Re: Remote controlled mains switch

[slider]

I have 4 500w flood lamps on the outside of the house. The switch for

> these was installed inside the airing cupboard on the first floor ( > very inconvenient ). I would like to replace the switch with something > that could be remotely controlled from both inside and outside the > house . > > > any ideas. > > so far I have only found remote controlled plugs. > > > Parts

I hope these are powered from a fused spur from the ring main and not from the lighting circuit. Maximum load on the lighting circuit is 1200w

[Tim W]

slider wibbled on Friday 27 November 2009 16:01

Not necessarily true. My lighting circuits will support 2.3kW. Some might (but rare in domestic) *could* support 3.6kW.

[slider]

Lighting circuits are generally rated at 5 amps aren't they?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Doesn't that depend on the circuit breaker?

[Tim W]

slider wibbled on Friday 27 November 2009 16:40

Yes, (or 6A on an MCB rather than a fuse). But 10A and 16A circuits exist in the IEE Regs as "standard lighting circuits" and 10A circuits aren't unheard of in domestic installations.

I'm using 10A, Type C RCBOs because I want some headroom on a simple Front-house/Back-house split. The type C is for better trip resistance due to switch on surges or bulbs going pop - as I'm installing all new wiring in 1.5mm2 it's easy for me to ensure that all the respective conditions are met.

But your original note of caution is still perfectly valid if the OP (like the majority of people) does have a 5A/6A circuit :)

[robgraham]

Long before England went silly with its Prat P, I wired up a friends barn extension and fortunately hadn't got too far when I realised that his lighting load was way in excess of 5A . So the fuse (it was those then) and feed cable had to be upgraded, and I never considered that to be a problem.

Rob

[gazz]

"slider" wrote

i'd imagine since they are switched from the airing cupboard, the imersion heater circuit has been used, now whether the imersion heater is no longer present from a combi boiler being installed or not is another matter.

[Roger Mills]

. . . so why not re-wire them with plugs and sockets - then you can use plug-in remote switches?

[Rod]

Or use these:

They have a maximum load of 1000W. (But 2kW is a frightening amount of lighting for any normal house. Doubt we'd get near that if we switched on every light in the house - and outside.)

-- Rod

[christopher]

The electricity supply to the lights is not a spur and I'm not looking to use them for security, just to see in the dark without having to flog up and down stairs to turn them on .

parts

[Invisible Man]

If the airing cupboard adjoins the bath in a bathroom what do the regs say about the type of electrics allowed?