Can you add lighting connection to mains ring ?

[mi-key]

As per title - wife has bought a new light for the kitchen and its metal so needs earthing. The house has 60's wiring so there is no earth to the lights ( yes I know it should all be replaced, and it will be in the near future ! ).

So, other than running a seperate earth from the main fuse box all the way to the light, can a spur be taken off the mains sockets ring ( in the loft in a bungalow so easy to access ) to feed the light.

She also wants a metal light switch for it, which would also need earthing, so this would kill two birds with one stone as I can just put completely new wiring in for the kitchen light without having to mess around with the other rooms.

Assuming ( ! ) that its quite possible to just plug something like a desktop lamp into a socket, is there any reason why the spur cant come off the mains ring ?

Would I need to put an FCU first ( after the junction box and before the lightswitch and light ) or could it be done directly without needing this ?.

Appreciate any advice.

 

[matty0908]

The reason you should not connect a light to the ring is that the ring has a 30A fuse or c/b. A fault in the light would need to pull 30A before the fuse blows - by which time it may have done something interesting - liek melted the wires!!!!

Practically what you say can be done, not sure about Part P though, but be sure to use a 5A fused conneciton unit off the ring between the ring and the light.

Kitchen fitters often install kitchen cupboard lights this way!

 

[sm1thson]

my thoughts are a main light should be on the lighting circuit, undercuboard lights fair enough on the ring via an fcu. and given that:

She also wants a metal light switch for it, which would also need earthing

this is going to involve removing the old cable and putting a new one in and will take a fair bit of time, so my feelings are its worth taking the extra (if any) effort it will take to keep the light on the light circuit.

 

[mi-key]

Thanks both - changing the light switch cable is easy enough as its a bungalow and the cable just runs down a plastic conduit in the wall, so its quite easily assessable from the loft.

Might be easier for now just to run an earth to the main fuse box and get it done properly once the place is rewired !

 

[kai]

Running the new light off the ring via a 3amp switched FCU has a big advantage, if a bulb elsewhere in the bungalow blows and pops the lighting MCB breaker, at least one light will still be available for use! (and the FCU can act as a light switch too).