Kitchen lighting query.

[amfisted]

Hi All

We currently have one single 240v ceiling light in our kitchen which consists of a single bulb in a batten fitting.

I'm hoping to fit something along the lines of a bar with spotlights, so that the light can be directed to those parts of the kitchen where it's most needed, thus altering the ambience in those places where it ain't (in other words, leaving it a bit darker away from the working areas.)

Are there any rules about kitchen lighting that prohibit the installation of such fittings?

Thank you.

 

[winston1]

They were commonly fitted in kitchens but regarded as "old fashioned" now.

 

[amfisted]

Yep, this one actually fell apart when I was trying to fit a new lampshade, so I'm taking the opportunity to get rid of it altogether.

I know that bathrooms are divided into zones for the purpose of electrical installation; is there anything similar that applies to kitchens? I've checked Google and not found anything yet.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Bathrooms are zoned so that you can't hold a tap and also electrocute yourself

A kitchen light isn't a danger in that sense

But.....

I am a slob and my kitchen gets pretty grimy before my conscience makes me clean it
I have a circular fluorescent with a cover which is easy to clean
I imagine that a spotlight bar might be a dirt trap

But it's you that will be cleaning it

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

I think Mr Winston was talking about the lighting bars. Personally I love them and they serve exactly the purpose you described. There is no regulatory restriction in kitchens of the type in force for bathrooms. As always you would be advised to use common sense based on the actual environment when choosing fittings, but to my mind a normal domestic kitchen will not need anything special.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Personally I love them and they serve exactly the purpose you described.

Really ?

Do you not just cast a shadow on the lit area when working there?

A nice fluorescent (or two) is surely better.

 

[JohnW2]

Bathrooms are zoned so that you can't hold a tap and also electrocute yourself

... but not if it's a basin tap. The regulations are not known for necessarily being sensible!

Kind Regards, John

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Do you not just cast a shadow on the lit area when working there?

Not if you position them correctly. We don't get any shadows. You do have to think about what you're doing.

 

[Echo the husky]

I too have a 4 light bar that works very well, fitted with 6.5W daylight LED lamps.

 

[amfisted]

Thanks all for the responses. I'm more or less set on the solution of a bar with spotlights and I had considered the potential for standing in your own light. However, we do have some additional light sources in the kitchen which should compensate for that, so I'll go ahead and purchase one for fitting next week.

I'm surprised to hear that lighting bars might be considered old-fashioned. The batten fitting in my kitchen had been there so long that it had become brittle, and it was fixed to the rose with visible screws rather than screwed on directly, so was clearly pretty old. Hence my thinking that W must have been referring to battens.

Can someone please also explain the procedure for using a mini digital multimeter to check which cable is the switched live? There is a single neutral cable attached to one of the three terminals on the existing batten fitting, but it isn't marked with any kind of tag and I've no intention of assuming that this is the right one.

 

[John D v2.0]

To find the switched live

1. Isolate the circuit and check for dead
2. Identify the live supply terminal, in the ceiling rose is easiest but you could choose the consumer unit if it's isolated.
3. Check the continuity between there and you candidate terminal
4. Operate the light switch and check again

If the continuity changes between zero ohms and open circuit, you have identified the candidate as the switched live.

 

[EFLImpudence]

There is a single neutral cable attached to one of the three terminals on the existing batten fitting, but it isn't marked with any kind of tag and I've no intention of assuming that this is the right one.

If that is an accurate statement then the other wire will be the switched live.

How many wires of each colour are there altogether?

 

[amfisted]

Thanks both.
There are three terminals on the batten bulb holder: three live (red) wires are terminated at one terminal, two neutrals (black) at another terminal and a single neutral (black) at the third, with the three earth (green) cables terminated together at the ceiling rose.

 

[EFLImpudence]

and a single neutral at the third, with the three earth cables terminated together at the ceiling rose.

That single Black wire will be the switched live.

A neutral is the name given to the conductor that completes the circuit form the load back to the supply.
It is not a term for any Black (or Blue) wire.
Wires can be anything we want them to be; they do not know what colour they are.

 

[amfisted]

Righto, thanks.
Looks like you added your post about the colours just as I was editing mine.
;0)