"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
Sorry - I should have said that it was a maximum potential load
of 600W. It actually only has 300W at the moment, but some
of the fittings can take higher capacity bulbs, so I ought to have
a setup that allows for that possibility. These are external lights,
and are spread far and wide about my property, so that I can
see where I'm walking at night.

300W is certainly better, although you should consider using CFL type
bulbs
for this application, to reduce usage further.

Personally, I would wire this up differently from a traditional lighting
circuit. I would use a DP switched immersion timer (or any suitable light
switch and relay) and have independent RCD protection, too, run from a 3A
MCB on the consumer unit. This reduces the effect of faults in the garden
circuit on the rest of the system.

Good point about the CFLs.

Using the DP switched timer separately sounds OK, but
I would need to keep it vaguely accessible so that I could
override it if necessary.

Hadn't thought abour RCD protection (partly because it
wasn't RCD protected before). I know it's a requirement
that outside-accessible sockets are RCD protected but
does this also apply to outside lighting?

Al