Loft insulation

RaiderHammer

Hi I want to get some more insulation up in the loft over the Summer ready for next winter. There are some electric cables in the loft which are for the bedroom ceiling lights. Is it OK to cover these cables with insulation? Don't want to create a fire risk. Thanks.

Gloomendoom

RaiderHammer wrote: »

Hi I want to get some more insulation up in the loft over the Summer ready for next winter. There are some electric cables in the loft which are for the bedroom ceiling lights. Is it OK to cover these cables with insulation? Don't want to create a fire risk. Thanks.

The summer is the worst possible time to do loft insulation. You would be better off waiting until the temperature drops.

In theory, the cables will be de-rated if you bury them in insulation. However, if you are using energy saving bulbs, I doubt you will have a problem. I'm not an electrician though and I'm sure the correct advice would be to rewire your loft with higher rated cable... or just don't bury them in the insulation.

macman

Better to tuck the insulation under the cables if there is a little slack.

RaiderHammer

macman wrote: »

Better to tuck the insulation under the cables if there is a little slack.

But the cable will still need to go through the insulation to get to the ceiling lighting roses?

macman

You can just make a little hole at that point, pull the insulation away from around the entry point. A 5 amp lighting circuit will support approx 12 x 100W lights, assuming you have one on each floor it's not going to be an issue.