Do you really want halogen downlights
Oh no, Steve! BAS has finally got to you!
i want to put 8 downlights in my lounge. it will be replacing a ceiling rose. the downlights wont be low voltage through a transformer.
could someone tell me how best to wire these up and where the switch wire etc goes
The ceiling rose will need to be replaced by a 4-terminal junction box. You will need to mark up and take note of the existing wiring, and then transfer it across to the aforementioned junction box. The existing 2-core flex that feeds the lampholder from the ceiling rose will need to be removed, and the supply to your new lighting wired from the same terminals that the flex used to occupy, using 1.0 or 1.5mm twin + earth. The earth should be connected at the junction box and
NOT trimmed back, and as always, it should be sleeved green/yellow.
I would suggest you use something like
this to make all your connections. It is designed to push up through the hole made for the downlight, therefore it can be wired from a ladder and then pushed into the ceiling void before the light fitting is clipped into place. Note that you should not bury the junction box under the floor where it will not be accessible for maintenance in the future.
If your new fittings use one transformer per light then you will need to loop the new T+E cable in and out of the 230v side of each transformer. If the terminals and cable grip are spacious then you may get away with it using 1.0mmsq cable, otherwise you're going to need to use a junction box for every light fitting. Once again, even if not used, all earth wires should be connected together and be continuous from the ceiling rose to the last fitting. As only two terminals are normally provided at the lights, you may well need to purchase some additional 6A terminal block for the earths.
If you need more detail then try the WIKI.
