Appliances Renovation

Indoor and Outdoor Lightings: Spot lights, Pelmet lighting, Auxiliary lighting

The home lighting system consists mainly of lighting circuits devoted to supplying fixed lighting only. Other lighting is sometimes termed auxiliary lighting, but in some rooms this may, in fact, constitute the main lighting.

Auxiliary lighting comprises spot lights, pelmet lighting and other special lighting and effects. This lighting can often be more conveniently supplied from the ring circuit via a special fused outlet. Table lamps and floor standards arealsosupplied from a ring circuit via plugs and socket-outlets. An advantage of supplying this type of lighting from a ring circuit, apart from convenience in wiring, is that room and other area lighting is supplied from two circuits, so that in the event of a fuse blowing the room is not blacked out.

Lighting circuits

A lighting circuit consists of a number of lighting points individually controlled by switches. These are usually fixed to the wall near the access door but in some instances, such as in the bathroom, the lighting control is from a cord-operated switch fixed to the ceiling.

Some lights, especially the landing light, and the general light in a bedroom, are controlled by two switches. For the landing light, one switch is on the landing, the other in the hall. In the bedroom, the second switch is usually at the bedhead. Two- switch control of a light is known as ‘2-way switching‘ which is a special switching circuit.

A light can also be controlled by three or more switches located in different positions. This is termed ‘intermediate switching‘ and is a development of the 2-way switching circuit by the insertion of special switches in intermediate positions. The switches are termed intermediate switches.

Maximum lights for a circuit

A lighting circuit has a current rating of 5A which is the maximum current that the circuit may carry at any given time. As lights on a circuit are switched on and off when required and the wattage of the bulbs inserted in the lampholders of lighting fittings varies with the situation and the requirements of the household, a method of current assessment has been worked out to ensure that a lighting circuit is unlikely to be overloaded. Assessment is made on the basis of the number of lamp- holders. For instance, a plain pendant has one lampholder whereas a multi-light fitting has two, three or more lampholders.

Each lampholder is then assessed at 100 W where the bulb in the lampholder is no more than of 100 W rating. Where larger bulbs are fitted, the actual wattage is used in the calculation. The total effective wattage of a 5 A lighting circuit is 1200 W. This is obtained by multiplying the current rating of the circuit (5 A) by the voltage of the supply, which in the UK is 240 volts, giving: 1200W

If no lampholder has a bulb larger than 100 W a lighting circuit may have 12 lamp- holders.

Number of lighting points and lighting circuits

To allow for a number of multi-light fittings and perhaps a couple of 150 W bulbs, the number of lighting points to a circuit in the home should not exceed eight but preferably no more than six. The fewer lights on a circuit the less the inconvenience should a fuse blow. Also, by having only six lights on a circuit when originally wired there is greater scope for the addition of extra lighting points.

The lighting in the home should be divided fairly evenly over two circuits which for the average 2-storey house means a circuit for each floor. In a bungalow or flat the lighting can be divided over two circuits as desired with the main living rooms being supplied from both circuits where they have more than one light.

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