500w outside lamp. Where to take supply?

Hi.

I'm about to put up one of those boring black 500w halogen lamps with a PIR sensor above the back door. But, will adding 500w to the lighting circuit be too much? I have access to both the lighting circuit and the ring main at this point, so which would it be bettter to take the feed from? Yes, it will be switched.

Logic, of course, says lights from the lighting circuit. I just wonder if 500w more is a big addition. It's not a big house and all the lights run off of one single lighting circuit. My heart says it would be OK but I just want a second opinion.

Thanks folks.

Reply to
Mike Barnard
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Work out the existing load on the lighting circuit and see what's left from 1150W (5A * 230v.)

On a different note, do you really need a 500W lamp? If it's right over the back door it'll be blinding as you face the house and irritating to neighbours if it's over the level of the fence (assuming you have neighbours, natch!) I used to have a 150W job over the garage and that was more than bright enough to illuminate the driveway and would be more than adequate for an average size patio.

Also, they do some good oval headed ones these days that direct the light downwards to give a more defined pool of light. If you do have a large area to illuminate, consider mounting a 500W job higher up.

Reply to
Scott M

500W halogen lights are unsuited to domestic environments. They cause light pollution, use excessive amounts of electricity, are a nuisance to neighbours and can be a road safety hazard.

Why do you want to install such a system? Perhaps a more environmentally friendly and more neighbourly solution will present itself.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Having the consumer unit near to where I wanted my light and having a spare position in it, I ran a separate feed, but at my old house, I used a switch fused spur from the upstairs ring main.

-- troubleinstore

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Reply to
troubleinstore

500W is 2 amps (near enough) Your lighting circuit is probably 6.

To work out the loading, add together all the wattage of the existing lamps and devide by 230. That will give you the load on the circuit.

Unless you live in perpetual Stygian gloom, I'd say your existing circuit will be near the limit and you'll have to make other arrangements for your floodlight.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Why 5A * 230V, MCBs are rated at 6A so why not 6A * 230V ?

John

Reply to
John Smith

Unless you (the OP) have switched from conventional to low-energy lights, in which case, it's quite hard to hit anywhere near 4A, unless you'r really, really keen.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

Would anyone in their right mind use low energy lamps indoors, and a 500 watt 'security' flood?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Because the flood is only on for 2 mins/day, and the other lights 700 min?

Reply to
Ian Stirling

hi mike, use a switched fused spure fed from the ring main this way it will be no problem. if the 500W is not big enough use 2 joke. this fitting will acept 300W lamps regards bob

Reply to
burbeck

Yes, you're right. I was thinking in terms of fuse-wire rather than MCBs for some reason.

Reply to
Scott M

Won't be if it's on a PIR, it'll be on and off all the time.

Reply to
Tim Mitchell

Every cat. Every bird. Every spider. Every car...

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

try 60w or 100w, or if youre real brave, 150w halogen. 500w can light up an entire commercial car park.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

That depends on how the PIR is set up. Decent ones have sensitivity and latency controls. .andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

In article , Andy Hall writes

500W floods tend to come with the cheapest crappiest PIRs attached. I've never seen one with anything other than time & light level controls.
Reply to
Tim Mitchell

Until the neighbours get annoyed by it and throw a rock at the bubble...

I'll also echo your other post Christain. Why does the OP think they need 1/2 a kilo watt of light at their back door? Security, don't make me laugh. All that level of light does is destroy any night vision, make any shadows black enough to hide a bus and blind any vistors as they approach and it switches on.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Note "neighbours" in this context can be miles away. One the farms below us has a yard lamp that they leave on, on a clear star gazy night catching this very bright source of light in the corner of your eye is really annoying.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Of course, a PIR designed to cover an area that a 500W halogen is suitable for (i.e. half a football pitch) couldn't possibly be adjusted to accurately only activate when a human was present, even if the controls were provided.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

I was talking about decent PIRs, envisaging that one would use separate ones to the lamps. The better lamps come without PIRs anyway and I wasn't really thinking about 500W ones.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

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