voltage of chandelier

[ajem]

I am looking to replace the chandelier that came with the house. I want to buy one that has 500-600 watts, but not sure if the power supply can handle it. How do you know how much power is in there?

[pug100]

Simply power formula is amps x volts = power in watts
Your 3 pin mains outlet is 13A x 240V = 3120 W (or 3 kW)
Lighting circuits are 5amps, so 5A x 240 = 1200 W
This will be very bright as well as hot, equivalent of 12 100W lightbulbs.

A 500 W light fitting will still be too bright for most standard living areas (mosty make do with 100W or less ) unless you have a very large space to light.

[Buenchico]

500W to 600W? Are you sure that you live in a house and not a castle? Or maybe you're planning to conduct a few surgical operations(?), because the room will be as bright as an operating theatre!

Take a look at the fuse for the circuit. It's probably rated at 3 amps. If so, you can theoretically draw a total of 690W (assuming a 230V supply) for the entire circuit (i.e. including all of the other lights on the same circuit). However good practice always requires that loads are kept below the theoretical maximum, so I'd suggest that you shouldn't really be exceeding much more than about 500W for the entire circuit.

Chris

PS: Don't forget that incandescent lamps are currently being phased out on a voluntary basis but the ban will eventually become mandatory. You'll have to switch to low-energy bulbs at some time in the future, so it would seem to wise to look for a chandelier which is designed for them. (Then you won't have to worry about excessive electrical loads or, indeed, excessive electricity bills).

PPS: Sorry, I just couldn't resist posting this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcW-IrZe6aI

[buildersmate]

Chris - old style fuseboards (should) have 5A fusewire fitted. New style consumer units have 6A miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) in them. A lighting circuit can draw around 1200W across all the circuit. 3A doesn't come into it.

[Buenchico]

Yes, BM, I need new glasses.

I actually took a look at my fusebox (1970s, fuse-wire type) before posting, to check on the fuse rating. I simply mis-read it. (It's 5A)

However, we're agreed that 500W (or more) seems ridiculously bright. Anyway, as stated, I still think that Ajem needs to be thinking 'low energy', otherwise he could end up with a redundant chandelier in a few years time.

Chris

[terence7556]

hi ajem
the rating of your chandelier is too high for the lighting circuit, in a similar way to a P.I.R. or security light
old re wireable fuses
5A x 230 volts is 1150 watts available
new style mcb 6A x 230 volts is 1350 watts available
rule of thumb guide use 10 100w bulbs and leave some excess capacity for another light on a lighting circuit
so can you see that by taking up half the available capacity on a circuit with one fitting is unsafe, even though you may be thinking i will never turn on all the lights at the same time
the answer is to wire it on the power circuit off a fused spur in the same way as you would with a security light