Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 26, 2009 11:18 am hi there
i am completely ignorant when it comes to electrical stuff. Can someone please help with the following questions? 1) if we want put our own CFL later is there anything we need to ask the buildre to do other than putting the batten where a downlight will be? 2) is the installation of a CFL downight different to halogen downlight? and is there a different in cost? 3) if we want to later install a ceiling fan where a batten will be, anything 'special' need to be done 4) what about sensors for outdoor lights? do these have to done the same time the light is fitted? 5) we have plantar boxes in front of the house, if we wanted some garden lights in these(the ones that shine upwards) what do we do about the wiring here? we are in WA - thanks heaps in advance about to build our first home! Re: what to ask builder to do when putting in own lights lat 2Jan 26, 2009 12:25 pm wallywombat7 hi there i am completely ignorant when it comes to electrical stuff. Can someone please help with the following questions? 1) if we want put our own CFL later is there anything we need to ask the buildre to do other than putting the batten where a downlight will be? This will work 2) is the installation of a CFL downight different to halogen downlight? and is there a different in cost? You can install a halogen. This should preferably be a 240V halogen or you'll need a transformer. 3) if we want to later install a ceiling fan where a batten will be, anything 'special' need to be done This one is a problem. If you just install a batten, you'll only be able to turn the fan on when the lights are on. I have the same problem and I'll just ask for the cable to be left in the ceiling cavity. Retrieving it later will be interesting. Alternatively get the fan batten to be off a separate switch. 4) what about sensors for outdoor lights? do these have to done the same time the light is fitted? You can get lights with inbuild sensors, which is probably what you're after. 5) we have plantar boxes in front of the house, if we wanted some garden lights in these(the ones that shine upwards) what do we do about the wiring here? You can either get a junction box that you later connect to or get the cables laid and just leave them. we are in WA - thanks heaps in advance See answers in blue above. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: what to ask builder to do when putting in own lights lat 3Jan 26, 2009 1:01 pm Casa2 3) if we want to later install a ceiling fan where a batten will be, anything 'special' need to be done This one is a problem. If you just install a batten, you'll only be able to turn the fan on when the lights are on. I have the same problem and I'll just ask for the cable to be left in the ceiling cavity. Retrieving it later will be interesting. Alternatively get the fan batten to be off a separate switch. . That's not exactly true. I suspect it depends on what the switch arrangement is for your fan light. We had a fan light in our bedroom in the last house and also in the lounge room. We could either turn the light on or turn a dial below it to turn the fan on. These were within the same plate housing. Both worked independently of each other. These were put in after our house was built. Before they went in we had a standard batten light fitting in the same position. Re: what to ask builder to do when putting in own lights later 4Jan 26, 2009 1:33 pm hey fellow w. a poster
1) if we want put our own CFL later is there anything we need to ask the buildre to do other than putting the batten where a downlight will be? i dont think there is, just let them know what you intend to do later and they should sort out what they need to do.... 2) is the installation of a CFL downight different to halogen downlight? and is there a different in cost? umm i personally havent worked with the cfl d/L so im not too sure but i wouldnt imagine it would be much different... 3) if we want to later install a ceiling fan where a batten will be, anything 'special' need to be done if you want a light on the fan aswell then there will have to be only minor wiring done for later use.... 4) what about sensors for outdoor lights? do these have to done the same time the light is fitted? yes genereally it is better/easier to have them done at the same time as the light but its not impossible to do it later....there just has to be extra cables added, a sparky can still do it later on with a bit of ease 5) we have plantar boxes in front of the house, if we wanted some garden lights in these(the ones that shine upwards) what do we do about the wiring here? the best thing to do is get a cable outside to the ground before the house is finished, so when the sparky comes to wire the house he can put cables in easier and makes it alot easier later on, pretty much as long as you have access for later on...so u dont even need to put cables out, it is easy do wire them in later i did for my sisters house....you just need to make sure u have access to outside (through the cavity) and down to the switch (get conduit on the switch youl want it to be switched from) or get extra switch wires put in at the switch. i hope that answers it 4 ya and not too complicated lol. any questions jus email me. how far along is your house? if you like i could always come and look at it and see what youl need to get done early and what you can do later....and i am a sparky so i can always do it 4 ya chris. Re: what to ask builder to do when putting in own lights lat 5Jan 26, 2009 4:24 pm wallywombat7 4) what about sensors for outdoor lights? do these have to done the same time the light is fitted? we had the builder install a sensor which is connected to two junction boxes either side of the garage door, for us to fit our own lights later. In theory, the sensor should just start working when the lights are fitted. (We haven't fitted them yet so hoping that's how it works anyway!) Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20434 I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15285 Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15539 |