Budget 15amp dimmable pendants

[Milky08]

Hi Hive Mind,

 

I'm looking for a way to make as many 15amp pendant bulb fixtures as possible on a budget of £250. Need to source everything; plugs, wiring, socket and bulb so that they can be patched into a 15amp dimmer rack.

 

Any help much appreciated!

 

Ollie

[Hilary Watts]

It depends exactly what you mean by "pendant bulb fixture" but for £250 you could buy two 15 metre lengths of festoon harness from this page together with eighty 15W or 25W golf ball bulbs to fit from the same firm and the total load would be well within the capacity of a 15 Amp dimmer. Do check though that the dimmer is rated at 15 Amps. Just because it is connected via a 15A plug and socket does not mean that the load capacity is as much as that.

[xllx]

Hi Hive Mind,

 

I'm looking for a way to make as many 15amp pendant bulb fixtures as possible on a budget of £250. Need to source everything; plugs, wiring, socket and bulb so that they can be patched into a 15amp dimmer rack.

 

Any help much appreciated!

 

Ollie

 

Give Marklew Productions in Birmingham a call (or they are on Blue Room). They did a job recently with loads of pendants, which they made up. They might be able to do you a hire or sale deal.

[Yorkie]

length; colour of cable/lampholder; required lumens will affect what you need.

 

If they can have 1.5m white cable and will have shades, these probably represent a good value starting point https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/hemma-triple-cord-set-white-10325659/

[natjones]

If you aren't able to hire, and decide to make up your pendants, you'll need to consider the following:

 

 

1) how long to the drops need to be from the lighting bar/hanging point? What is the distance to socket? This will help you calculate how much cable to buy.

 

2) how many dimmers do you have available?

 

3) do all of the lamps need to be on the same dimmer, or will some of them be sharing? To avoid grelco hell, you should consider wago clips to join multiple pendants in junction boxes to share power. Wagos are pricier than chockblox, but less fiddly. You shouldn't need sockets if you go this route.

 

4) wattage of your lamps so you don't overload your dimmer (like, 100x 60w lamps into 1 channel) and can calculate what cable thickness you should use between the junction and the plug.

 

5) do you need incandescent lamps/visible filament? It's difficult to get large quantities of incandescent lamps now, but the LED versions can be pricey and need to be dimmable. On the other hand, LED is much lower wattage. Also, take lamp base into account. BC is usually easier to find pendant fittings for than ES.

 

6) shop around. Compare prices of different components on websites like https://uk.rs-online.com/web/ , https://cpc.farnell.com/ , https://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/ , https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk , or screwfix. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of different prices and part numbers. Some stuff, like 15amp plugs you might need to get from Whitelight, Stage Electrics or Sparks.

 

7) don't underestimate how long this can take! Do as much prep as you can. What is your get-in/get-out time?

 

8) how are you going to attach these? Budget for tape/cable ties.

 

Good luck!

Edited October 14, 2019 by natjones

[FLB]

Hi Ollie

I have a load of white BC lamp holders already wired on black PVC cable varying lengths up to 5m from memory, were built as multiple bulb drop chandeliers (ie 3 circuits wired to approx 10 lamps each)

Also 36x 2m, 32x 1.5m & 37x 1m BC lamp holders on white braided cable to a BC lamp holder plug.

Can also supply 15a plugs in VG useable condition.

Also have 100's of 60w BC clear lamps for them.

 

I have no use for this kit now so would be willing to sell them.

They have all been used for corporate events / parties but are perfectly useable.

 

Is this of interest ? - send private message if so - can provide photos if required.

 

 

 

Hi Hive Mind,

 

I'm looking for a way to make as many 15amp pendant bulb fixtures as possible on a budget of £250. Need to source everything; plugs, wiring, socket and bulb so that they can be patched into a 15amp dimmer rack.

 

Any help much appreciated!

 

Ollie

[AndrewE]

When I last had to to this (in 2016), I was able to make 80 pendants of various drops including some imported Edison squirrel cage lamps for £800 - with components all source online, mostly via ebay.

 

Broken down as follows:

200m of TRS: £100

80 bayonet lamp holders: £200

80 15a plug tops: £200

100 lamps: £300

 

Doing it this way, you're looking at around £10 for a complete pendant including lamp holder, cable, lamp and plug - which would get you 25 units on your £250 budget (plus a few spare lamps for the inevitable).

[bruce]

 

Doing it this way, you're looking at around £10 for a complete pendant including lamp holder, cable, lamp and plug ...

 

Only if you don’t cost your time.

[AndrewE]

Only if you don’t cost your time.

 

The OP didn't suggest they were factoring in their time though. The question was specifically about sourcing all the parts.