Exterior lighting

[LadyArowana]

Happily electrickery is not something that I am ever tempted to meddle with, unless it's very very minimal like changing a plug or switchy thing on a lamp. I'm sure lots of people do though, and I wonder if the result really does kill off many people a year? Not talking about people who expire during the work but afterwards because it's badly done. In "ye olden days", before IP ratings and the like, were people really dropping like flies in bathrooms and kitchens around the UK? I often think that humans as a species are especially bad at risk assessment, people who are quite content to smoke, eat and drink to excess and cross the road talking on the phone will come over all 'elf and safety at the sight of a non regulation height letterbox!

A lot of things that were done in the past wouldn't pass muster now, but also wouldn't kill you. The top floor of our house was wired with what the sparks referred to affectionately as "about as sensible as wet string", and the fusebox was old style, BUT it wasn't actually dangerous. They told me it would be annoying if you wanted to use a hairdryer and anything much else as it would overload and trip and then you would have to "do something in the box" but nobody was going to die...... probably. I had them rewire the whole thing. The closest anyone came to death was by heart attack when I snuck upstairs to take some pictures of what was happening and the automatic flash on the camera went off. Both guys leapt out of their respective rooms to go and check on the other, luckily they could see the funny side of finding me on the landing with my Canon, particulalry when I explained that I had taken care to be quiet on the squeaky stairs so I didn't disturb them. Moments after this :shock: :shock: .

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: Brilliant, I bet you gave them quite a fright. I enjoyed reading your post during this insomniac night of pain in my vale of tears

I don't get upset about wiring or electrickery, I can see Chris's wiring is much better than the previous owner's ( who dug a trench down to Grantham and put in an electric pipe and connected it to the cottage, all as a DIY job). Chris is scarily clever, has a no expense spared attitude, and is very light and nimble on his feet for our fragile reed floored attic. And, even better when it comes to him being our sparky, he doesn't whinge and moan about the location of the consumer unit as some of the electricians I've had round here have done.

Nobody would ever buy this cottage without a hearty sense of adventure and a stout heart, wiring would be the absolute least of their concerns.

If Zebra's reading though - not very keen on breaking the law - so it's legal to alter the wiring of a wall light into a ceiling light in a bedroom or living room? Or create a light where there was none by channelling new wires into the system, as long as not a kitchen or bathroom? But taking a wire through the scullery to the outside wall for an external light isn't really allowed?

 

[worms]

Joce, £300 per light?! :shock:

Chris...has a no expense spared attitude

Sounds like you pair are a perfect match!

 

[Feltwell]

I enjoyed reading your post during this insomniac night of pain in my vale of tears

Oh dear - doesn't sound good.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for your sympathy Feltwell. Extreme girly troubles, but I think they'll eventually be sorted by surgery and a good big dollop of retail therapy.

 

[Feltwell]

You forgot chocolate. Mrs F assures me this is the answer to a whole variety of female ills.

 

[JoceAndChris]

She sounds like a wise lady

 

[Zebra]

If Zebra's reading though - not very keen on breaking the law - so it's legal to alter the wiring of a wall light into a ceiling light in a bedroom or living room? Or create a light where there was none by channelling new wires into the system, as long as not a kitchen or bathroom? But taking a wire through the scullery to the outside wall for an external light isn't really allowed?

The wiring in a bedroom or living room can be altered, adding a new light point for example, without the work being "notifiable" to Building Control or having to be done by a Part P registered spark. It should however be done by a "competent person." All wiring outdoors however, as well as all wiring in kitchens and bathrooms, is "notifiable." This means that strictly speaking, you would either have to notify Building Control that you were going to do it, and have them come and check it, or you would have to use a registered sparky.
Now, if you didn't follow the rules and did it yourself, what would happen? Well, with a project as minor as running a cable through the wall to an outside light it's unlikely that anything would happen. With a more major project, if you later were to try to sell the house and there was evidence of recent wiring which clearly ought to have been notified, such as wiring to a shed or outhouse, or a kitchen extension for example, the surveyor might pick it up and you could be asked for the certification. You as a householder wouldn't be prosecuted under the law.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Zebra - thanks so much for that nice and clear explanation, that's what we thought but it's good to have it from someone who knows.

For big projects I'll get a qualified sparky, but for this I think we'll just carry on lawlessly. There's a good chance it will all be massively changed and rewired and rebuilt for an en suite extension anyhow, when our Leeds house finally gets sold.

 

[Zebra]

Meanwhile, as to exterior lighting, I don't know. I had thought that I would have those carriage lantern type things. They're cheap, but I quite like these type of thing, if you could find a good quality one:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/cambridge-hanging-wall-light-matt-black-ip23/59894?_requestid=2839749

 

[LadyArowana]

Meanwhile, as to exterior lighting, I don't know. I had thought that I would have those carriage lantern type things. They're cheap, but I quite like these type of thing, if you could find a good quality one:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/cambridge-hanging-wall-light-matt-black-ip23/59894?_requestid=2839749

How about something like this, http://www.broughtons.com/store/product/76370/Parish-Wall-Light/

 

[skier-hughes]

We have similar to those from Broughton's.

 

[JoceAndChris]

That's nice - elegant and simple. Fixed on brass though, the person who had this house built organised a lot of brass fittings that are still going strong (door furniture on about 14 doors, fireplace details, bells etc) so I've decided to carry on with antiqued or antique brass throughout. It's been fun finding locks and loo chains and fireplace accessories from the 19th C and using modern antiqued brass for things that weren't invented back then.

Thanks to the help in this thread we've been able to make up our minds at last and have ordered this.


http://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/ProductDetail/5081/Stable-Light

 

[Feltwell]

That's nice - 'kin expensive though! Still, you get what you pay for I suppose.......

This thread has helped me to decide to finally get shot of the ugly security lamp on the front of Feltwell Towers. I've spotted a nice, 1950's (at a guess) outside lamp that will look good, just waiting for the auction to end.....

 

[Flyfisher]

Thanks to the help in this thread we've been able to make up our minds at last and have ordered this.

http://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/ProductDetail/5081/Stable-Light

Lovely choice, Joce.

Their suggestion for a low-energy lamp for £10 seems a bit excessive though. Presumably that's for one that looks similar to the old incandescents. It's a shame they don't offer frosted glass for that fitting so that standard CFLs could be used without being seen.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Bit worried about fitting the light with a low energy bulb. Won't it mean I have to hang round the frozen garden with all the midnight ghosties waiting for the light to grow bright enough to find my key under all make up and eggs and sweet wrappers in my bag? :?

Thanks for nice comments though - Feltwell - that sounds good, hope you win the auction, piccies please.

 

[Flyfisher]

Modern CFLs don't take as long to brighten up as they used to, but I take your point (I have an old one in my study and it's ridiculously slow to light up the room). Anyway, if the lamp is connected via a PIR sensor then the energy savings will be negligible, though incandescents are increasingly hard to find these days.

 

[philpjuk100]

Just bought an led lamp from Lidl supermarket,it was £6 and in eddison screw fitting,it is for lighting an indoor stair and is only three watts but gives full light instantly and is brighter than the 15 watt "golf ball" it replaced and looks neater than some of the cfl lamps being a small sphere.I used to have an led in this light previously which was a cool blue and had a short life,this gives a soft white light and claims to have a long life! after getting through quite a lot of cfls I have kept the box and recipt!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

We have some CFLs in our main bathroom.

They are the usually ugly ones, but very bright and almost instant-on. You can get them - and they advertise this feature as a virtue.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

though incandescents are increasingly hard to find these days.

I stocked up in huge quantities... I could let you have a couple, nudge-nudge wink-wink. :wink: