inspired by light | lighting blog

Part L of the Building Regulations (in England and Wales) was introduced by government on 6 April 2006, and it concerns the implementation of energy efficiency measures.

These regulations raise the energy efficiency of new buildings by 40%, compared with the Part L 2002 requirements. They also improve compliance by introducing new energy performance requirements for building services within all new buildings. The time for the building industry to comply with the new regulations has been tightened, and the transitional arrangements have been cut from the expected maximum of three years to just 12 months. Therefore all new buildings without full building plans approved by 6 April 2006 by the local authority, must comply with the new Part L requirements from 6 April 2006.

The new Part L requirements are as follows:

“Reasonable provision shall be made for the conservation of fuel and power in buildings by:

1. limiting
   • heat losses through the fabric of the building
   • excessive solar gains and
   • heat gains from pipes, ducts and vessels used for space heating, space cooling and hot water storage
2. providing energy efficient and properly commissioned fixed building services with effective controls
3. providing to the owner sufficient information about the building and its building services so that the building can be operated and maintained in such a manner as to use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances.”

The final Part L 2006: Building Regulations (Conservation of Fuel and Power) Approved Documents are available and contain:

• guidance on the performance expected of installed building services and building work in order to comply with each of the requirements of the Building Regulations
• practical examples and solutions on how to achieve compliance for some of the more common building situations.

Copies of these Approved Documents can be downloaded below.

• Approved Document L2A: Conservation of fuel and power (New buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition)
• Approved Document L2B: Conservation of fuel and power (Existing buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition)

The government have confirmed that Part L of the Building Regulations will be implemented with the following transitional arrangements:

The revised Part L 2006 of the Building Regulations came into effect on 6 April 2006. From that date, any building work including building services work must comply with the revised Part L 2006 regulations unless:

• work has started before 6 April 2006 in accordance with a building notice, full plans, initial notice or amendment notice
• where full plans are not required to be deposited, a contract is entered into before 6 April 2006, provided that the work is started before 1 October 2006
• full plans have been deposited and approved before 6 April 2006, provided that work is started before 1st April 2007
• a plans certificate or plans certificate combined with an initial notice has been given to a local authority before 6 April 2006, provided that the work is started before 1st April 2007.

Any building work carried out under the transitional arrangements will be subject to the current Part L (2002) regulations and energy efficiency standards.

The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) has been approved by DCLG (formerly known as ODPM) to operate an Electrical Energy Efficiency Scheme for firms wanting to self-certify that their electrical installation work carried out in commercial and industrial buildings complies with Part L of the Building Regulations.

The Scheme comprises three scopes covering the following areas of work:

• lighting
• electrical heating
• controls.

Each firm registered with the ECA scheme will have to employ at least one Energy Supervisor. The Energy Supervisor is an experienced individual responsible for ensuring that electrical installation work is designed, installed and commissioned in compliance with the Building Regulations. An Energy Supervisor must be suitably qualified and have satisfactorily completed a suitable Part L training course, recognised by the ECA. Training course T34-006 “Part L for Energy Supervisors” was launched in early May 2006.

Firms registered with the ECA scheme will have the right to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations. This means that any electrical installation work carried out within the scope of Part L does not have to be inspected by a Building Control body.

Clients that use a firm registered as a Competent Person have the reassurance that they are using a firm that has been independently inspected and certificated as competent to carry out the work.

Kico by Massive

The Kico range of lighting is a Philips brand, Massive.

Massive state this regarding their Kico Range;

The Belgian Government asked Massive, Belgian consumer organisations, CEBEC and others to help them specify safety regulations concerning childrens lighting. These so-called “child-appealing safety regulations”, which Massive follows strictly, include the most accurate and severest safety regulations concerning children lighting. For instance a KICO® product has to have Class III of protection (= low voltage safety product) or Class II of protection with a compact fluorescent lamp which makes it impossible for a child to put their finger in the socket. KICO® products are not only attractive, but also safe. Many other children’s products available on the market are not always as safe as they should be for your kids.

These are cap types of common bulbs.

The previous standard in Britain before imperialisation was the bayonet cap, now referred to as LBC or the european standard, B22 (Bayonet 22mm diameter).

The European Standard follows on from this standard as follows;

E refers to Edison, followed by the mm diameter.

ES = Edison Screw cap, or E27 = Edison 27mm

SES = Small Edison Screw cap, or E14 = Edison 14mm

CFL in the lighting industry refers to Compact FLuorescent lamps (bulbs).

Compact in size, normally twisted spiral shapes, to fit in confined spaces in some fittings.

Rattle Noise in Fluorescent TubesThe rattle noise in the tube is normal, this rattle is due to catalytic pellet inside the glass, a solid state zinc alloy catalyst that delivers even better, more consistent performance. It also makes the lamp the most environmentally friendly on the market.

Both switches and dimmers have maximum wattage ratings, i.e. the total wattage to be used by the switch/dimmer (eg 1x 10 arm light rated at 20 watt each = total 200 watts) and should NOT exceed this. Some mains voltage Halogen lights require dimmers that run at double their total wattage. Please consult a qualified electrician for further advice.

A good rule of thumb is normally equivalent to 1 Watt per Led, so for example if the light contains 20 LEDs it will give as much light as a 20watt bulb

Some wall mounted switches will emit an annoying hum when turned to their lowest setting. This is quite normal but will vary in intensity between the type of dimmer and the type of lighting unit being dimmed. Reducing the bulb wattage may be a solution but trying a different dimmer switch may also alleviate the problem.

If you hook up a really cheap dimmer switch, you may notice a strange buzzing noise. This comes from vibrations in the bulb filament caused by the chopped-up current coming from the triac.

If you  know how an electromagnet works then you know that electricity flowing through a coiled length of wire generates a substantial magnetic field, and fluctuating current generates a fluctuating magnetic field. If you know how a light bulb works then you know that the filament at the heart of a light bulb is just a coiled length of wire. It makes sense, then, that this coiled filament becomes magnetic whenever you pass current through it, and the magnetic field fluctuates with the AC current.

Normal undulating AC current fluctuates gradually, so the magnetic field does, too. The chopped-up current from a dimmer switch, on the other hand, jumps in voltage suddenly whenever the triac becomes conductive. This sudden shift in voltage changes the magnetic field abruptly, which can cause the filament to vibrate — it’s rapidly drawn to and repelled by the metal arms holding it in place. In addition to producing a soft buzzing sound, the abruptly shifting magnetic field will generate weak radio signals that can cause interference on nearby TV’s or Radios

Better dimmer switches have extra components to squelch the buzzing effect. Typically, the dimmer circuit includes an inductor choke, a length of wire wrapped around an iron core, and an additional interference capacitor. Both devices can temporarily store electrical charge and release it later. This “extra current” works to smooth out the sharp voltage jumps caused by the triac-switching to reduce buzzing and radio interference.

All mains voltage halogen bulbs (eg GU10 and G9 types) can be dimmed but may require a dimmer of higher wattage than the total wattage of the light fitting they are dimming. All low voltage Halogen bulbs (eg G4, G6.35 and G5.3 types) may require special dimmers dependant on their transformer type and we do advise not to use dimmers with them. However, any qualified electrician should be able to advise, supply and fit these for you.