I want to set the dusk setting and lamp-on timer on our kitchen worktop before I mount this on my MIL’s rear outside wall.

Would a 1m (1.0mm CSA) cable be okay to connect to the ring main for the tests? I think the load is around 1.8A.

Google bamboozled me.

TiA

Presuming you wire it in as a spur, and fuse it otherwise a fault at the the lamp will melt the wire before the breaker trips.

I intend to use a plug with a 5A fuse. Would that be okay for some short tests ?

1mm is good for 10 amps or so. It’ll be fine for your light, as will a 5A fuse

Current = Power / Voltage, so in your case 400 W/230 v = 1.7 Amp,s as you say. A tiny draw for a normal bit of flex (look it up in a table of cable sizes).
You’d be well advised just to chuck it in a bin and get a LED lamp that draws a tenth of the power though. Otherwise their electricity bill will look like they’ve been boiling a kettle all night. Every time a cat stops to lick it’s arse, the meter will spin like the centrifuge scene in Moonraker.

It worked fine. Easier than setting the sun/moon up a ladder!

Thanks for your help.

More importantly why the hell are you installing a 400w world destroyer. An LED equivalent will be around 40w and won’t get hot enough to fry an egg.

Easier than setting the sun/moon up a ladder!

Keep the ladder handy – you’ll soon be back up there changing the bulb 🙂

To reinforce the message, its not worth the effort installing.
Go buy an LED one, it’ll pay for itself pretty quickly. You may well be fine with 20W LED for a small back yard, or 40-50W mounted high up (i.e ~5m, 2 story house eaves level) does your average back garden. And to save light pollution, point the thing downwards, not outwards horizontal. You are not a lighthouse.

Keep the ladder handy – you’ll soon be back up there changing the bulb

I replaced ours with LED, the halogen bulb got so hot it used to melt the contacts in the bulb mounts and was forever having to repair it.

Those old halogen lamps were a great way to earn money off rich people with a fear of heights.
The bulb won’t last and unless you like making a nice outdoor heater for spiders swap it for LED as everyone else points out

Ho ho – typical STW.

On the back of this I’m going to install a (now illegal) 500 W bulb ;O)

True story. Many moons ago I worked for an electrical installation company that also had a retail counter as a side line; lamps, vacuum cleaner bags, fuses etc.
I was called to a customer who had bought a TH lamp and fitted it themselves. The thing had immediately blown and burnt the hand of the guy fitting it (he obviously hadn’t turned the switch or circuit off). I figured he’d probably touched it with his bare fingers, but even then they don’t go pop immediately. It transpired that the doughnut working on the retail counter had sold him a pack of 110V lamps by mistake. The guy’s hand was burnt but I managed to cover it up by blagging it was a faulty batch of lamps which I would take back and arrange a free replacement. Luckily they were very grateful as the firm was a local solicitors who would have taken the firm to the cleaners had they known the truth.
As said above, bin the halogen stuff. LEDs every time, but don’t buy the cheapos off Amazon as they last less time than the halogens.

When the halogen bulb blows, you can replace it with an LED upgrade bulb, something like this.

Ho ho – typical STW.

On the back of this I’m going to install a (now illegal) 500 W bulb ;O)

Fair point well made.
I only commented as I used to work for a company who made money out of changing the bulbs and I hate ladders, used to terrify me changing the pointlessly fragile things.

As above why would you install a halogen.

Doesn’t make sense even if your tight with money as you will have soon paid more than having bought a new LED one

And the OPs next thread ‘pipe size for installing an external gas light’.

@creakingdoor

but don’t buy the cheapos off Amazon as they last less time than the halogens.

What would you recommend, and from where? (I bought a cheapo off Amazon and the dials for the sensor don’t do anything!) It’s for above the garage door to illuminate the drive.

@Watty
If you go to an electrical wholesalers they’ll generally sell you something that will be decent. It’s not worth their while stocking rubbish as it’ll just end up coming back to them, and their customers (generally tradespeople) will get increasingly hacked off. Try Edmundsons, Gil-Lec, Denmans etc, depending on where you live. Stuff from Screwfix ‘can’ be ok, but they’re not as invested in the quality as the smaller companies. Another good bet is a small independent wholesaler, as they’re definitely interested in selling decent stuff.
It’ll be more expensive than Amazon/EBay stuff, but you’ll end up only buying once.

Many thanks 👍

I’ve nothing bad to say about the service and products from here.

http://www.edwardes.co.uk/categories/floodlights—all-sources

I’d recommend IPX5 as a minimum for an exposed spot. We used to blow some IPX4 halogens within a few weeks of installation in the wetter months.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-of-halogen-light-bulbs-spells-brighter-and-cleaner-future