Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 19, 2009 8:35 am Hi all.
Not sure if this is in the right section! Moved into our new house 2months ago, now realised we should have put a light switch somewhere other then we have. My question, can you get additional light switches put on after the house is completed, if so, estimate of how much something like that will cost! Can they do it without damaging my wall! Re: Additional light switches 2Feb 19, 2009 9:12 am woodsey Hi all. Not sure if this is in the right section! Moved into our new house 2months ago, now realised we should have put a light switch somewhere other then we have. My question, can you get additional light switches put on after the house is completed, if so, estimate of how much something like that will cost! Can they do it without damaging my wall! Only an electrician with your house plans can help you with that. Some wall damage may be necessary to pull wires to the right positions. Generally single storey houses are much much easier than doubles as you can go through the roof space and some cavity areas. Re: Additional light switches 3Feb 19, 2009 9:40 am woodsey Hi all. Not sure if this is in the right section! Moved into our new house 2months ago, now realised we should have put a light switch somewhere other then we have. My question, can you get additional light switches put on after the house is completed, if so, estimate of how much something like that will cost! Can they do it without damaging my wall! Of course you can. This is a very common task for lots of electricians. I recently had some switches installed in our established property. They were $100 each, installed. Get a quote from a local sparky. Re: Additional light switches 5Feb 20, 2009 6:44 am The cost depends on a few things.
construction of the house (brick veneer or full brick), internal or external wall and gas/plumbing nearby. On average a callout fee for a sparky (one tradesman) is $85.00+gst (for someone decent, you get what you pay for) and that will include half an hour. Then $85.00+gst each hour there after. For an apprentice add $35.00 to the service call and hourly rate some will charge just for the hour. Most small jobs cost on average $120 each. If it was an external wall switch, on a brick veneer, the sparky and apprentice would be in and out in half an hour Licenced Sparky and Data Cabler If "The Data Guys" is too long to type, TDG will do. Re: Additional light switches 7Feb 20, 2009 8:23 am Internal walls are a little more complicated as you cant just drop a wire between the wall skins (just made that term up but it works i think).
With an external wall there is a cavity between the brick and the plasterboard, however with an internal wall there is no cavity as the plasterboard is nailed to the frame on both sides. You have 1 of 3 choices im afraid: 1. Change location of switch to an external wall 2. have the wiring on the outside of the plasterboard 3. expect some distressing damage to your wall during installation which can be repaired later. Re: Additional light switches 9Feb 20, 2009 10:23 am stu Internal walls are a little more complicated as you cant just drop a wire between the wall skins (just made that term up but it works i think). With an external wall there is a cavity between the brick and the plasterboard, however with an internal wall there is no cavity as the plasterboard is nailed to the frame on both sides. You have 1 of 3 choices im afraid: 1. Change location of switch to an external wall 2. have the wiring on the outside of the plasterboard 3. expect some distressing damage to your wall during installation which can be repaired later. Single story is not so bad , all you need is very long drill bit to drill through the noggins , problem solved ... Re: Additional light switches 10Feb 20, 2009 1:08 pm stu With an external wall there is a cavity between the brick and the plasterboard, however with an internal wall there is no cavity as the plasterboard is nailed to the frame on both sides. It's not necessarily a problem if you don't have noggins between all studs, or if the noggin widths are less than the cavity, leaving space for a cable between plasterboard and noggin. Re: Additional light switches 11Feb 20, 2009 4:19 pm If the wall is single brick, there is no way to get the cable in a "cavity".
so the sparky will have to "chase" a groove into the wall to install a conduit for the cable. it can be done but is messy and costly. an alternative is to surface mount some "aussieduct" and have the switch mounted on the surface. If its double brick and there is a cavity between the two bricks, then the sparky can drop down the gap. If its a brick veneer, then it is possible to run cables to the external walls easily and to drill down internal walls. There are some limitations depending on the roof structure. Two story............. well its going to be hard no matter what. with new safety guidelines and working at heights, it all takes time and money to do the job safely. it all depends on the sparky and how the house is built. Its not good practice to try to squeeze a powered cable between the gyprock and noggin. someone might pump a picture hook into the cable or the insulation in the cable can breakdown and cause a fault. Licenced Sparky and Data Cabler If "The Data Guys" is too long to type, TDG will do. Re: Additional light switches 12Feb 20, 2009 9:40 pm Sorry to butt in, but is it equally difficult or easy to install an additional power point?
We really want one on this particular wall, as it's a very dark corner with no natural light, no ceiling light and yet no power point. The wall itself IS technically an external wall, it goes along out to our balcony, but the small part of the wall that we want the power point installed on, the other side of that wall is the stairwell wall, and that's body corporate territory...(oh, to clarify, we would put the power point on the wall that is actually a proper totally external wall, but we can't because it's all glass sliding doors beyond the point where it becomes external) All we want is a lamp there!! lol. But at the same time, we don't want to have to drag an incredibly long power cord from the nearest power point (which is either directly across the front door and across the entire dining room, or along under the balcony sliding doors, across the living room and to the TV area). Anyone heard of battery operated nice lamps? lol How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Additional light switches 13Feb 20, 2009 9:51 pm grace_slick Sorry to butt in, but is it equally difficult or easy to install an additional power point? I would think power points are easier, because all you would need is a source of power - so long as you could tie in from somewhere you would be ok. Light switches require a specific power line to connect to the light. If that's not available then you would be up the creek with out a paddle... Re: Additional light switches 15Feb 21, 2009 4:30 pm Power and lights must be on their respective circuits. You can't put a power point on a light circuit and vice versa.
Grace slick. without seeing it, I can't say. If there is a cavity behind the brick then your halfway there. If there is roof access then your almost there. But then if you disparate, you can have surface mount ducting. Licenced Sparky and Data Cabler If "The Data Guys" is too long to type, TDG will do. Re: Additional light switches 16Feb 26, 2009 6:13 pm Hmm, well, there's definitely no ceiling access as we're on the ground floor in an apartment block. We've got fairly low ceilings too here.
I like the pull cord from the ceiling idea. lol. So would my 2 kittens. How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Additional light switches 17Feb 26, 2009 6:38 pm grace_slick Anyone heard of battery operated nice lamps? lol Look what I found........ http://www.neoz.com.au//docs/NEOZ%20V4% ... ochure.pdf Neat idea - might have to look into those if I've missed anything off my electrical plan! Re: Additional light switches 18Feb 28, 2009 11:20 pm I was talking to someone about this last week, he has installed remote light switches for his extra downlights.
The remote relay is a small box that goes in the ceiling between the live power and the light. This is controlled with a switch much like a garage door opener, all programmable so one remote switch can control more than one switch. The part I liked is that you don't have to have lots of switches on the wall for lights you don't use a lot. When you need them you just use the remote switch. We will be looking into these in the next few months after moving into our own place. Might be the solution that you are looking for ? regards sean Shelly switches require a paid subscription for full access to all features which is ridiulous given the lifespan of a home and if you were to sell it or buy a home with… 2 4515 Our standard double-glazed window is tested to achieve, Rw 34, and can be glazed to suit Rw 39. The price is good too... 3 9472 Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 11694 |