How to Install the Easiest Attic / Loft Lights 

I think if it was me I would've taken a piece of flooring or timber up to lay across the joists, then you wouldn't have needed to balance on the joists. You could've also taken a sturdy toolbox to stand on too to give you the extra height so you don't need to re fix them higher later on. But other than that, yes it's a good idea. Thanks for sharing 👍

Thanks Stuart. I've just installed the same set up in my loft after seeing this. Brilliant idea for someone not comfortable enough with electrics to install a full socket

Love you stuff Stuart - some great tips, so many thanks. But why didn't you show us a fully wired up bulb? After all the detail of what could be done, there was too little detail about what was done.

I still have engine bay inspection lamps clamped to my rafters, works great, but always meant to be a temporary solution. Move on 10 years and still doing a great job.

Stuart, Thank you so much for this inspiration. I am visiting my parents in Ireland to help insulate their loft and put this setup together. All put together and tested in the workshop/living room. Working a treat. Plus I got to buy some new tools 🔧 ☺️

I will never forget a friend of mine yesrs ago who clipped a whole load of cables along the length of his loft only to find when he had finished that he had also clipped his tail light cable in with them LOL. As far as I know the tail light is still in the loft. Nice video, think I will do the same when I come to board my loft.

Top man, my son and I just finished putting the lights in. Thank you, great video.

Great video thanks. I have a similar setup with just one bulb, so I am going to do this soon. Just a thought I wonder if showing us a final picture of how you wired the rose after explaining how you had to alter the wires. This might help others watching. ?? 👍

For those with a socket in the loft and the socket isn't in an easily accessible location to the loft hatch then you could quite easily add a pull cord switch to the junction box with some additional flex. The wiring is slightly different, but trivial once you look up a diagram. You'll also need two of the pieces of brown insulation to signify the switched live conductor in the junction box and in the pull cord. You can then leave the plug plugged in.

Greetings again from South Africa, once again we are in the dark here, load shedding, thanks for this one Stuart, you take care up in that loft….

Tip: mount lights on alternate sides for a slightly more even overall illumination😁 I have one light up there…I might take your approach and fit it out properly!

This is what we planned to do originally, in fact we got as far as wiring in the first one then left it for 5 years! Lucky for us there was a socket right underneath the loft hatch so it took literally 2 seconds to plug it in. In the end, since we had a few 5m LED tape strips left over from another project we ended up just putting them up along the ridge board, which gives a bright, even light across the whole loft!

I had really hoped you had something on your channel for how to deal with the walking on the attic. Now you have the lights, but you are still walking on the studs. Easy cheap walkway please? :D

Please do a video on boarding your loft!

Nice job 👍 again . Couple of points to mention 1 why wasn’t you wearing a marks wile in the loft ? 2 when you do your calculations for fuse ratings you should use 230v not the nominal voltage of 240 , you installed 12 ten watt LED lamps so 12 x 10 = 120 watts divide by 230v = 0.52 AMPs so a 3amp fuse would be suitable in the plug top . 3 it would have been better to find the last lighting point on the upstairs circuit and then take a feed from there to your first light in the loft then down to a new switch on the landing. Great video though and it nice to see someone not showing DIYers how to do complex and dangerous electrical work 👍👍❤️ . I look forward to seeing more from you keep up the good work

Hey PD sorry I'm late I've been busy in the garden before the weather gets worse 🙃. There is something about seeing/hearing a usually composed person loose their cool and speak French 🤣. Also I'm observant not nit picking......your loft ladder.....the section attached to the door hatch needs adjustment so you can safely put your feet on the rungs. If you look at the two plates either side that have the slots in, you need to loosen the bolts slightly and pull the ladder away from the door/hatch then tighten them again in the captive position. If you don't understand what i mean please take a look at one skill builders latest videos about the keylight loft ladder installation. All the best 👍🏼

Take a feed from a bedroom ceiling light, the power is already in your loft. And just put a switch near to the loft hatch. A lot easier than having to plug it in every time you want to use it..

A couple of LED floods work really well. Same wiring method if you want to do it that way

I use you as an excuse, when my wife ask me to do a diy job around the house, I tell her “ yes I’ll do that as soon as PD shows me how to do it I know what to do” 🥴

Thanks for this video, I’ve just installed my own this weekend after being inspired by this video. Instead of a junction box, I opted to use Wago connectors which are super simple to fit. Loved the idea of MDF backing, so did something similar with some spare off cuts of timber. Keep up the great content. Thanks

Hi great video as usual. Tip from Skill Builder with the loft hatch adjust it so the treads have a bit of a gap from the hatch so its more comfortable climbing up the ladder with space for your boots to go. In future you could run the cable down to the consumer unit and pay a leckie to connect the lights up. My loft came with a 12 inch plank running lengthwise on the joists for a walkway.

Splendid video... Pretty sure I wouldn't be hammering in cable clips onto powered up cable!

Hi, what a great idea and would love to do this,any chance you could show a bit more detail on how you wired the ceiling rose up and so on. You closed it to soon 😆.

Would love to see a video on how to fit loft insulation to go along with this

What i did was keep the old light fittings every time i upgraded so its very interesting with all the old style lights not cost a penny

Used a pir on my set up just above the hatch , on when you open and off when you leave….😉

Very good video Sir to give an idea you can make another video teaching how to install an outlet in the attic for that purpose appreciate sharing your knowledge

I like the pre assembled light in string. plus the trailing lead means that you don't forget to switch the lights off! That reminds me I need to fit an indicator light to my installation, any bright ideas that don't involve cutting a ceiling mounted neon or led into the circuit?

Congratulations to exactly 100000 subscribers

Made me chuckle at 13:58 "Go on you F#@&£#" We've all been there 😁👍

Make sure you take photos before you board it over otherwise you might have issues with the EPC certificate. If they can't see it then it's not there.

I have a high pitched roof, and I find LED battens give a much more even light than bulbs. They mount very easily spanning two or three trusses or rafters, depending on the length of the batten. The LED battens are just clipped on, so that is easy. The only complication is that you need a junction box as each one as they have fairly short captive cables, although that's easy enough using wagos in those little junction boxes that clip onto a lug screwed to some woodwork. So far, I've only fitted one as that seems to illuminate the fairly large storage loft space very well. I fit a switch close to the loft hatch. Also, as far as I'm aware it is not notifiable to fit lighting and connect it to the existing lighting circuit unless it is in a "special location", and I don't think a loft counts as that. Of course you should never do that unless 100% competent. It's also easy to trace lighting circuits from the fittings, although you will need to check what sort it is. The old loop through the roses is easy, but house with permanent neutrals in the light switches may be different as they can loop through via the switches with a separate switched wire (although that's not the only way to do permanent neutrals). Also, in my case, I have very thick insulation and used a raised boarding system by LoftZone, which I found to be excellent. Fortunately, as I have that steeply raked roof I still have lots of headroom.

This is a brilliant idea being able to make it up and just plug it in. When will you be doing the attic storage video?

I had the same loft ladder. You can actually pull the ladder a few inches off the back of the door to give more space for your feet. That’s why the metal brackets in your are poking out.

Little tip for inside the loft should’ve used to cut down scaffold boards so you can stand on why doing these sort of jobs makes it very safe plus you can use a ladder on it pair of steps

How is the junction box configured? All blues together, browns together and earths together? Thanks.

I did something similar mine is switched just changed the 2 way switch on the landing for a 2 gang then ran a cable from switch to light pendant which there are 6 in the loft it's just switch on the the landing now i am a sparky

Not bad. I was thinking installing them all on 1x4 10ft boards then 2 screws would hold them while i fasten the rest

Nice video, they look like they will do for Christmas!!

HI just wondering why you didn't put a few boards down to walk on. Would have given you a tad more height too. Enjoy your videos.

Thank you very much for your very helpful videos. One request: The music is much louder than your voice and I have to adjust the volume accordingly. Could you please lower the level?

did you take into consideration the changes in conditions in a loft when selecting pendents ? you cant use a screw terminal junction box anymore

why not tps love your work

I wish there wss a better view of the cables as u were attaching them as I couldn't clearly see which ones were going where when installing the cable 😧

I have the same type of loft, was toldi couldn't convert it with how the joists etc are

Very neat.

great videos as ever. what is the make of the loft ladder you use?

Having trouble finding something similar to this in Amazon US, does anyone have a recommendation?

Do I smell a video on loft flooring coming out soon 🤞🏻

Quality, thank you.

I want to install soffit lights myself. Can I take this method by using cable and a plug rather than wiring them into the circuit in the house?

Can you do a video on how to fix a ceiling if you do slip please? 😂

Another useful video Stuart, thanks. I was intending to put LED battens to increase the lighting levels in the attic but have now changed to your idea. Regards Keith

could you not stand on a plank while in the loft???

if you are going to move everything later why put them so high and clip the cables all done at a stretch??

Hi Stuart, good video, but I thought a man of you caleyeber would have knocked up a small crawling board, spanning a couple joist voids that could accept a pair of small steps. Still, attic Pilates is not dead. 🤣🤣 Kind Regards Barnacle Bern SW Wales

Overreaching is the worst possible thing for your back?

At 16.18.....Callan.

NEW SUB BRO. BAZ..

Only real thing wrong with this video is you shouldn't be clipping the cable while the supply is on but good video mate

While I like most of your content, this has me scratching my head. For the amount of time you spent wiring everything, wouldn’t it have been easier and cheaper to buy a couple strings of outdoor lights that would just need to be plugged in for power?

You were complaining about being too short. Try my problem. I'm 5 feet 7 inches, almost 70 (will be later this month), have multiple health problems, as well as balancing problems. 🤔 That gives you a lot of problems!

An rough idea of the cost would have been nice.

I like the idea of the mdf backboard. Todays top tip is, when terminating cables in a switch, socket, etc… don’t cut the earth cable at the same length as live & neutral. Leave the earth cable longer so that if, for any reason, the cable/flex is pulled out the earth cable is the last cable that loses connection. 👌

Glad even the best DIYers swears at some jobs lol. Looking forward to the boarding out and what ingenious cost effective ways you come up with to board over the insulation.

I've installed pendants in my loft too. I absolutely agree that these offer a big advantage if you happen to knock against them with your head, and modern LED bulbs don't feel too hot if you brush against them. It's a good approach if the slope of your pitch roof is shallow and you don't have much head room.

Looking forward to your video on insulating and boarding out the loft. Mine already has the flooring, but everything is covered in dirt as the angled roof sections are just the original boards with the tiles on the outside. It’s a 1935 detached house, and I’ve been putting off doing this job for ages, partly due to the amount of ‘relics’ accumulated up there, over the years! One day I will have a good clear out, or so I keep promising ’she who must be obeyed’!

When I did my attic I put some temporary loft boards down to enable me to use a small step ladder and provide safe places to stand. Once the wiring was complete I added the loft legs, insulation and boarded it out. Sometimes a temporary fix saves lots of time and improves safety and comfort. Glad you didn't put your foot through the roof and good money saving idea using pendants.

I was toying with the idea of building a sauna. Then I realised I could just spend some time up in my loft. Doesn't matter if it's winter, 20 minutes up there and I'm sweating like a Geordie in a spelling test.

You can now get LED battens in various sizes e.g. 5ft length, which have the advantage of not using so much headroom and starting much better in cold weather compared to older fluorescents.

Just finished installing the same setup in my loft after being inspired by your video. It was pretty straightforward and works really well. Quite cheap to do too. Thanks for the video!

I'm looking forward to more videos on loft insulation and boarding, especially the hatch door. I can't find any good videos on how to insulate the door with the equivalent of 17cm of wool that is compatible with having a ladder too... I would appreciate advice on a few options maybe?

Are you going to be using loft legs to board over the insulation?

Could you have taken a small board up into the loft to stand on (it would span several joists and much easier to balance on)?

From experience working in the loft, always take a small grandchild up with you when attempting this. Not as you may think to sit on your shoulders to use the drill and hammer to fix the lights and cables you are struggling to reach. But for their useful questions like; “Grandad why did Sue say be careful not to fall through the ceiling” etc. It’s a great job. Fortunately my son in law is an electrician, so did this job for me. Its a very neat solution you have come up with and good advice not to cut into cables that you think you have traced correctly as a light circuit. Will be interested to see how you do the boarding and storage and update the insulation, especially around the hatch. With ours as soon as the lights were installed I could see a large gap around the hatch when switched on.

I followed your example to the letter when providing lighting in my daughter’s loft in Sheffield last week. It’s now the brightest space in the house. . Did all the prep as you showed sat at the dining table. A great help, thanks!

I finished this project last weekend. They work well and look great. Will you be doing other loft videos? I need to board my loft but I'll hold off of you're going to do a video on the subject. Thanks for the great content

Absolutely great idea, I bought and connected the pendant to the wiring and fitted in a day. By the end of the week I have fitted loft boards on loft legs, now I have so much more usable storage space.

It's really a lot easier to wire into an existing ceiling rose and run a loop to lights in the loft. You dont have to 'break into' any wires in the loft.

I used a 5M led strip light all the way along, easy and cheap and good light spread. Had to run a cable to both ends to avoid voltage drop along the length of the LED.

Another great video and a great idea. This is a job I need to do and you make it look so doable…… Also it was great to meet you this week. Keep up the great work!

Wow, that is rough, an Electrician would've completed that job a lot faster and it would've been a lot neater, no reason why you wouldn't fit a batten striplight. But I guess my comment will get deleted?

Almost like a ballerina balanced there. 🤣🤣🤣 very good idea , I must admit. Thank you for all the work on these , it must take a lot of work. I have ended up doing so many jobs after watching these, I think one on viable excuses not to do stuff, would be useful one day .

Your channel has helped me tremendously. May you be blessed forever

Thanks for the inspiration Stuart. I've just installed this in my loft today. Without your video I'd have probably made do with an inspection light on a hook. This is a much more useful solution 👍

looking forward to you doing the flooring and storage as this is a job waiting for me but not confident without good guidance , from yourself of course regards

great idea

Brilliant idea ! This is in my opinion the best instructive DIY channel on RU-vid!!

Although this may be a simple cheap and cheerful DIY job I always thought it’s better to run loft lighting from a socket circuit fused down as if you are working on the lighting circuit and it’s isolated there will be no power in the loft so you have to mess around with additional lamps and torches. I’ve done this before and it works a treat but now I’ve spurred it off one of the sockets on the landing and put in a fused switched connection unit with 5amp fuse in it so that you don’t have to spend more time plugging it in etc. I have my fuse spur mounted on the side by the hatch and it works really well! Nothing wrong with your work at all matey and a good video for anyone who’s wanting to just get a quick lighting job done up the loft! 👍🏻

What was the cost VS a pre wired LED Festoon Lights 240V

Great channel with so many useful projects. Thank You!

Excellent video just what I was looking for. Can you do a video showing how to put sockets in the loft. I want to build a railway up there. Thanks

A shot of the final wiring in the light fitting would have been nice

Brilliant video, but cutting MDF with no mask or eye protection!! Worked in a timber mill 14 years, lungs still working. PS keep up the good work , take care and thanks.

Hi, Thanks for the video. Whats the name of the cable clipping tool that you're using at 5:33. If possble, could you share amazon link please

OK Great but you really need to put down wooden boards so you can walk around. Walking on roof beams is more Dangerous than lack of light. Use an LED Torch ! oh you are putting flooring down...soz ! well Done !

I can just attach a single lamp holder to one end and a 3 pin plug on the other? Then cable clip it along the rafters/truss towards the hatch opening? Would I be ok with 0.5mm2 cable and 3amp fuse?

Brilliant. Great job for entry into diy electrics. I will definitely be doing this. Thank you. Do you have a "suggestions box" for future ideas because I often run into things I can't find on youtube. Cheers

So every extra light goes into plug socket. You will be short of them soon.

Can you advise what cable you used as nothing is linked in description?