Electrics for garden lighting?

[Fleety]

Hi there,

I'd like to wire up my garden so I can have garden lights and possibly a water feature. However, I've no idea where to start with this! Do I need an extension cable from an internal socket? (My nearest socket is in my bedroom, which backs onto the garden). Does the external wire need special casing or trunking, to protect it from knawing animals and the weather?! Where would the external cable run to?

I appreciate I need an electrician for this job, but would like to have a good idea first as to what should be done, so I know a little bit what I'm talking about!

Many thanks,
Caroline

 

[telectrix]

ideally you would have an outside socket ( for lawnmowers etc. ) . and armoured cable in the garden supplying points for lights and water features. these points can be sockets or adaptable boxes (hard wired accessories).

 

[Engineer54]

To be honest, there are many safe ways and methods to provide garden lighting and power. An extension lead off of a 13A socket outlet isn't one of them. By far the best method for a bog basic set-up is to provide a small sub-main direct buried in a cable duct from your distribution board to a convenient point/position in the garden, to a small weatherproof CU. But everything depends very much on what you want and more importantly what you want to spend on such a garden set-up.


You have given very little information in your post. do you have an outbuilding, a covered deck area, where you would like to control these garden lights and pond pumps etc from??
The normal method of wiring garden lights etc, is by SWA cable (steel wire armoured) to connection IP rated boxes and appropriate flex to the actual light fittings etc...

 

[bugsy]

As a step by step guide
1: Decide on the lighting you require , highlighting any garden features, water features etc and make a rough sketch
2: Phone 2 or 3 local registered electricans and get written quotes.

Your garden is deemed a special location and any work will require notification, you may obtain advice from this forum but you know what say about a little knoledge

 

[tombrooker84]

I recently wired in some garden lights and a pond pump. I ran a separate circuit into a wise box. A wise box allows you to split your feed into 4 switchable channels, which are remotely controlled via a switch and remote control unit. I got mine of a website called mr resistor, it was suprisingly easy to set up and a good solution to having multiple garden lights and pumps on different switches.

Kind Regards

Tom

 

[bugsy]

I hope it was RCD / RCBO protected

 

[Engineer54]

I recently wired in some garden lights and a pond pump. I ran a separate circuit into a wise box. A wise box allows you to split your feed into 4 switchable channels, which are remotely controlled via a switch and remote control unit. I got mine of a website called mr resistor, it was suprisingly easy to set up and a good solution to having multiple garden lights and pumps on different switches.

Kind Regards

Tom

Sounds like a neat little system that!! ...What sort of money was this ''wise box''??

 

[telectrix]

should not be too bad. a remote control IP65 socket is about £20. iv'e got 2 in the garden.

 

[bugsy]

4 channel box c/w wall switch and remote ( both wireless ) approx £ 200.00

 

[Engineer54]

4 channel box c/w wall switch and remote ( both wireless ) approx £ 200.00

Cheaper to buy 4 of Tel's wireless controlled IP 65 sockets!! That is just a little too expensive to make it viable for most houseowners....

 

[tombrooker84]

I bought it for £139, it came with a remote and switch. Alternatively Byron do one with just a remote and wireless 4 channel receiver that is on £60.

 

[tombrooker84]

alternatively you can get a 4 channel receiver and remote from byon for around 60 quid. It's very simlar to the wise box without the mounted switch and just the remote

 

[Fleety]

Thanks all for your really helpful advice. You guys certainly know your stuff! I'll digest some of this and chat to an electrician about it.
Cheers,
Caroline

 

[telectrix]

remote control ( e.g.as prior posts ) is the way to go. you can sit in the house and just switch the features on without missing 1 second of constipation street. impresses the neighbours no end. coloured PAR38 or LED spike lights give a great effect to shrubbery etc.

 

[Fleety]

remote control ( e.g.as prior posts ) is the way to go. you can sit in the house and just switch the features on without missing 1 second of constipation street. impresses the neighbours no end. coloured PAR38 or LED spike lights give a great effect to shrubbery etc.

How did you know I liked constipation street? I am sold on this idea!

 

[Knobhead]

Sold! To the lady glued to the television!

 

[telectrix]

make sure any remote equipment is radio wave, not infra-red. as with infra -red, it won't work through walls or glass so you could miss a vital part where something actually happens (but don't hold your breath)

 

[La Poste]

Are these switching units dimmable?

It would be nice to have a garden set up with colour changing LED's that are dimmable all controlled via a remote control although I don't know how much all this would cost.

If not colour changing LED's then sets of different coloured LED's that you can control individually to change the mood of the garden, mix the red green and blue to suit your own tastes.

This is what I would like to do but have not researched it much yet.

The other way I guess is just to hard wire from the house with a set of dimmers controlling each group of coloured lights you know three individual supply cables wired to dimmers at the house and run down the garden to an enclosed weatherproof box containing transformers which then lead to each light.

Volt drop might be an issue on low voltage lighting if the low voltage supply cables to each light are quite long, depending on how much power each light will use IE what current it will draw.

I like that Mr resistor website very much but it is a bit pricey.

 

[ackbarthestar]

Wisebox is one of the better remote rf controllers. You could use 'easyswitch' which about a 3rd of the price but does not have the range.
Better still, use the controller to fire up a contactor then you will be able to control just about anything from lights, sockets, water features and you would only need one channel

 

[La Poste]

Better still, use the controller to fire up a contactor then you will be able to control just about anything from lights, sockets, water features and you would only need one channel

But not individually right, I mean with one channel how would you control all these features individually?
Could you explain a bit more about how this would work?
Thanks