Can I convert my light to double insulated?
Occasionally we are asked if a persons’ light fitting can be
converted to double insulated. Usually an electrician has removed a beloved old
light that has hung in a room for years to do some routine maintenance and
discovered that the house has no earth connection & the beloved light can’t,
according to current electrical regulations, go back up again. The electrician
will advise the client to purchase a double insulated light from someone like
Lightahome or to rewire the houses electrics, which can be costly & messy.
A light is double insulated by the way it is wired and
manufactured. If an issue occurs within the light then any loose wiring cannot
touch the unit because all connections are insulated. This is why a double
insulated light can be made of metal. Why then can’t an existing light be
converted to double insulated? In theory it shouldn’t be difficult. There are
issues however.
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| A double insulated light is tested thoroughly & given a safety certificate which is only cost effective when manufacturing thousands of units |
All double insulated light fittings are manufactured to
stringent regulations. A manufacturer will produce a light that is double
insulated and that light will have to go through thorough testing by the
relevant authority to confirm the light is safe and is compliant with
electrical regulations regarding class 2 double insulation. This will cost the
manufacturer a very large figure to test the product and have it approved. This
is cost effective for the manufacturer as they will produce thousands of the
light over its retail lifetime. This cost can be built in to the products price
and might only add a few pence per unit over time.
It is not, however, cost effective for a single light to go
through that process. The light you would like to convert will also have been
issued with a safety certificate based upon its original design. Once you try
to convert it you are changing the material makeup of that light. Not only is
it costly to have it tested (in the thousands) but also actually finding
someone to actually do that testing would be practically impossible.
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| Having an electrician add an earth wire to a light is the only real way to continue using your existing light if you don't want to fit new double insulated lights |
Converting to double insulated is not a normal approach in
the lighting industry. On the occasion where we have been asked to see if it’s
possible or if we have any advice then the client has always either had to
change their lights or on occasion they have worked with an electrician to find
a way to get an earth wire to the light and back to their consumer unit (fuse
board).
So, to sum up it’s not really practical to convert an
existing light to double insulated due to costs and availability of a relevant
person willing to attempt it. If you really desperately want to continue to use
your existing light then you will need to see if an electrician can add an
earth wire to your light or have all the lighting in your home rewired. If both
of those are not an option then you will need to replace your existing lighting
with double insulated lighting, which is available on Lightahomes’ website
Lightahome has specialised in double insulated class 2
lighting for over 20 years and if you need any advice then feel free to call us
on 024 7671 7043 or join our double insulated lighting group on our Facebook page.
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