Adding an additional light in hallway

[gareth]

Hi,

I've just replaced the conventional light fitting in my hall with a downlighter terminating extra wires into a chocbox and all was well exept the lighting effect is rubbish and now concluded I need to add yet another downlighter at the end of the hall where there is no exisiting light fitting.

Problem is that the I do not want to lift too many floorboards upstairs to route the cabling to the first downlighter as joists go in the opposite direction.

My question is that at this end of the hall there is a switch that controls the first downlighter and wondering if I could simply use this wiring to add the additional downlighter at this end of the hall?

Not sure if this helps but this switch has a blue and yellow wire at the top and red wire at the bottom , could I just add a junction box in the floor space and use this wiring?

Hope the above makes sense.

 

[ricicle]

I will stay out of the downlighter debate but one downlighter was never going to be enough in a hallway....

You won't be able to use the switch wiring as it sounds like it is part of a 2 way set - up and will therfore not have a Neutral

 

[flameport]

Your options are:
1. Remove floorboards and drill holes through all of the joists
2. Remove sections of ceiling and drill holes through all of the joists
3. Surface wiring along the wall at ceiling level and then fit coving to cover it.
4. Remove the useless downlighter and put a proper light in.

 

[gareth]

Great......

Your responses are music to the ears of my wife who hates downlighters but as I've started this project I would like to complete it.

A bit of info I left out my initial post was that the switch at the end of the hall was part of a double switch, the other switch seems to control my outside light but has loads of red wires going into it...would this help?

Oh and there's a black wire in the switch case that's just terminated into a wiring block.

Any advice appreciated

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Great......

Your responses are music to the ears of my wife who hates downlighters but as I've started this project I would like to complete it.

A man should always listen to his wife.

When she's right.

A bit of info I left out my initial post was that the switch at the end of the hall was part of a double switch, the other switch seems to control my outside light but has loads of red wires going into it...would this help?

Oh and there's a black wire in the switch case that's just terminated into a wiring block.

Might be a neutral, but why would it be there not connected to anything?

More likely someone needed 1 core for something and used twin & earth.

Easy to check with a multimeter though.

 

[sparkwright]

A bit of info I left out my initial post was that the switch at the end of the hall was part of a double switch, the other switch seems to control my outside light but has loads of red wires going into it...would this help?

Oh and there's a black wire in the switch case that's just terminated into a wiring block.

Loads of red wires for the outside light.

Is there just the one black wire in this connector block, or 'loads'?

 

[riveralt]

........exept the lighting effect is rubbish and now concluded I need to add yet another downlighter at the end of the hall where there is no exisiting light fitting.

Rough rule of thumb one downllighter for every metre @50watts. How many metres between the first and proposed second - cause if its more than one then your going need more downlighters = more holes more floorboards up etc. More downlighters mean more watts - you probably took out a 60w bulb now you are going to replace it with maybe 2 or more downlighters at 100watts or more

Why don't you admit defeat put a proper light in the hall and fill in the one hole before you make the mistake of two or three more holes.

 

[gareth]

Thanks riveralt, you're sounding just like my wife although just looked at the power consumption on these things and have to admit you're right,looks scary...I'm startng to waiver now. Heads telling stop but heart and pride says I must continue.

More detail on the other switch I mentioned, 2x RED at the top in the single terminal and a single RED into one of the terminals at the bottom.

There are 3x BLACK going into that terminal block.

Thanks All,

 

[SgtTrojan]

A man should always listen to his wife.

When she's right.

Are they ever wrong?

 

[riveralt]

Thanks riveralt, you're sounding just like my wife although just looked at the power consumption on these things and have to admit you're right,looks scary...I'm startng to waiver now. Heads telling stop but heart and pride says I must continue.

More detail on the other switch I mentioned, 2x RED at the top in the single terminal and a single RED into one of the terminals at the bottom.

There are 3x BLACK going into that terminal block.

Thanks All,

Lets see what was that saying about a hole and a spade and digging .....

Just so I am clear, this double gang light switch operates the outside light and the new hallway downlighter and nothing else.

Okay what you have described for the wires at the switch is that the power is being fed into the switch rather than the ceiling rose - so you have a line, neutral and earth conductor at the switch - this has probably been set up to feed your outside light.

Seems to me you have 2 options:

In theory you could run a T&E cable from this switch by connecting the brown conductor into the L1 of the gang that feeds the downlighter (I assume it is a one way switch - put it in the same terminal as the current switch wire to the downlighter). Put the blue conductor (neutral) into the terminal block with the other black conductors and the earth with the earth wires. Run this cable up to the second new downlighter and wire with brown to L blue to N and earth to earth......Lets hope you can fit the cable behind the plasterboard as it runs up to the ceiling and are able to remove the floorboards above.

Alternatively run a T&E cable from the first downlighter to the second with red/brown for L to L black/blue for N to N and earth to earth.

 

[gareth]

Thanks riveralt,

Yes that's correct, nothing other than outside light switch 1 and Switch 2 just allows alternate switching of the newly fitted downlighter.

Just a thought, before I start pulling up the upstairs carpet, floorboards etc could I just wire up the the proposed downlighter into the switch to prove that all will be well ,so I connect the nuetral into the terminal block with all the BLACK wires and the Brown wire to the L1 of the switch the BLUE wire? I guess even easier option is simply connect a multimeter across the points to confirm I get a reading?

If all goes well abpve can I then just put in a junction box in the floor space and permanently wire into the new downlighter?

Does the above make sense??

 

[1john]

multimeter - YES !!

junction box under the floor - NO

 

[securespark]

A man should always listen to his wife.

When she's right.

Are they ever wrong?

Yes. But even then, they're right.

 

[gareth]

No Junction box under floor is the final straw, off to B&Q at the weekend to swap downlghters for a flush fitting light that the wife likes, I know when I'm beat.

Thanks All for the advice

 

[riveralt]

Yes that's correct, nothing other than outside light switch 1 and Switch 2 just allows alternate switching of the newly fitted downlighter.

Its getting a bit confusing here.
To recap - you have replaced a ceiling rose light with a downligher using the switch and cables from a single gang switch in the hallway. Did this switch have anything other than one cable (red/black condcutors and earth) in the backplate? Call this switch - switch A.

There is a separate double gang switch located at the other end of the hall? Call this switch - switch B.

Switch B has one gang to the outside light and the other allows you to operate the new downlighter in a two way with switch A?

If the answer is yes, I would expect to find a grey sheathed cable with blue,red,yellow conductors running from Switch B to Switch A - is this correct?

If it is correct then the simplest way to wire the second downlighter is from the first linking L to L N to N and E to E via the floorboards.

To do what you have proposed running a switch cable from Switch B to the second downlighter would, I believe, invove the use of intermediate switches, which given your knowlege of wiring I would not suggest you do.