Vaulted ceilings ..... late decision .... grrrrrr

[Octopus]

working on a bungalow to chalet conversion and the customer has just decided that all the upstairs rooms will have full height vaulted ceilings ....... it’s all latest spec insulation so how best to run the feed and loops around between the switches ?

So no lofts ......

Where are safe zones apart from inline with the switches and within 150 mm of the tops of the walls .....

A PITA...

 

[telectrix]

run surface in galv conduit for the industrial "feel". .

 

[Octopus]

run surface in galv conduit for the industrial "feel". .

Hum ........... I can see that going down like a proverbial lead balloon!

 

[KEV 1 N]

Might be easier to run the mains to your switches, (from the floor) then you’ll just have the the one cable up to each light (or two at most if more lights controlled from one switch)
Also I would imagine any surface wiring/containment would have to have metal retainers in case of fire.

 

[pirate]

Varnished or painted conduits, timber preferably, between light fittings, single feed, use quinetic switches to avoid switch drops?
A pic would be helpful.

 

[telectrix]

metal retainers:

 

[Octopus]

Might be easier to run the mains to your switches, (from the floor) then you’ll just have the the one cable up to each light (or two at most if more lights controlled from one switch)
Also I would imagine any surface wiring/containment would have to have metal retainers in case of fire.

I tend to loop at switches these days ..... makes fitting pesky customer sourced lights a bit easier.....

 

[telectrix]

and here's the whole clip:

 

[Dillb]

I tend to loop at switches these days ..... makes fitting pesky customer sourced lights a bit easier.....

Nothing worse than walking in and seeing a Ikea box sat there waiting for you.

 

[pirate]

Ikea? Oh, I don't know...they provide those little "S" clips to hang the light fittings on while you join the wires with insulating tape at the top of a ladder...such a life-saver!

 

[JK-Electrical]

 

[pirate]

Don't those Ikea stores look just like big flat-packs?

 

[mydigitalhome]

Just finished a very large house with 15 vaulted ceilings, added a twin LED tape at the spring point to uplight and worked fantastic. All wiring in underfloor screed floor tray and conduit up to each socket, wired in 4mm singles. Where we needed large pendant fitting some over 120kg they were installed with metal plate and 4 x epoxy glued s/s studs direct into the ceiling and then tested for 3 weeks in accordance with the structural engineers instructions, had to be creative with the wiring. Some lighter light fittings we were able to use carabiners onto a ceiling ring. All controlled by Control4. At the end a very happy client.

 

[cliffed]

Yea,loop mains in switches,for ease.
In the 80’s it was frowned on,even niceic didn’t recommend doing it.
I got told off so many times,& basically told not to do it.
How things have changed.

 

[Toneyz]

Yea,loop mains in switches,for ease.
In the 80’s it was frowned on,even niceic didn’t recommend doing it.
I got told off so many times,& basically told not to do it.
How things have changed.

Who did you get told off by?

 

[cliffed]

Ha ha,everyone,including sparkies on site,I think I invented it,they all said it was against all the regs at the time.

 

[Dillb]

Yea,loop mains in switches,for ease.
In the 80’s it was frowned on,even niceic didn’t recommend doing it.

What the hell do those robbing twunts know, wind me up thinking they say such drivel yet some people have thier heads so far up them they can see the last meal they ate.

 

[Dillb]

Yea,loop mains in switches,for ease.
In the 80’s it was frowned on,even niceic didn’t recommend doing it.

What the hell do those robbing twunts know, wind me up thinking they say such drivel yet some people have thier heads so far up them they can see the last meal they ate.

 

[Dave OCD]

I do a fair bit of work on a bungalow estate with nearly 300 dwellings,one,two and 3 bed all built in the early 1980s. It's interesting that most are wired with loops through the lights but a few here and there are looped through the switches, must have been one naughty sparks about at the time.

 

[Bellendian]

I've had a few of these scenarios before...it gets even better when they want recessed downlighters in the skeilling thats full of 150mm of celotex!

I've always treated vertical surfaces as walls, and anything else as 'not a wall' if that makes sense.

As far as I can tell, safe zones only apply to walls?

Only other thing to note is that rafters shouldn't be drilled unless permitted by the SE that specced them, and just to try and use some common to try your best to leave cables out of reach of both the roofers nail gun and the plasterers drywall screws!