Changing light switch to light pull

morganb

My two sons can't reach the light switches! I understand that any work in a bathroom now has to be undertaken by an insured electrician; any idea how much this might cost me to have two bathroom light switches converted into light pulls? We live in Aldershot in SE. Many thanks

Gorgeous_George

I think you are allowed to do this yourself (if you know what you are doing).

There will be a cable going down the wall to the switch. This needs to be re-routed to the pull switch. It is so easy. Essentially, the live wire is routed from the ceiling rose to the switch and then back to the rose (as switched live). The red is normally the live from the rose and the black is the switched live back to the rose. Make sure you turn the supply off by removing the fuse/tripping the MCB. If in doubt, ask a competent friend.

A friendly electrician would probably charge £60 or thereabouts depending on how easy it is to access the wiring (must be about an hour's work if the wiring is in the loft). A rip-off merchant might charge a lot more especially if you are elderly and/or female.



GG

morganb

Thanks GG; guess I'll have to look for a competent friend .... not something I'm going to attempt myself!!!

Canucklehead

Hi

Are you saying you have ordinary switches in your bathroom??Or outside.

Corgi Guy.

morganb

Hi; the switches are outside the bathroom. Does that make a difference???

moonrakerz

morganb wrote: »

My two sons can't reach the light switches! I understand that any work in a bathroom now has to be undertaken by an insured electrician; any idea how much this might cost me to have two bathroom light switches converted into light pulls? We live in Aldershot in SE. Many thanks

Could be easier and cheaper to get the existing light switches lowered down the wall. My last house had all the switches at waist level rather than the usual shoulder level - much better idea.

Canucklehead

Hi

morganb wrote: »

Hi; the switches are outside the bathroom. Does that make a difference???

That's ok ! Your post sounded as though they were in the bathroom.!!

Gorgeous George is about right if you have the roof space above.

You could always wait for them to grow?!:D

morganb

moonrakerz wrote: »

Could be easier and cheaper to get the existing light switches lowered down the wall. My last house had all the switches at waist level rather than the usual shoulder level - much better idea.

Doesn't that mean I would need to redecorate ....

morganb

Canucklehead wrote: »

You could always wait for them to grow?!:D

No chance! That means getting up in the middle of the night to help them to the loo ... with a light pull they could spend a penny all by themselves ... £60 worth, that is ...

moonrakerz

morganb wrote: »

Doesn't that mean I would need to redecorate ....

Depends on how it is done !

CLAPTON

what about a little kiddies step under the switch... about £5 or get one from a friend whose kids have grown up



or use a low energy bulb say 10w so this will use

10 w x 10 hr x 365 days = 36,500 watt hours per year if left on 10 hrs per day for a year

which means it will cost you £3.65 per annum in electricity
based on 10p per kwhr.