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- 7 May 2024
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Hi All,
I'm after some advice/guidance, I'm in the process of renovating an old house I would like to add automation and "smart" control to some elements the principle one being lights. I've found a range of products that I would like to use that are DIN rail mounted they accept switch inputs and provide outputs to loads (lights in this case). My question really is about the connection of this to domestic lighting circuits. I am not an electrician but work with industrial machinery and Scada so to me the installation was quite simple wire switches and light fittings back to an enclosure (maybe even an unpopulated consumer unit) and then connect them into the controller probably with one controller per room (in the same board, one board per floor) so far simple.
Then I started thinking about getting power to the controller, all of my experience with PLC type equipment is in a industrial environment 99.9% of those have dedicated feeds from fuse boards as they use far more power than my lights will do. Am I over thinking this is it just as simple as running the lighting radial between the controllers as if they were junction boxes in the older standard that i'm taking out? Would there need to be some kind of fused spur to the board to allow isolation or even the more industrial approach and have a cut off/MCB in the board that the radial can loop into or terminate on. The only other thing in the circuit would be a shaver socket (I could run this through a controller but don't see much point as it can just be on all the time) and a light in the loft (so you can see the board if the smart stuff fails)
Obviously I won't go running new lighting circuits or connecting to fuse boards my intention was to run the supply's and switch lines to the controllers as I go through each room and renovate (the process is over several months in my spare time) and then an electrician can come in and run everything thats needed to a new fuse board and we are off to the races. So I'm after some advice on what people think is a viable way of connecting this setup together just in case it alters the board design.
Basic overview/Info:
There will be a shaver socket, loft light and 3 or 4 controllers on the circuit.
The controllers connect to the rooms switches and Lights.
One controller per room.
One board per floor. The upstairs board in the loft and downstairs in a walk in wardrobe upstairs so both accessible.
currently the house has 2 lighting circuits on 6 amp MCB's one per floor, I assume this stays the same but if any suggestions or regs require these to be higher then maybe thats a factor.
I was planning on using 1.5mm T&E for the wiring from controller to lights and maybe 3core&E to the switches just in case in the future they are converted to displays that need neutrals.
Really appreciate any input/advice that people have.
I'm after some advice/guidance, I'm in the process of renovating an old house I would like to add automation and "smart" control to some elements the principle one being lights. I've found a range of products that I would like to use that are DIN rail mounted they accept switch inputs and provide outputs to loads (lights in this case). My question really is about the connection of this to domestic lighting circuits. I am not an electrician but work with industrial machinery and Scada so to me the installation was quite simple wire switches and light fittings back to an enclosure (maybe even an unpopulated consumer unit) and then connect them into the controller probably with one controller per room (in the same board, one board per floor) so far simple.
Then I started thinking about getting power to the controller, all of my experience with PLC type equipment is in a industrial environment 99.9% of those have dedicated feeds from fuse boards as they use far more power than my lights will do. Am I over thinking this is it just as simple as running the lighting radial between the controllers as if they were junction boxes in the older standard that i'm taking out? Would there need to be some kind of fused spur to the board to allow isolation or even the more industrial approach and have a cut off/MCB in the board that the radial can loop into or terminate on. The only other thing in the circuit would be a shaver socket (I could run this through a controller but don't see much point as it can just be on all the time) and a light in the loft (so you can see the board if the smart stuff fails)
Obviously I won't go running new lighting circuits or connecting to fuse boards my intention was to run the supply's and switch lines to the controllers as I go through each room and renovate (the process is over several months in my spare time) and then an electrician can come in and run everything thats needed to a new fuse board and we are off to the races. So I'm after some advice on what people think is a viable way of connecting this setup together just in case it alters the board design.
Basic overview/Info:
There will be a shaver socket, loft light and 3 or 4 controllers on the circuit.
The controllers connect to the rooms switches and Lights.
One controller per room.
One board per floor. The upstairs board in the loft and downstairs in a walk in wardrobe upstairs so both accessible.
currently the house has 2 lighting circuits on 6 amp MCB's one per floor, I assume this stays the same but if any suggestions or regs require these to be higher then maybe thats a factor.
I was planning on using 1.5mm T&E for the wiring from controller to lights and maybe 3core&E to the switches just in case in the future they are converted to displays that need neutrals.
Really appreciate any input/advice that people have.
).
