Switching Problem!!

sam2142

Hi All,

Happy New Year to all!

Now here is the problem:

I have a two way switch, one on the ground floor and top floor to control the top floor light.

What I want to do is add a second light on the ground floor that can also be controlled by the existing setup. But the preference is to connect to the ground floor two way switch, so I can control the lights from ground floor and top floor at the same time. Both light should come on at same time.

Can this be done? If so how?

Thanks for any feedback

Sam

djohn2002uk

You need to feed the new downstairs light fitting directly from the upstairs one. You need 1.0mm or 1.5mm twin with earth cable and in the upstairs fitting the connections need to be made to the same connectors as the wires from the lamp holder. The new fitting needs to be wired first and be the same as the new one.

sam2142

Hi djohn,

cheers for the feedback, but is it possiable to connect to the direct to the two way switch on the ground floor. Rather then run a cable from the first floor lamp holder to the secound lamp on the ground floor.

thanx again for any feedback

Sam

rizla01

Hi Sam.

Yes, it certainly is possible but more complex as you would need to take a feed from the downstairs lighting circuit and a feed from the switch circuit and connect them to the new light fitting.

Good Tip. Go into your nearest Wickes and pick up a leaflet on electical wiring. It shows very clearly how to connect switches and lighting circuits. Invaluable and Free!

beefster

Get someone who knows what they are doing to do it for you......

There should not be a neutral within the light switch so you can not just wire it from there.

It should be a simple case of running a 1.5mm twin and earth cable from the ceiling rose in your existing downstairs light fitting to the new one, connecting the switched live, neutral and earth. The two lights downstairs will then operate together from the same swiches as the single one does now.

If you dont know what switched lives etc are.... get someone who does.

rizla01

Perhaps I read it wrong, Beefster but I don't think that the connection of two downstairs lights to a downstais switch is the problem, here.

If I read correctly Sam want the downstairs TWO WAY switch to operate a downstairs light that isn't installed yet, AS WELL as the upstairs light!

sam2142

rizal01, U have hit the nail on the head. i have no light downstairs yet in the stair area. And the top light is found in the first floor ceiling which is also operated by a two way switch downstairs and one on the first floor.

so how can this be achieved if i have access to the mains within the first floor
and the two way switch on the ground floor as this would be the most tidy way to install the ground floor light without any trailings of external wires.

The main question is can it be possible to connect a new light fitting to the ground floor existing two way switch so i can operate both lights at the same time with existing two way switches.

i have knowledge on how to connect a standalone switch to a single light fitting and if it needs be connection to the mains via a junction box.

Hope that helps explane a bit more beefster

Sam

djohn2002uk

Sam. It is possible to take a neutral from the lighting circuit downstairs but would certainly not conform to regulations. You cannot do it from the downstairs switch because there is no neutral in there.

I would not recomend you proceed outside of the current regs because if anything was to go wrong and someone got hurt, even though you may have moved on, the onus comes back on you, and it has been known for someone to be put on a manslaughter charge after doing a DIY job and someone died in the resulting fire.

It is not difficult to take a cable from the upstairs light, across the loft to the airing cupboard or any other hidden area and drop down to under a bedroom floor and across to the downstairs light. In our house there is a built in cupboard drectly above the bottom of the stairs which would make it an easy job.

gromituk

djohn2002uk wrote:

Sam. It is possible to take a neutral from the lighting circuit downstairs but would certainly not conform to regulations.

That is against the regulations because it is very unsafe and should not even have been suggested! If someone disconnects the downstairs lighting circuit (live and neutral) at the consumer unit, then they can still find it becomes live, because it will be fed from the new light on the upstairs circuit. Worse, this will happen only when the light is switched on, so an initial check may not reveal the problem.

No-one seems to have pointed out that, somewhere, there will be a twin and earth feed from your consumer unit, passing up the house to the loft (assuming two stories) for the upstairs lights. You can take a neutral from this at first floor level by installing a junction box. There will also be a triple and earth connecting the upstairs and downstairs switches, which can be intercepted for the lamp feed. Hopefully both cables will run together at some point, so you can put them both into one junction box. (I am assuming that the downstairs switch will just have one triple and earth connected to it, and the upstairs the other end of that, plus a twin and earth going upwards to the lamp.)

lapat

you really need to get an electrician.
all electrial alterations from april 2005 need to be carried out by a competent person and if you sell the house and the work has been carried out after april 2005 you will need to provide a certificate that the competent person has carried the work out

gromituk

No, some electrical works need to be carried out by someone qualified to do so. This does not inclue the works proposed here (alteration to an existing circuit, indoors, and not in a bathroom). However, if you have the slightest doubt about your abilities, yes, you should get an electrician.