LED down lights and External spot lights

Villain

I know very little about electrics probably my weakest area within my self build. I do have a lot of expierence in network and Video and Audio Cabling so I will be getting an electrician in to do the wiring on my self build and I will do all the CAT6 cabling and Audio and Video cabling.

The thing is I kinda know what I want but I'm not sure how to explain it to an electrician or if what I want is possible.

I want outdoor lights under the sofit that are soft lights I think LED lights are the way to go for best energy saving and how long they will last. I also want these lights in the hallway lighting up the side of the hallway. I will have a suspended wooden floor so they won't in a conrete floor something like http://suppliers.jimtrade.com/resize_image.aspx?MaxSize=200&filen=2/1118/26004.jpg I also want these in the kitchen. Is there a restriction on what floor covering you can use with these? What type of cable and voltage do they usually use? Are these types of lights expensive?

I have a large open area in the kitchen and living area with a vaulted ceiling which will be pretty high so Lighting will be an issue does anyone have any good ideas on the type of lighting to use in a vaulted ceiling area such as mine that don't cause an issue for insualtion this house will be as air tight as possible and also don't have to be changed very often as obviously they won't be easily accesible if they are in the ceiling.

I was looking into some Automated lighting systems i.e. able to control lighting with remotes etc but the expense just seems out of range. Does anyone have any guesstimates for wiring a house like mine including maybe 20 to 30 floor lights as talked about above. I only purely want the electrics done as I said I will do the Data, Audio and Video myself. I had one electrician who I know through a friend that was interested in wiring and as part payment I was going to educate him on CAT5E, CAT6 cabling for home network and also Audio and Video setup's but he's emigrated.

Both my brothers had houses built through contractors and the Electric Contractor used have little to no knowledge of any network setups or even terminating CAT5E cabling or even the coaxial needed for a basic setup with 2 Sky+ boxes with distrubution around the house including controlling boxes from other rooms etc. I think a lot of electricians could offer better service and increase their skill level and profit by getting a little bit or education and expierence in these area's, having said that I'm sure many electricians can and do offer thoses services.

I have attached drawings below.

Stoner

villa , I wont get a chance to check this out till tomorrow, I have a fair idea of what you want LED fittings are fairly robust so it will be handy to pick ones for you,

you could try
http://www.loweleds.com

and see what you think of their fittings, they are based in Ireland and I like their stuff.

Will get back to you tomorrow if you dont have any joy from the others, although some people here deal with LEDS a lot more then me hopefully they can offer you more suggestions and options.

Villain

Stoner thanks a million for the reply, no panic at all any information is great

Stoner

Villan,

you can get LEDs for most applications.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ip-ingress-protection-d_452.html

check the charts here for the correct spec applications, if it was outside recessed into the ground I'd go for an IP68 fitting.
http://www.loweleds.com/colour-changing-outdoorindoor-recessed-p-30.html
I agree with your choice of lamp for the outside, and LEDS will look well going up the stairs too. Once again keep the fittings IP67 if recessed in the ground internally, places like kitchens can take in water etc.
http://www.loweleds.com/exterior-lighting-ll32-p-58.html

IP65 fittings would go in the sofit, some would get away with a lower spec, but its best to put in IP65 , you can get em cheap enough anyway. There are loads of places selling sets of decking lights c/w controllers etc, places like B&Q etc, I dont usually like their fittings but they have the kits and you can have a look at them

Regarding the vaulted ceiling.

There are some options, if it was me , I'd go for for some sort of suspended fitting. You could end up spending a lot of cash on the fittings for that area, but it would look well. Something like a glob fitting with a 55W fluorescent lamp would give you direct and indirect light from the ceiling.

http://www.regiolux.de/content/index_e.phtml?topnavid=2&content=9
You could also completely up light the ceiling from the ground and depending on the colour of the ceiling you could get a nice effect.


There are some nice 4 channel dimmers available if you wanted to have say 4 circuits in the one area. (not remote)
It is a great way to get programmable scene lighting into an area, they look well and can control about 1000Watts, and relatively wont break the bank. they are stand alone so not linked all over the place, and they fit on a standard twin box ( the require a neutral cable)

Home automation have a nice Smart 4 channel dimmer, it can come in a range of MK Aspect finishes, some lights could be fed via lighting sockets, some recessed and some suspended.

All in all a nice mix of light it always nice, as are up lit ceilings.

What look are you going for?

It all depends on the look you are going for I guess, the mood etc.

http://www.genesis13.com/home.htm have some OK fittings at OK prices.

Love the house BTW, well done

Villain

Thanks a million Stoner, thats a great help. I'll do some more reading over the weekend.

Do you have any idea what I should budget for my Electrics?

Stoner

emm, its hard to say with out seeing your spec, with your spec i could throw a cost at it for you.

But I would say as a budget 15K, this is with out all the informatin, but it looko like it could have some unusual requirements,

With your house with all the AV and offices etc, who knows what the cost would, you'd have to take your own work into consideration,

for example for this house standard white sockets and switches could cost you in or around €300 for all accessories.

But if you wanted something nicer (MK stuff like accent is nice , expensive but not sky high) that could cost you possible €2000 -- €3000 depending on the amount you want.
Will you want a nicee finish on the sockets and matching outlets etc.? these are questions you need to ask yourself.

Regarding your lights etc, the energy efficiency is important for you, the globe fitting I linked you to uses a 55W PL lamp, these are efficient with some punch, but if you want to dim one you will need a high frequency dimmer pack, and these are expensive. Also it migh be too inductrial for you, I still think theat lamp stands uplighting the ceiling would be nice, but the low energy lights available lack punch (typically) so generally you need more of them

It is very difficult to work out a cost for someone when you don't know if they will pay €20 or €300 for a light fitting.

I understand that you are most likely have a normal budget like most people, but still you would be amazed at what some people spend on their electrics, so an architectural layout is not enough to put a figure against.

If you are doing up the plans yourself you can pop them over to me and I'll look over them to see if I notice anything you have missed, could save you on extras, a good design saves a lot of money.