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Modern interiors are characterized by large living spaces that are divided into different living areas. Small rooms are being replaced by apartments with an open plan, characterized by kitchen, living room, bedroom, and study areas. These spaces are separated by floors, ceilings, partitions and lighting. It is with their own hands that homeowners create a cozy, warm environment that emphasizes objects, shapes, and satisfies their life needs. An important part of creating comfort zones is connecting the right lighting, since for each zone or room it has its own characteristics. Places for work, reading, cooking, and relaxation must be illuminated in accordance with their functional tasks.

The correct connection diagram for lighting elements ensures uniform illumination of all corners of the living space of the room, highlighting and emphasizing their purpose with the help of distributed light. small in size and power successfully perform such tasks. Lighting fixtures are mounted on suspended ceilings. How to connect spotlights will be shown clearly and in detail by the electrical diagram, as well as the connection algorithm. Installation of these elements is easy even with your own hands. You can find out about this in our article.

Note

It is important to remember that the location and configuration of ceiling lighting fixtures must be planned at the design stage.

Rules for connecting lamps to a 220V network

1. The circuit consists of junction boxes, wires and corrugations.
2. It is important to use exclusively copper wire. If there were twists in the wires, it is better to solder and insulate them.
3. A separate flexible wire is allocated for each of the lamps. Connection and connection of them together occurs through copper sleeves or a special “terminal block”, which is then additionally insulated using insulating tape.
4. Before installing ceilings, it is important to check the wiring and light bulbs with a switch.

Before installation on the ceiling surface, it is important to determine the location of the built-in lamps. By their design, such lighting devices cover a lighting sector of only 30º. On the other hand, due to its compactness, the scheme for their installation can be quite dense. If you follow it, then there can be quite a lot of them on different ceilings.

To ensure optimal illumination of the room, the installation diagram of light elements should be as follows:

• The distance between the points of light should be no more than a meter.
• Holes for lamps should be located at a distance of 25-30 mm from the nearest frame.
• The spotlight should be located at a distance of 60 cm from the wall.
• It is better to separate the lighting circuits of different zones with a separate switch.

You can install and connect it yourself. The technology and design are universal - the same for all types of suspended ceilings.

Technical characteristics of spot lighting

• It is important to use the same type of luminaires for certain lighting circuits.
• Powerful lighting devices over 40 watts can damage the suspended ceiling.
• For plastic ceiling options, it is recommended to choose wiring that is more fire-resistant compared to plasterboard ceilings.
• Without fail, the wire for lighting must be multi-core, soft and flexible.
• You should periodically check the fastening and tightening of the clamping bolts of the wiring fastenings.

How to connect lighting yourself

1. Planning. If the suspended ceiling is formed from several levels, the connection of the lamps should be made with the allocation of separate lighting circuits, which are controlled by a separate 220-volt network switch. The installation diagram is developed in advance.
2. Pulling and securing wires. It is recommended to fasten the wiring to metal profiles using special plastic ties. At the places where the light points are attached, form loops that can be easily hooked and pulled out through the holes drilled in the ceiling panels. At the same time, it is important to allow them to sag slightly.

In another option, you can stretch the wiring with your own hands from the first hole to the rest, but in this case the wiring will lie directly on the drywall itself from the inside.

1. Drilling holes for spotlights. The layout takes on its final contours after installation of the ceiling surface. In the case of plastic ones, it is better to place the lighting fixtures in the center of the panels, and not at the junction. The holes are made using a drill and a special attachment called a “crown”. It's easy to drill them with your own hands. It is important to choose the correct nozzle diameter.
2. Lighting connection. It is important to connect 220 V, following a strict algorithm:

1. Fastening lamps. Bend the side brackets with your own hands until they stop and insert them into the hole. After this, the staples will snap into place. Insert the lamp and secure it at the top with the retaining ring. This design securely holds the lamps on the ceiling. After this, you can connect the main wire to the network.

At the final stage, all that remains is to check the operation of the distributed light lighting. Thus, following the technology and observing the sequence of work, you can easily install built-in spotlights on a suspended ceiling with your own hands.

A seemingly simple operation - installing a new chandelier - can confuse a person unfamiliar with electrics: there are a lot of wires and it is not clear what to connect to what. We will discuss how to connect a chandelier with a different number of arms (and wires) to a switch.

Preparation: continuity testing and phase determination on the ceiling

Those who have at least a little knowledge of electrical networks will not need this, others will find it useful. It can be difficult for a person who does not constantly deal with electricity to navigate. To avoid confusion, we will tell you everything in order: how to find phase (or phases) and zero in the wires on the ceiling, what to do with grounding. And then, like a whole bunch of wires on a chandelier, connect them to those that stick out above. As a result, connecting the chandelier with your own hands will be a simple task for you.

Ground wire

If the wiring is already done, there will be two, three or four wires sticking out from the ceiling. One of them is definitely “zero”, the rest are phase, and there may also be grounding.

There is not always a grounding wire, only in newly built houses or after major renovations with replacement of electrical wiring. According to the standard, it has a yellow-green color and is connected to the same wire on the chandelier. If your chandelier does not have one, carefully insulate the exposed wire and leave it as is. You cannot leave it uninsulated - you may accidentally short-circuit it.

Looking for phases and zero

You need to figure out the rest of the wires: where is the “phase” and where is the “zero”. In older houses, all wires are usually the same color. Most often - black. New buildings may have black and blue, or brown and blue. Sometimes red is present. In order not to guess by colors, it is easier to ring them.

If you have three wires on the ceiling, and a two-key switch on the wall, you should have two “phases” - for each of the keys and one “zero” - the common wire. You can ring with a multimeter (tester) or an indicator screwdriver (this is a special screwdriver with a light that lights up when voltage is present). During operation, move the switch key to the “on” position (the input circuit breaker is also turned on). After dialing, turn the switch keys to the “off” position. If possible, it is better to turn off the circuit breaker on the panel and connect the chandelier with the power turned off.

Checking the wires on the ceiling with a tamper

How to ring and identify wires with a tester is shown in the photo. Set the switch to the “volts” position, select the scale (more than 220 V). Alternately touch the pairs of wires with the probes (hold the probes by the handles, do not touch the exposed conductors). The two phases do not “ring” with each other - there will be no changes on the indicator. If you find such a pair, most likely there are two phases. The third wire is most likely “zero”. Now connect each of the supposed phases with probes to zero. The indicator should show 220 V. You found zero - in the international specification it is designated by the letter N - and two phases - designated L. If all the wires are the same color, mark them somehow: with paint, a colored marker, a piece of adhesive tape. Phases are in one color, zero is in another.

It is easier to work with an indicator screwdriver: just touch its end to the exposed conductor. Lit - phase, no - zero. Very simple.

If there are only two wires sticking out, then one of them is phase, the other is zero. In this case, there is only one key on the switch. There are no other options.

Wires on the chandelier

Connecting a chandelier with 2 wires is simple: screw one of them to phase, the other to zero. Which one goes where - it doesn’t matter. If there are two phases on the ceiling, and the switch on the wall is two-key, there are options:

On multi-arm chandeliers there are definitely more than two wires. We have decided on the purpose of yellow-green. This is grounding. If the same wire is on the ceiling, connect it to it. The rest also need to be dealt with.

A chandelier with 3 wires is not much more difficult to connect. If one of them is grounding (yellow-green), it can be:

• ignore - if there is no wire of that color (or similar) on the ceiling,
• connect to one of the same color.

Actually, there are no other options. Three wires are mainly used for lamps with one bulb. With two, this is an outdated design, with three, a more modern design that complies with current recommendations.

Connection to double switch

They connect a five-, four-, three-arm chandelier to a two-key switch according to the same principle. From each of the horns there are two different colored wires. Most often these are blue and brown wires, but there are other variations. To connect to a double switch, they all need to be divided into three groups: two phases and one zero.

First, all the blue wires are combined with each other and twisted well. This is zero. In principle, you can take wires of a different color - it doesn’t matter for lighting fixtures. But according to the standard, “zero” is indicated in blue. It is only important that conductors painted in a different color do not get into the twist. In the photo below you see that all blue conductors are combined into one group. This is “zero”.

Now divide the remaining ones into two groups. The breakdown is arbitrary. One group of light bulbs will turn on from one key, the second - from another. A five-arm chandelier usually combines 2+3, but 1+4 is also possible. The four-arm version also has two options - 2+2 or 1+3. But with three light bulbs there are no options: 1+2. Twist the separated wires together. We received two groups, which we connected to the “phases” on the ceiling.

How to connect a chandelier to a single switch

If there are only two wires on the ceiling, but there are many on the chandelier, but only in two colors, everything is simple. Twist all the conductors of the same color with their bare parts and connect them to one of the wires on the ceiling (it doesn’t matter which). Collect all the conductors of the second color into one bundle and connect them to the second ceiling one. The chandelier connection diagram in this case is shown in the figure below.

When turned on in this way, all the lights will light up at the same time.

Rules for connecting wires

There are no small details when working with electricity. Therefore, we connect the wires in the chandelier according to all the rules. When combined into one group, it is not enough to simply twist them and screw on the protective cap.

You need to connect the wires from the chandelier and the switch in the terminal box

Such twist will sooner or later oxidize and begin to heat up. It is highly advisable to solder such connections. If you know how to handle a soldering iron and tin, definitely do this. This will guarantee normal contact and the connection will not heat up.

Now let's talk about how to connect the wires from the chandelier with the wires from the switch (which are on the ceiling). According to the latest rules, twists are not allowed. Terminal boxes must be used. Most modern chandeliers are equipped with them. If not, buy it at any hardware store or retailer of lighting fixtures.

When using such a terminal box, a problem arises: a twist of a large number of wires simply does not fit into the hole. Output: solder a conductor to the connection (copper, single-core or stranded, with a cross-section of at least 0.5 mm2). This connection is well insulated, and the free end of the soldered conductor is inserted into the terminal box (a long one is not needed - 10 cm is more than enough).

Having inserted all the wires from the chandelier into the terminal block and tightened the screws, the entire structure is raised to the ceiling. There it is pre-fixed, after which the wires are connected to the terminal block in the required order. In this case, it is important to set “zeros” one opposite the other. Phases are connected to phases in random order.

How the wires on the chandelier are separated, how the conductor and the chandelier are connected to the terminal block - all this is in the video.

Connecting a Chinese chandelier

Most of the relatively inexpensive chandeliers on the market come from China. What's good about them is their large assortment, but there are problems with the quality of the electrical assembly. Therefore, before connecting the chandelier, you need to check its electrical characteristics.

First, check the integrity of the insulation. They can be assembled into one bundle and short-circuited to the housing. The tester should not show anything. If there are any indications, you have two options: look for and replace the damaged wire or take it for an exchange.

The second stage of testing is checking each horn. There are two wires coming from the horn. They are soldered in a cartridge to two contacts. Connect each wire to the corresponding contact. The device must show a short circuit (short circuit or infinity sign, depending on the model).

After checking, start grouping the wires as described above.

Connecting a halogen chandelier (with and without remote control)

Halogen lamps operate not from 220 V, but from 12 V or 24 V. Therefore, step-down transformers are installed in each of them and the entire circuit is assembled and ready for installation. Only two conductors remain free, which need to be connected to the wires sticking out on the ceiling. It is connected in any order, “phase” and “zero” do not matter.

If the chandelier is equipped with a remote control, a control unit is added to the transformers. The connection is similar: there are two conductors that need to be connected to the one on the ceiling. The third conductor coming from the other side (it is thin) is an antenna, with the help of which the remote control and the control unit “communicate”. This conductor remains inside the glass in the form in which it is.

How to connect a chandelier with a remote control, see the following video.

There can be many situations when you need to connect two lamps to one power supply network using just one switch. Most often, single-key and two-key switches are used, less often - cross switches. If, as a rule, there are no difficulties connecting one light bulb, then the presence of 2 light sources forces home craftsmen to think about their correct connection to the network. However, I would like to list all the possible methods, based not only on the type of switch, but also on the types of light bulbs and methods of connecting them. Next, we will describe in detail how to connect two light bulbs to one switch, providing all the necessary installation diagrams.

Types of lamps and switches

Before proceeding directly to installation, you need to clearly understand that there are several types of light bulbs that are connected to the network either directly or through ballast or rectifier-step-down equipment. In any case, each of them has its own operating voltage and power, on which the current depends accordingly.

Types of artificial light sources often used in everyday life:

• Incandescent and halogen, the principle of operation is the same, only in some there is a vacuum, and in others there are special halogen pairs that increase service life.
• Luminescent, as well as their variety, the so-called housekeepers and sodium.
• LED, working on LED systems and on the characteristics of a semiconductor diode to emit a luminous flux.

A person who has little understanding of electricity has problems connecting several light bulbs. When the wiring is already done, all the work consists of replacing the burnt out lamps. But there are situations when you need to add one or more light bulbs to your existing system. Here you will already need basic knowledge of electrical engineering and the ability to draw up a connection diagram.

Parallel connection of lamps to power wires

Spotlights have come into fashion, as a result the number of light sources in houses and apartments has increased significantly, and special attention has been paid to lighting. The photo above shows suspended ceiling lamps with a parallel connection. Through terminal blocks, the lamps are connected to the phase (L) and neutral (N) wires.

At first glance, there is nothing complicated here, but for long-term and reliable operation everything must be done according to the rules that you need to know.

Connection diagram

To create light bulb connections, first of all, you need to draw a simplified electrical diagram of connections and power connections. It is compiled according to certain rules:

• conductors are graphically indicated by straight, unbroken lines;
• connections are indicated by dots (if there are more than two of them); if there are no dots, then the wires intersect;
• electrical fittings and wiring on the plan are shown in accordance with GOST 21.614 and GOST 21.608.

Parallel and serial connection

In order to light the simplest incandescent lamp, you need to connect its contacts to phase (L) and zero (N). Two wires come to it from the junction box or from the outlet. The parallel circuit involves connecting several light bulbs to common phase and neutral wires (Fig. a below). Here three incandescent lamps are connected in parallel. For convenience, a switch is installed in the circuit. The schematic diagram (Fig. b) shows the connections more clearly.

Parallel connection diagram of light bulbs

The advantage of a parallel connection is the ability to connect electricity consumers to the network voltage. To the lamps in Fig. You can add a few more higher, but the current will increase, but the voltage will remain the same.

Current strength ( I ) in the supply wires is equal to the sum of the current strengths of all sections ( I 1, I 2, I 3 ), connected in parallel (Fig. b above):

I = I 1 + I 2 + I 3.

The power of the circuit (P) is found as the sum of the powers of all sections ( R 1, R 2, R 3 ):

P = P 1 + P 2 + P 3.

Resistance (R) for three loads is determined from the expression:

1/R = 1/R 1 + 1/R 2 + 1/R 3 ,

where R 1, R 2, R 3 are the resistances of the light bulbs.

Types of lamps and connection diagrams

Connecting the incandescent lamps shown above is not particularly difficult. But the circuit of halogen and fluorescent lamps has some differences.

Halogen

Low-voltage power supply increases the safety of light sources. However, the brightness remains the same. Halogen lamps can be used with step-down transformers of 6, 12 and 24 V (Fig. below).

Halogen lamp connection diagram

The 220 V voltage is supplied to a small-sized electronic transformer, which can even be built into the switch housing. Low-voltage halogen lamps are often used in suspended ceilings. They are connected in parallel and connected to a transformer. The photo below shows a block diagram with two transformers. A voltage of 220 V is supplied to them through a distribution box. The neutral wire is indicated in blue, and the phase wire is indicated in brown, with a switch inserted into the gap.

Connection diagram for halogen lamps

Groups of lamps are connected to each other in parallel in a distribution box, after which the supply wires are branched into the primary windings of the transformers.

The lamps are connected to the 12 V secondary winding in parallel with each other. Terminal blocks are used to connect them (not shown in the diagram).

The low voltage output wire should not be longer than 2 meters. Otherwise, voltage losses increase and the lamps will glow worse. It will be better if you calculate the voltage for all lamps.

Calculation example

An example of calculating the voltage on light bulbs depending on the losses in the wires is as follows. With a supply voltage of V=12 V, 2 light bulbs with resistances R1 = R2 = 36 Ohms are connected in parallel to the transformer. The resistances of the supply wires to them are equal to r1 = r2 = r3 = r4 = 1.5 Ohms. You need to find the voltage on each light bulb. The diagram is shown in Fig. below.

Losses in light bulb power wires

The voltage on the first and second bulbs will be:

V 1 = VR(2r + R)/(4r 2 +6rR + R 2) = 10.34 V,

V 2 = VR 2 /(4r 2 +6rR + R 2) = 9.54 V.

The calculation shows that even small resistances of the supply wires lead to a significant voltage drop across them.

The total load in the circuit is maintained at 70-75% of the maximum so that the transformers do not overheat.

Luminescent

The disadvantage of fluorescent lamps is the flickering effect, which impairs the perception of light by the eyes. Modern electronic ballasts (ballasts) solve this problem, but their price is higher. To reduce ripple when using an electromagnetic ballast, a two-lamp connection circuit is used, where the phase of one of the lamps is shifted in time. As a result, the total luminous flux is leveled out.

In Fig. Below is a diagram of a split-phase lamp. Two lamps are connected to an alternating voltage network in parallel. They both contain inductive ballasts (L 1) and (L 2). But an additional ballast capacitor (C b) is connected to the lamp (2), thanks to which a current phase shift of 60 0 is created.

Diagram of a two-lamp lamp

As a result, the total pulsation of the light flux of the lamp is reduced. In addition, the external circuit current is nearly in phase with the supply voltage through a combination of leading and lagging circuits, which improves the power factor.

Video about connections

The video below explains the features of parallel and serial connections.

Thus, in order to properly connect light bulbs in a house or apartment, you need to do the following:

• draw a circuit diagram of the lighting system;
• perform transaction calculations;
• select electrical equipment, fittings and lamps;
• Install the light bulbs correctly.

For domestic use, LED lamps are produced with operating voltages of 220 and 12 volts. The decision on how to connect the luminaires does not depend on the selected model. The routing of the wire will be influenced by the method of power supply and the number of devices in the network. In this article you will find a description of specific connection diagrams. Although all operations can be performed independently, it is better to seek help from specialists.

In this article:

Connecting 220V lamps

The main advantage of such lamps over models operating on 12 volts is that the power is supplied directly from the switch. As a result, less money and effort is spent on lamp installation. Currently, there are three ways to connect the lamp:

• consistent;
• parallel;
• ray.

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages and is used in different situations. Let's discuss the schemes in more detail.

Consistent

If there is a need to save wires, but there are no special requirements for the room, then a serial connection is better than others. This will require a small amount of double or triple wires. In this case, it is allowed to place no more than six lamps in one circuit, otherwise the brightness of all devices will be low. And also if one of the lamps fails, the power supply will stop, and you will have to check each device separately to find the defect.

The connection process itself is simple: a phase is laid from the switch to the first lamp, then a wire is supplied from it to the next one, and so on until all devices are connected in one circuit. A zero is laid to the latter, coming from the distribution box. If you mix up the wires and connect zero instead of power, the lamps will always remain energized, which is unsafe.

All modern lamps are produced with the expectation of connecting the ground wire. If in your case there is grounding in the apartment, then you will have to run the cable directly from the outlet to each lamp.

To save money, when implementing a serial circuit, a wire is used, since the second core in the cable will simply break off and not be used in any way.

Parallel

Connecting lamps in parallel is more practical and is used more often than in series. When implementing this method, all light sources will produce the brightness declared by the manufacturer. The only drawback can be considered the increased conductor consumption compared to the previous option.

It is recommended to use VVG ng cable 2x1.5 or 3x1.5. This marking means that two or three wires with a cross-section of 1.5 mm and the cable as a whole have a PVC sheath. The mark “ng” in the marking indicates that the cable is non-flammable. In some cases, a cable with an additional marking “Is” is used, which means that there is no strong smoke emission when ignited.

Most fires occur due to poor-quality wiring, so you should not skimp on it, especially if the house is made of wood.

To connect, a cable is pulled from the junction box through the switch, which is connected to each lamp in turn. After the first lamp, the wire is cut and fed to the next one until all devices are exhausted. This scheme guarantees the operation of the circuit even if one of the lamps burns out.

In rooms divided into several functional zones, two groups of lamps are installed. They are usually connected to a two-key switch. This makes it possible to control the inclusion of light, giving it where activity is planned. In this case, you will have to lay the cable separately from each key to a specific group of lamps. In general, the principle of such a scheme is no different from the description in the paragraph above.

Ray

The beam circuit by its nature is a parallel connection method and is often found in chandeliers. It involves routing power to each lamp individually. This option is more expensive, as it requires the largest amount of wire. To save money, lay the cable in the center of the room, from where there will be an equal distance to each lamp. Next, single-core wires are connected to zero and phase, which stretch to the lighting fixtures.

It is important to decide how the cable cores will be connected to the individual wire. If there are few lamps, then you can usually be content with twisting. It is important to securely compress it with pliers and weld it together. In this case, the connection is permanent and takes a lot of time to implement. For a safer option, you will need to purchase terminals with the required number of outputs. A connector is put on each core, and wires are pulled from it to the lamps.

If desired, you can connect dimmers to the circuit - devices that allow you to control the brightness of the lamps.

Features of connecting 12V lamps

Since some types of spotlights require a voltage of 12 volts to operate, a step-down transformer is connected to the network. In addition, the home network contains alternating current, while LEDs require constant current. If you have the skill and experience, you can convert electricity yourself using a diode bridge, a resistor and a capacitance. It is still recommended to choose factory devices, as they are more reliable, safe and have a warranty period.

Before buying a transformer, calculate the maximum permitted current values. This indicator depends on the number of connected lamps. The total power of the devices should be 20% lower than that of the power supply. So, if you plan to install 6 lamps of 20 W, then you will need a transformer with a power of 150 W (6 pcs * 20 W * 1.2 = 144 W). All characteristics of the devices are indicated on their packaging and in the description.

When choosing a transformer, consider its installation location. So, for the bathroom it is better to give preference to models protected from moisture penetration.

The connection diagram for low-voltage LED lamps is not much different from those described in the previous sections. A transformer is installed in the circuit after the junction box, and the cable is pulled further. To avoid electric shock during installation, do not forget to turn off the power supply.

All the described schemes are easy to implement, and to get rid of unnecessary expenses and headaches, buy lamps that operate on a voltage of 220 volts. If you are not confident in your own abilities or do not have enough tools to complete the work, contact the professionals. High-quality installation guarantees a long service life of the lamps and safe operation of the electrical wiring.