve

Hi, I am thinking of fitting LED strip lighting around the perimeter of some of the rooms in my new build. In a false ceiling downstairs and in the ceiling service void upstairs - not sure of details of plasterboarding yet. I want to give an additional layer of indirect/soft light. Has anyone done this? I am looking for the dimensions of the channel. It will be around 10cm vertically (top to bottom) and will run the entire length of the wall but how deep? I have attached an electrical plan. I may run a curtain on the two large windows behind the dining table so I am thinking 25cm deep for the large kitchen dining living room - would give me plenty of space to put curtains and a strip in the recess. I was thinking 12.5cm would be OK for all the rest of the spaces as I will not have blinds or curtains in them. As always help is appreciated. Thanks Stephen Elec Plan.pdf

Hi there, just joined the forum and hoping to get some advice for the extension I'm currently planning. I’m having some plans drawn up for a ground floor extension, with a basement built underneath. We're comparing the basement option with a loft conversion, the main advantage of the basement being that it would give us more space and be cooler in the summer. The main disadvantages are of course cost and light. The basement will have 2 bedrooms and a bathroom with a staircase to get upstairs to the living room and kitchen area, and a shared light well for the two bedrooms with an external staircase to get into the garden. I’m struggling to know how deep the light well needs to be to let in enough light to make the two bedrooms a pleasant space. Currently on the designs it is 1800mm deep, spanning the width of the house. However, I would like to make the ground floor extension bigger without taking much more out of our back garden, so I'm thinking of making the lightwell smaller and adding some adjustable LED daylight panels (Lindby Kjetil LED ceiling panel 120 x 30 cm | Lights.co.uk) into the basement bedrooms. I have attached the first design draft, although internal things will move it gives a good idea of what we’re looking at. On the front/rear elevation page you can also see the loft conversion which we are considering. Some changes of note that we will make compared to this first draft: basement will be under the living area, dining area will be removed to create a bigger utility and we want to make the living area a little bigger to comfortably have a dining table in the living area. Does anyone have some experience of how deep a light well should be to let in a nice amount of light? Would the LED panels on daylight setting be good enough to compliment the natural light to make the basement rooms feel light? The rear garden (and therefore light well) are south facing. Also considering adding a shower en suite to one of the bedrooms by using the end of the light well which would reduce the size even further (approx 1.2m on one side). plans.pdf Thanks!

Finally starting to look at our lighting now that the build has started. We have a 4.5m long wall that I’d like to wash with light using a hidden led light strip, ideally something like the image attached. Hopefully the buildhub community can nudge me in the right direction for what I need to achieve this or at least help me explain this to my spark while sounding as if I have a semblance of knowing what I’m talking about. ?

Hi all - after much searching online, I have found the lights I'd like to put in our sitting room when our house is built (start in Jan after 2 years planning!). They are the ones in the picture, but they come with a cable and plug, and inline switch. In the other picture, it seems like these same lights have been adapted to be hard-wired. Is this a relatively simple thing for an electrician to do? Or do I need to go and find some other lights?!

Just trying to sort light switch locations and if we decide to have motion sensors in d/s toilet and long corridor with three rooms off it do I still need light switches adjacent to rooms as back up or can I do away with them completely? TIA

Hi all, I've wired upstairs bathrooms (3) with Enlite E5 led lamps - all good except possibly the main bathroom which is on the bright side (dimmer switch will sort that out). I have 3 rooms downstairs to do now - kitchen, office & utility. I am keen to inject a bit more science into the calcs here. So I know the lumens & angle of the Enlite E5's and room / desk / worktop heights but what I can't seem to get sorted is how big the splay is on the floor / desk / worktop. I know its a cone of light of various depths (floor / desk / worktop) - does anyone know what the formula for this is? I've found one or two sites that work out the splay but they use their led's and I'd like to get it onto a spreadsheet so I can look at various manufacturers alternative bulbs. Thanks for any light you can shed on the required calculations. CC

Hey there, Just wondering what people have used / could recommend for some simple lighting control. I have a large open plan room that has Kitchen, Dining and Lounge in it. There are (or will be!) 9 separate lighting circuits that I'd like to control via 4 or so preset scenes. I'd like to avoid having a bank of light switches which no one (except me) knows what they all do! I'm not looking for a whole house system just something that can be used for this one area. Cost as always comes into the equation as, whilst I'd love to have a Savant or Crestron system I don't have the ££££ to spend. I've been looking at the Lightwave RF system which you can use smart switches that can then be controlled via a Scene selector switch, basically put the bank of 8 switches in the back of a cupboard and have the Scene selector switch in the usual switch place, there's a mini control box that needs to be on network as well. For a 8 circuit system I've been quoted approx £450. Does anyone have any experience with LightwaveRF? good/bad? or any suggestions of alternative systems that you're using / would recommend? Thanks Alex

I would like to re-design outside lighting. At present I have 4 separate PIR LED wall lights, the stainless steel up-and-down tube type a flood further away. Also some manual switched flush led lights over the front door I would like the front door ones to switch on automatically at dusk and off at midnight, or if this is too challenging, then stay on all night. One of the wall lights on a narrow path alongside the house has a c.150deg catchment, so one is past it before it wakes up to one's presence. Needs adapting with a separate Spectra200 detector perhaps. Please advise if this is best strategy and recommendations for specific kit required. Thanks

Ploughing through the FF (first-fix, first fix) electrics today. Met a very nice lady from a lesser know electrics chain. She likes to say Yesss. Anyway, looking through the catalogue I see Hager do a thing called Klik lighting So, what's more natural than searching BH for reference to it? Nada, nichts, nothing. However, there are some on here who'll know every last detail, every last reason why I should use it, and why not. This is what I was looking at The question is, should I use this system to run my 6A lighting circuits? Ian

Hi All I'm pondering how I get my cable runs (lighting and power) from 1st floor to ground floor. Particularity the lighting runs which are in large part on vaulted areas. In a "normal" house you have the ability to run your cables clipped down the roof trusses but with a fully insulated frame thats a no go. Plus the counter battens make it trickier still. As we are running radial circuits for lighting and power I've got a fair few runs to get to the ground floor. I'm thinking I'm going to have to come down the walls at strategic points but how does that work with safe zones? I'd be interested to know what others have done? A few pics in illustration:

Another pondering question from me I'm just thinking about first fix electrics. We're going for radial circuits for all loads, including lighting. The lighting will be controlled by Cbus Dimmers and Relays back at the cabinet as required. I've done a few 1st fix wiring jobs over the years (inc three with Cbus) and always used 1.5mm cable to allow for potential loads from say large banks of halogen downlighters. BUT, with the LED and low voltage being commonplace (and part of regs) I really cant see much point going over 1.00mm now for the lighting radials to each room. Max run is going to be circa 25m. All enclosed in service voids (uninsulated) behind pb. I know the benefits are pretty limited. Perhaps only; 1)Slightly Cheaper 2)Easier to run 3)More room in the cabinet. Am I missing something?

I have a long winding 45m access path, including a zigzag that would be the envy of any Tour de France cyclist, to achieve height gain between trees and not to disturb their valued roots. I would like to have lighting on the path, and have identified some post lights that might fit the bill, both separate lights and plug and play 'kit systems'. I would prefer to use LED lights. I would like them to have PIR detectors that would switch them on at either end - but that may not be feasible. I would prefer to use low voltage SELV, and to power the transformer within the house, but I am not clear what cable might be required for this - the consensus on the thread 24V DC or 110V AC or 240V AC in the garden? seems to favour 240v since this curtails the size of cable. I have put in ducting, in which I oculd run pond cable as suggested by JSH in another thread here: OTOH 240v seems to present more complex installation issues, which I would be most happy to avoid. I look forward to reading your learned opinions.

A bout of local petty-crime nonsense has prompted me to install CCTV. God, what a can of worms! Within the limitation of daytime CCTV, has anyone any experience of solar-powered CCTV? The idea appeals to me, but I thought I'd test that appeal here first before launching the idea on the ultimate authority. SWMBO. Bless her.