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Electrician and plasterer question

Posted by Lucy Bates, on Fri 24 Jul 2015 04:01pm

I live in a second floor tenement flat in central Edinburgh. There is a central ceiling light in the sitting room which is not wired in - there is just a plain ceiling rose, and a blank light switch on the wall. I had an electrician round to investigate and he said when the flat was rewired in (he thinks) the mid-80s, the ceiling light was not included for some reason. There is power at the switch on the wall but it is not connected to the ceiling light. His advice was to lay new wire up the wall and across the ceiling, meaning damage to the wall and ceiling which would require re-plastering. He didn't have time to do the work over the next few months so advised I look for someone else to do the job. Can anyone advise if this is the best plan to install the light and how much time it would take to do the work? Many thanks!

Cornelius Cretu

Fri 24 Jul 2015 04:23pm

Hi Lucy, If indeed the ceiling rose is not wired in and there is no cable laying above that ceiling rose then your electrician is right. You have to run another cable from that switch to the light fitting on the ceiling. Another way of sorting this problem out would be to run a cable from another light in the same room (a permanent supply) to that ceiling rose and then you need a wireless switch which will be the transmitter (can be fitted anywhere you want it) and a wireless receiver which will be connected directly to your ceiling light.. In order to do that, you'll need access to the cables in the ceiling which can be done more easily that channelling the wall. Hope this helps, Cornelius Cretu

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