Rewiring

Unless you are building a new house or having your home completely rewired when you can merely give the electrician your instructions-you may find that efficient, effective lighting involves some rewiring. However, do not be too ambitious. It takes an expert and NICEIC qualified electrician to rewire a house, especially the complicated rewiring you may need to achieve your best planned lighting.

Use your own ideas but, unless you a qualified London based electrician, leave the actual rewiring to a professional. Many useful improvements can be made very simply by adapting your existing circuits-preferably with the minimum of damage to your decor. For example, a lounge which is fitted with one central pendant light and a single power point has very severe lighting limitations.

But a few simple changes can work wonders. Rid yourself of the centre light and replace it with three ceiling mounted spots in the darker end of the room, away from the window, These could be served by a dimmer switch, and supplemented by a table lamp, and/or a fluorescent tube concealed behind a pelmet or in a shelf recess. Or try splitting one lighting outlet, such as the wiring for a wall light, to provide wiring for two mounted spotlights. These could be served by the same switch.

If you decide to mount the cables on the surface, look for unobtrusive routes. (Burying them behind skirting boards and plaster tends to upset your decor.) You could run them behind curtains, along the top of a skirting board, or down the corners of the room. Securing clips with hardened steel pins-such as Dylon clips-are small, easy to use and make a neat job of fixing cables to walls but the wiring itself must not be exposed. When you plan the lighting of any room, aim for variety of effect. Daylight is always interesting because it is constantly changing in intensity. Artificial light should try to be just as interesting, just as adaptable. With a little care, your lighting will add greatly to the efficiency, mood and atmosphere of your home.