RE: Re: What Infrastruture? - newbie question

["Nigel Giddings" <nigel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jon,

Lighting in the UK is not wired in a ring but as a radial with switch drops
usually from the ceiling rose.

One issue with standard light circuit wiring is, as you point out, that
there is no neutral in the switch. There is a permanant live, from the
rose, and the switched live, returning to the rose and connected to the
relevant lamp. There should also be an earth as well... Older lighting
circuits did not have this earth.

Using 3 core & Earth to the switches would allow the neutral to be fed
to the switch but if you are replacing everything I would recomend running
all cables/wire back to a (or several) central point(s). This will give you
better flexibilty in the future, especially if you want to group lights in
different ways or switch lights individually.

You should really decide your strategy for light control. X-10 doesn't
require a neutral at the switch but is not the system I would aspire to.
C-Bus and many similar systems work on a low voltage data bus which uses a
cable with similar specs to CAT5e. The problem being if you have installed
1.0mm 3 Core & Earth and you need CAT5e you will be channeling out the
walls and lifting floorboards again...

I personally think the ultimate is cable routes that allow the cables to be
changes as required which is why I have used conduit and trunking with
access to all joints... A bit over the top and may not be possible to
implement as a retrofit in an existing house. Still has limitations on
size... by the time you have 3 x 2.5mm and 3 x 1.5mm in a conduit it is
pretty much full...

Some examples of my attempt...
http://photos.corbenic.co.uk/photos/photo85.html

The next shows how conduit drops into basement ceiling space for
sockets/switches on the ground floor
http://photos.corbenic.co.uk/photos/photo289.html

All 1st floor sockets and swiches have conduit that is connected to the
trunking/tray in the loft
http://photos.corbenic.co.uk/photos/photo229.html

Most of the cables endd up in Node0
http://node0.corbenic.co.uk/photos/photo22.html

HTH

Nigel




-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Shaw [mailto:semi.jon@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 27 August 2006 21:03
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: What Infrastruture? - newbie question



--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
, "semi.jons" <semi.jon@...> wrote:
>
> Hello!
> Like many of the newbie questioners on HA groups on the net I am
> about to renovate an old property and would like to take the
> opportunity to get the infrastructure right for home automation. The
> received wisdom seems to be use 2CAT5e + 1CT100 to most rooms for
> audio visual stuff, but I am a bit confused on the lighting and alarm
> side. What ever I put in now I want flexibility for the future.
>
<snip>

Replying to my own post but...

Comments on the benefits of star vs ring appreciated.

If i go down the ring-wired route and either power-line or RF control
then am I right in thinking I need to ensure that the light switches
has a neutral wire - i.e. a 3-core and earth cable from the ceiling
rose to the switch?

Thanks
Jon






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27/8/2006



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