Lounge recessed lights how many switches?

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Stu1

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#242173 14-Oct-2018 20:35

Hi guys, updating lighting in lounge to down lights, my lounge is 5 x 4.5 , I was thinking 6 Downlights but was also thinking about splitting them 4 on one switch and 2 on another so I dont have to have all six on at a time . Is it better to just have a dimmer on all 6 ? . I was thinking having 2 on at back of lounge so i can read and switch the other lights off. Any suggestions what’s the best option really love movies so dimming would be a must cheers

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#2107822 14-Oct-2018 22:24

Discuss with your electrician.

Can you get a cable from each light back to the switch? As opposed to having all the lights on one circuit from one cable.

Then you can change your switches later very easily, as well as add dimmers or swap dimmers over.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

andrewNZ

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#2107885 15-Oct-2018 06:11

IME when people walk into a room they just turn the lights on. If there are 7 switches, they turn them on. The exception is when a room is in well defined areas, like lounge and dining.
I've also never met someone who uses a dimmer even semi regularly. Most people test it when it is installed band never touch it again

Modern down lights are getting better, some of the LED ones have a very wide angle of spread.

Stu1

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#2107887 15-Oct-2018 06:32

elpenguino:
Discuss with your electrician.

Can you get a cable from each light back to the switch? As opposed to having all the lights on one circuit from one cable.

Then you can change your switches later very easily, as well as add dimmers or swap dimmers over.

Thank you appreciate your help, i never thought of that will talk with the sparky. I am ripping the ceiling down as have the old michaleangelo tiles and a couple of wallks so hopefully access will be ok

Stu1

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#2107897 15-Oct-2018 07:13

andrewNZ: IME when people walk into a room they just turn the lights on. If there are 7 switches, they turn them on. The exception is when a room is in well defined areas, like lounge and dining.
I've also never met someone who uses a dimmer even semi regularly. Most people test it when it is installed band never touch it again

Modern down lights are getting better, some of the LED ones have a very wide angle of spread.

Thats a good point i could see the novelty wear off. The lounge and dining room are connected at the side so do want to seperate the lighting. I think will ditch the dimmer idea thanks for the advice

timmmay

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#2107899 15-Oct-2018 07:15

Dimmers don't always work well with LED lights, you can get flickering. We have 2+2 in our lounge, so the lights above the sofa are on but the lights over the TV are off.

Goosey

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#2107900 15-Oct-2018 07:19

timmmay:

Dimmers don't always work well with LED lights, you can get flickering. We have 2+2 in our lounge, so the lights above the sofa are on but the lights over the TV are off.

Isnt the flickering got to do with "leading trail and edge trail" (or whatever those words are to do with the wave of the pulse)?

i.e. the dimmer's pulse needs to match that of the lights?

timmmay

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#2107906 15-Oct-2018 08:02

Goosey:

timmmay:

Dimmers don't always work well with LED lights, you can get flickering. We have 2+2 in our lounge, so the lights above the sofa are on but the lights over the TV are off.

Isnt the flickering got to do with "leading trail and edge trail" (or whatever those words are to do with the wave of the pulse)?

i.e. the dimmer's pulse needs to match that of the lights?

Probably. I'm sure some are fine now, but I tried just about every type of dimmer with my office LED lights, which are meant to be compatible with dimmers, but none worked effectively. Either they flickered or they amount of dimming you got was too small to bother with.

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Brunzy

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#2107954 15-Oct-2018 09:38

We've just replaced 7 halogens in the kitchen with LED's.

As they would have been too bright, and didn't feel like patching up any holes we got ones that can be controlled via a remote,

may work in your situation.

Can be spread over 4 zones bright min/max and cool to warm.

elpenguino

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#2107985 15-Oct-2018 10:23

We went through this process recently and got 12 LED down lights in a living/dining area which previously had only pendants. They're wired as 3 sets of 4, one of those groups is on a dimmer. No flickering on ours.

FWIW initially I wanted them wired as 6 pairs but the sparky and missus went to groups of 4 - pairs would be awkward for switching because of the number of switches and faceplates required.

Bearing in mind that dimmers are ~$100 each the sparky's own advice was to have one group on a dimmer and live with it for a while. Recently my wife has been saying things like, THIS group would be better on the dimmer, not THAT one so I take his point.

That's all easily re-wired in the flush box - I can do that, but the lights will always be controlled in groups of 4 - hence my suggestion to take all your wiring to the flushbox and leave yourself the freedom to change in the future.

This is the low tech cheap and easy way to do it - otherwise you are looking at IOT lights or some kind of smart lights that receive commands from a controller via the power wiring.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Brunzy

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#2108066 15-Oct-2018 11:54

@El p
The lights I mentioned in the last post would do what you want all on the one circuit.
4 zones configured any way you like.

Brunzy

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#2108067 15-Oct-2018 11:54

@El p
The lights I mentioned in the last post would do what you want all on the one circuit.
4 zones configured any way you like.

elpenguino

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#2108077 15-Oct-2018 12:02

Certainly a good option for OP to bear in mind, especially if this is the first room of many.

One of the problems of these 'smart' systems is the finite support. Will this company go bust or abandon their product line?

PDL600 switches will work for 50 years.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Stu1

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#2108301 15-Oct-2018 16:32

elpenguino:
Certainly a good option for OP to bear in mind, especially if this is the first room of many.

One of the problems of these 'smart' systems is the finite support. Will this company go bust or abandon their product line?

PDL600 switches will work for 50 years.

i was going to go with PDL switches and sockets as have upgraded rest of house they look good and happy with the quality . Kitchen, dining and lounge last part of house do do up will be a big job but want to do it right

Stu1

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#2108304 15-Oct-2018 16:39

elpenguino:
We went through this process recently and got 12 LED down lights in a living/dining area which previously had only pendants. They're wired as 3 sets of 4, one of those groups is on a dimmer. No flickering on ours.

FWIW initially I wanted them wired as 6 pairs but the sparky and missus went to groups of 4 - pairs would be awkward for switching because of the number of switches and faceplates required.

Bearing in mind that dimmers are ~$100 each the sparky's own advice was to have one group on a dimmer and live with it for a while. Recently my wife has been saying things like, THIS group would be better on the dimmer, not THAT one so I take his point.

That's all easily re-wired in the flush box - I can do that, but the lights will always be controlled in groups of 4 - hence my suggestion to take all your wiring to the flushbox and leave yourself the freedom to change in the future.

This is the low tech cheap and easy way to do it - otherwise you are looking at IOT lights or some kind of smart lights that receive commands from a controller via the power wiring.

thats good advice thank you. The dining is pretty small so only having 4 which wont have dimmer, the kitchen will be Ushaped but attached only to dining room. The lounge would be 6 lights .Could do 3 sets of 3 or 2 sets of 6 and 3 .I have gone off dimmer as not that cheap and not sure i would use it much

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#2108331 15-Oct-2018 17:25

If you want to think a bit laterally, how about smart lights?
In our family/theatre room I replaced a central pendant light with 6 Philips Hue downlights. They are on one switch for power isolation but I also have them controlled by a Hue switch. And then of course controlled by app, Alexa, etc as well. It means the lights over the seating positions double as reading lights and can be individually switched. Also allows for schedules.
Not exactly cheap, but multiple cabling and switches aren't cheap either particularly if you want dimming.

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