Light Switch - Neutral and Live Wires

takman

I know the most common method of wiring up a light in a house is to have the neutral wire going to the bulb and only the live wire into the switch.

But does anyone know if current electrical regulations require that both a Neutral and Live wire are present in light switches. If so when did this requirement come about?

What i want to know is if newer houses are likely to have this and from what year so i can correctly advise people when they ask about how easy it is to wire up smart light switches.

baldelectrician

It depends on the layout of the house and the spec for the job.


It also depends on the electrician who is carrying out the job- each may have their own preferences


Having said that it is more common to have loop in at the switch now as it means less faffing about up ladders

TheCyclingProgrammer

AFAIK there's no reg that says it has to be done but its more likely to be found in newer properties or properties that have been more recently rewired. I don't think you're going to be able to accurately predict whether or not a house will have a neutral at the switch without just looking.

Risteard

There is no requirement.

However, the Regs do now require that "consideration" be given to whether a neutral should be brought to the switch.

brightontraveller

Its pretty irresponsible to offer advice to others if you don't know correct installation methods yourself?
Advice them to check with competent person? might mean less chance of fire electrocution etc

takman

Thanks everyone i thought it might be the case that there is no definite answer based on the houses age. But at least it sounds like newer houses are more likely to have the neutral wire.

brightontraveller wrote: »

Its pretty irresponsible to offer advice to others if you don't know correct installation methods yourself?
Advice them to check with competent person? might mean less chance of fire electrocution etc

I know exactly how they should be wired up; it's pretty simple. If there is a Neutral Wire present in the light switch already then it is simply a case of swapping them over. If there is not then you need to do extra work to get a neutral wire in there, which stops a lot of people from doing it at all.

hd216

Also depends on the switch, some use parasitic power from just the live!

TheCyclingProgrammer

There are smart light switches that don!!!8217;t need a neutral of course (LightwaveRF)

takman

hd216 wrote: »

Also depends on the switch, some use parasitic power from just the live!

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

There are smart light switches that don't need a neutral of course (LightwaveRF)

I currently have a couple of Sonoff switches that i'm trying and they are less than £12 each including postage from eBay and i haven't had any issues with them.

The LightwaveRF ones seem to be a lot more expensive but could be a good alternative for people who want smart switches but don't want to do any extra wiring.

brightontraveller

takman wrote: »

Thanks everyone i thought it might be the case that there is no definite answer based on the houses age. But at least it sounds like newer houses are more likely to have the neutral wire.




I know exactly how they should be wired up; it's pretty simple. If there is a Neutral Wire present in the light switch already then it is simply a case of swapping them over. If there is not then you need to do extra work to get a neutral wire in there, which stops a lot of people from doing it at all.

You cannot know what "wire" is without testing so advise based on a guess? Knowing termination points on switch etc isn't knowing existing installation is safe ,
Do you take liability or inform those you !!!8220;advise!!!8221; actions make them liable in the event of fire, electrocution.

Correct installation information is different than a blanket answer to cover all.. To do so safely correctly user needs to identify live, neutral etc if they can then they wouldn't need advice...
This isn't to say only electricians should fit items but its stupid, dangerous to give advice without knowing all the info in situations like this ...

Cornucopia

In my experience, the vast majority of UK properties do not have both Live & Neutral present in the switch box on the wall.

With houses built since around 1980, the most common circuit has the complex wiring elements in the ceiling rose, with the switch being in the Live line. The idea of this is that the only user serviceable part (the bulb holder) is not live when the switch is in the off position, and therefore relatively safe for non-technical people to access to change the bulb.