Is this possible?

[uksparks]

Hi,

Just said to someone on the phone, yeah I can do that for you, 10 min job, no problem then just gave it an ounce of thought and realized I probably cant.

Heres the situation,

Standard pull cord switch on ceiling, wants it swapping for a PIR.

Can I do it without doing anything to the wiring?, probably not im guessing... I need a neutral done i...



Or can I run both wires from the switch into the line and neutral at the bottom and bridge across, or will that not work?

 

[NickD]

Remote-controlled bulbs* and bulb* holders exist, are they any good, how long will the device or the remote survive in a bathroom, no idea.

(*that's lamp spelt B-U-L-B if the term offends you )

<edit> Also do ones suitable for bathroom use exist, no idea.

 

[uksparks]

Taking the switch outside the bathroom is not an addition within the bathroom and such an addition would not IMHO impair the safety of the existing installation (MWC form wording).

5 Amp Pull Cord Switch - Contactum

"Quieter action than most ceiling swithches"

Go home TLC, you're drunk.

The bloke doesn't want a pull cord at all, that's the issue.

 

[NickD]

The bloke doesn't want a pull cord at all, that's the issue.

Oh, OK. I kinda read into what you were saying that the sound of the existing switch was the issue so a softer sound might be OK. If not, then not.

 

[uksparks]

Yeah i did suggest it to him, but he doesn't even want to see it... never had this issue before! The things people ask eh!

 

[davesparks]

? Seems like a perfectly reasonable and logical thing to ask for in the situation.

You will come across issues like this more and more every-time the regs change!
It gets a bit embarrassing sometimes when you go back to a house you re-wired less than 12 months previous to do some extra jobs and have to explain that the CU you installed no longer complies!

 

[shanky887614]

? Seems like a perfectly reasonable and logical thing to ask for in the situation.

You will come across issues like this more and more every-time the regs change!
It gets a bit embarrassing sometimes when you go back to a house you re-wired less than 12 months previous to do some extra jobs and have to explain that the CU you installed no longer complies!

But it would still be fit for continued service so no problem.

 

[davesparks]

But I can't go adding things in the bathroom without RCD protection now can I? When 12months earlier the 16th edition said I could.

 

[uksparks]

I could do it then back date his invoice lol.

 

[davesparks]

What would that achieve, apart from making you look guilty of something?

I've posted the answer to this one earlier in the thread.
You use your skill, knowledge and experience to assess whether it is acceptable to make a deviation from the regulations or not. Nobody can do that for you as nobody else has seen the existing installation.
If the installation is in good condition, safe and properly installed and your alterations will leave the installation in an as-safe or safer condition than when you started then crack-on.

They've even provided a handy box on certificates to record deviations and reasons for them!

 

[HandySparks]

The PIR requires the light to stay on for more than 12 hours a day to keep the battery charged to keep it working, so can't do that....
bugger isn't it.

I think that you have mis-read the spec. It says that the light must not be on for more than 12 hours per day (unlikely for a bathroom).

 

[davesparks]

Personally I wouldn't have said a PIR was appropriate in a domestic installation.

 

[HandySparks]

Personally I wouldn't have said a PIR was appropriate in a domestic installation.

Because...?

 

[davesparks]

Because there is no logical need for a PIR. They are used in non domestic settings to save energy when rooms are unoccupied as people don't turn lights off. But in a domestic setting the occupants of the house will switch lights as necessary.

There is more to go wrong in a pir than a normal switch.

Changing the lamp will require the whole cct to be switched off on a PIR whereas with a switch you just switch it off, allowing light from the hallway to help you see what you are doing.

If you want the light on when the light sensor in the pir says its light enough you're buggered (I have switch the light on during the day to shave as the position of the window puts half my face in to shade)

 

[NickD]

Uksparks, why do you reason that moving to a wall switch outside the bathroom (cable surface mounted) is a worry from an RCD point of view but putting a PIR on the circuit isn't?

 

[HandySparks]

Because there is no logical need for a PIR. They are used in non domestic settings to save energy when rooms are unoccupied as people don't turn lights off. But in a domestic setting the occupants of the house will switch lights as necessary.

There is more to go wrong in a pir than a normal switch.

Changing the lamp will require the whole cct to be switched off on a PIR whereas with a switch you just switch it off, allowing light from the hallway to help you see what you are doing.

If you want the light on when the light sensor in the pir says its light enough you're buggered (I have switch the light on during the day to shave as the position of the window puts half my face in to shade)

All reasonable considerations, but if a PIR suits the customer (which it may do in this particular case) and is not unsafe, then I wouldn't refuse to fit one.