Stefek Zaba wrote
| With regards to cable/circuit ratings, under the regulations *each*
| downlighter will be assumed to be 100W minimum (or actual loading
| if greater) and you should check that you will not be overloading
| the existing circuit.
| I'm pretty sure this is not the case: the intent of the Regs would
| surely be to say "anywhere a mumpty might put in an ordinary bulb, you
| have to allow for mumpty favouring 100W bulbs", which is fair enough.
| But if you have a lighting point whch takes non-ordinary-bulbs, you
| surely assess the load based on - at very worst - the biggest-load
| bulb available for that fitting; so, 20W for diddy-capsule halogens,
| 50W for bigger-size reflector ones, 11W for PL11D flourescents, and
| so on. No?

I think not (for mains fittings), because there is always the possibility
that someone replaces the low-energy Part L compliant fitting with a
standard bayonet battenholder and sticks in a 150W GLS lamp.

| Likewise if the transformer you fit limits the load (so
| that even if mumpty replaces 20W bulbs with 50W ones there won't
| be a sustained overload, as the transformer will shut down or have
| its fuses blow), it's reasonable to rate the load according to the
| maximum the transformer will draw, not some mythical 100W-per-
| ligthing-point...

In a transformer case I agree and would regard the transformer as being the
'point' rather than the number of lamps it supplies, as the transformer
signifies the end of the mains wiring. So a transformer feeding 6 x 50W
lamps is considered to be a 300W point load rather than 600W across multiple
points.

You can stop sucking your verucca now :-)

Owain