What is the best way to wire ceiling lights?

A truly modern, but highly utilarian, arrangement will be for ceilings to be covered with flat LED panels which uniformly light up the entire room and vastly reduce the number of shadows resulting from centrally located light fittings.


How would you wire this up?

Arran Cameron:


How would you wire this up?

Personally I wouldn't. However, it depends entirely on the number of modules how they are fixed and what access is above them - presumably it would be a ELV supply to the LED drivers and a bit of Cat 6 control


I could think of nothing worse in a domestic setting than having a uniformly lit ceiling  pretending to mimic the broad sunlit uplands


The skill with lighting is to balance the science with the art - often where we don't put ight is as important if not more so than where we do.


Regards


OMS

I have not used 3 plate for many years now, although as you say this was the training.


I now always loop the feed to every switch and take a single cable to the light, 3 core if it’s an emmergency or fan etc. 


Far easier for just about every situation. 


Cheers

This isn't!


Only 3 terminals, so why not just twist the CPCs together?


It passed the EICR tests, so what's the problem?


(Actually it didn't 'cos it was connected to the socket circuit.)


That's the problem with PIRs - you don't normally inspect the mess under the floor boards.


P.S. It's gone now.

That was standard practice in some districts, in Cheltenham I opened up a fuse board to do some work and there was not a single CPC or earth Eire within it, they were all twisted together behind the back board.


Andy Betteridge

Based upon our recent discussion, I thought that I would try looping at the switch this week - 1st floor (3 storeys) self build first fix. It worked well. ?


This demonstrates the true value of this forum for which I am most grateful. And all for nothing. ?

I must admit that my mindset was carved in late 60s/early 70s and like most of us we stick to what is familiar as "the" way to do things.

I see nothing "wrong" with looping in at the rose and that usually is my first choice but I freely admit that looping in at switch or alternatively joint box also have their merits too, you just need to think slightly differently.


Complications do arise when you do a mix about the same system or worse still on the same system.


Lighting systems therefore can be more difficult to follow and therefore fault find. It`s the switching arragement that often complicates it compared to straightforward rings and radials. In fact I met a few that  could not figure out use of three core and earth for two way switching, especially the ones who were brought up on singles. I even met two who joined a conductor at the T&E/3C& E junction in a switchbox to emulate the singles way of doing (I hope that makes sense)

In fact I met a few that  could not figure out use of three core and earth for two way switching, especially the ones who were brought up on singles. I even met two who joined a conductor at the T&E/3C& E junction in a switchbox to emulate the singles way of doing (I hope that makes sense)

I suppose this situation would be taken up by cpd. I remember some chap, who had been in the domestic arena for about 40 odd years, who once came into a particular trade counter and ask for help to understand what maximum demand was. Easily done if all you do all day is bash in chases and capping T&E all day. Its a form of atrophy.


Legh

This is where a candidate to do the job,  'with 20 years of experience' maybe still needs some sort of selection or  interview - as someone else rather tersely put it, in some cases it may be the same year  of experience  repeated 20 times. Some people do the 'CPD' thing without it needing to be formalised, because they are in a place where thay can do work that is widely varied and they are not afraid to take on new stuff and do the background reading - others are in a position where getting them to take on new methods needs more of a push, and perhaps the opportunity to branch out does not so obviously present itself.

At least the chap mentioned above had the sense to ask, which is the first step.