I have a fitting in the roofspace per lightswitch.
Can I use a powerboard off this to plug in my downlights which all come with plugtops. Or do I need an electrician to hard wire?
Thanks
Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 2Jun 30, 2013 11:01 pm As long as the ratting of the lights don't max out the board. Which won't happen. Don't use a cheap power board as they tend to have loose connections with the plugs. Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 3Jul 01, 2013 11:10 am Thanks, I've had a couple of electricians tell me its unsafe practice to do so. I cant really see what the different is between a power board and separate outlets for each down light. Load isn't an issue on them. I was even going to make sure that each powerboard outlet was being used so no dust could get into empty ones. (ie a 4 way for 4 downlights, 2 way for 2 etc). If any electricians on here could have an input into this too? Thanks Rick Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 4Jul 04, 2013 7:11 pm No reason it couldn't be done, but it is certainly bad practice! There is no way I would personally put a powerboard in my ceiling... A few household fires have been attributed to them due to dust getting into the vacant points, and some internal overheating... I've gone to the opposite extent and taken the plugs off, and hard wired them into the circuits! Maybe I'm just too cautious about having a power outlet and connection in my ceiling! Electrical Engineer... Don't hold that against me... And keen owner builder... Mainly the building part!! Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 5Jul 04, 2013 8:37 pm Rather than having to fill each socket, you can get plastic plug inserts, mainly designed to prevent kids poking knives or screwdrivers etc into unguarded sockets. Seen them in shops, just cannot remember which ones at the moment. Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 6Jul 04, 2013 11:27 pm I saw this done in a Hotel refurbishment a few years back and as the electrician who had to sort this little "problem" out I'd advise against it. Its just another thing to go wrong for faultfinding-the powerboards that were used were cheap and horrible Chinese things which had a habit of popping the inbuilt breakers for no known reason. Problem was getting to the powerboards to reset (and sometimes replace the board) was time consuming with having to pull the downlights out to access the boards. My advice-hardwire the lights into junction boxes or fit an outlet per light (Clipsal make a double outlet part number 414 if you want to do this as an option) to save yourself the headache of the board causing problems down the track. Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 7Jul 05, 2013 1:27 am I am not an electrician, nor a tradie of any kind, but I would personally never have powerboards in the ceiling cavity/roof. Water, moisture and general overheating isn't really something I want to constantly worry about. Get it done right, especially if you have other people to consider the safety of. If you're alone in a cabin and don't mind the risk, have at it. Re: Powerboards for LED downlights 8Jul 05, 2013 8:21 pm Radlam Thanks, I've had a couple of electricians tell me its unsafe practice to do so. I'd listen to the professionals, if they say it is unsafe I wouldn;t risk it with my family. But, it's your call. |