External Wiring for Security light - advice please?

Goodadvice75

Hi,

We have an external security light - one of those ones that comes on when it senses motion.

We'd like to put it on the front of the house outside, above the front door (esp. as there is now no street lighting and we can't see the keyhole in our front door after dark!).

Problem is the light has an ordinary plug on it (& also a v. short cable) but we have no plug socket any where near where we want to put it.

On the other side of the house there is a satellite dish mounted at about the same height we'd like to put the light and a hole made through the wall already to take the cable for this. Also there is a plug socket inside right next to the satellite cable box.

We were thinking the easiest thing to do would be to run a length of cable through the existing hole for the satellite and run it along the top of the bay window along to where we want to put the camera. We would just secure the cable to the outside wall (at top of bay window height) with cable clips.

Is this safe/legal to do though, as it is obviously electrical rather than just an aerial cable? To be safe/legal would we have to be housing the cable in some sort of cable protection stuff? It would be running at height, above the top of the bay window so not really in arm's reach of anyone below.

Would welcome any advice on this or if anyone can think of a better way?

Many thx in advance.

Myser

Firstly, it's very strange to have a security light with a plug on the end of a lead? Are you sure it's not a standard floodlight that is used for building work?

You initially start talking about the floodlight then go on to mention a security camera?

Is there a light outside near the door that you could convert to a security light?

It's not a good idea to run mains cable too close to the satellite cable. Also, iIf you move the cable to the satellite dish, it may alter the angle slightly and you will have poorer reception/lose channels.

Goodadvice75

Hi Myser,

Many thanks for your reply. It is a security light but has a security camera function as well, so the idea is the light comes on when it has motion around it and the camera records. It's definitely not a floodlight, but it does have an ordinary plug attached to it.

Unfortunately there is no existing light at the front of the house so no wiring there at all.

I appreciate what you say about the satellite cabling, so if needs be we can make another hole in the wall nearby and appreciate that this makes sense for the reasons you've given.

It would still have to be from near the place where the satellite dish is though as that is where the power socket is (otherwise we'd have to have wires trailing along the skirting board inside which wouldn't look nice)!

Can you (or anyone else) pls comment on whether it's safe/legal to run the cable as we'd proposed though, just securing with cable clips, or if not what else would be required?

Many thx.

McKneff

It'd be cheaper to buy a couple of key rings with integrated LED torches in them..................

Myser

Ah, I see - it's one of those integrated cameras with a security floodlight.

Presumably one of the reasons they supply a plug and lead is for ease of installation and it probably isn't intended to be fitted very high so that you can retrieve the memory card to view footage.

You can clip the cable to the outside wall however, I suspect the outer sheath probably isn't UV stable i.e. it may degrade over time with exposure to sunlight. You can run it in a conduit which is clipped to the wall. This may also look neater if you use a conduit colour similar to your wall.

Are there any markings along the cable?