[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

Don't you love it when a small job actually works out like you were expecting it to?

A few weeks back I had screen doors fitted to the new house (not sure how people can stand not having fresh air in the house ). Install all went well, but the young guy doing the measurement and quote noted that the laundry door would impact on the batten holder outside the door. To overcome this temporarily, I just removed the globe. During the week I purchased a 240v downlight and a surface mount socket outlet.

Today, I removed the old batten holder, cut a larger hole in the eave, terminated the supply cable into the socket, and installed the downlight. All done within an hour and no access into the roof required.

Now, I'm not an electrician and I don't condone a non-licensed electrician doing their own work. I know that it is illegal. I did, however, complete my first year of an electrical mechanic apprenticeship, am a degree qualified electrical engineer (you licensed electricians shouldn't hold that against me ) and have completed (although not tested) my pre-electrical inspectors course, so have self-assessed myself as competent to do this small job. Again, I don't condone the action though.

But, I was pleased that it stayed a small job. I hate it when you start what you think will be a small job, only to find that it takes you significantly longer than planned

Yes i am an electician, but things like that i see no harm in doing if things are made safe and a bit of know how. The small stuff electicians sting you in labour costs. What i installed for my porch light and in my laundry was clipsal 753r pir's. So 360 degree motion detectors. Theyre good because they have daylight settings. So set right they only detect when its dark. You can also set time and range. So time is how long it stays on from the last motion it senses, and range, thats pretty self explanatory. I still have the light switches as overide off switches. And during the times when its too bright to activate the sensors by motion (that setting can be adjusted) you turn the switch of then on and regardless, the sensor will activate untill its last motion is detected. The door to my laundry is external to my house, so its pretty convenient at night with a washing basket to walk in and have the light turn on, same as coming home at night and the front light turns on to save further fumbling around for keys.