Can an electrician swap a light switch with a powerpoint?

[Else]

Maybe this is a dumb question but here goes:

Can an old wall light switch that's no longer being used be swapped to a power point (not by me, by an electrician)? 

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @Else 

I am afraid not, they are completly different circuits. Most homes, older homes have one light and two power circuits.

What are you trying to run? If you list the things we may be able to help out. If your power circuits are tripping regulary then its time to get a sparky to come out and have a look. They will be able to answer your loading questions for sure.

I have found that if I keep an eye out in my area for trade vans all of a suddern I see a bunch and then start realising they belong to a particular company and off to google I go to see how good they are.

No dumb questions All questions are important.  How else are we supposed to learn!

Dave

[Noyade]

Oh dear, I learnt the hard way there are two circuits - power and lighting. The wrath of an electrician has now taught me better.

Thirty three years ago and and my ears are still ringing.

[JacobZ]

Hi @Else,

As the guys have said, unfortunately, no, they cannot. They use different wires from each other, so your electrician would need to run new wire.

Hopefully this helps.

Jacob

[Else]

Hi everyone. I wasn't sure whether they were separate circuits & wanted to understand things a bit better before I contact my electrician. I appreciate your help : ) 

[R4addZ]

Hi @Else 

A little further explanation, the issue isn't just that they are on seperate circuits, it is also the fact that lighting circuits are run in a smaller gauge wire as they don't need to carry the current that a power circuit would need to carry so there would be a danger of overheating possibly leading to a fire (actually probably). If the switch is on an outside wall (depending on construction type) a new wire can be dropped down the cavity. On inside walls, not so easy especially if they are brick walls. In some older properties they used conduit buried in the wall to get the cables down, if you have those it is easier but if not and they are solid walls, it's either ducting on the surface or chasing out the wall.

[DIYGnome]

Hello @Else your mains power panel is where the grid connects the 240v to your home, from there (by design) different circuits like tendrils branch off to various parts of your home, different grades/thicknesses of wire are used for each circuit depending on it's intended use, lighting circuits have the lowest rated wiring in your home generally rated at 8-10A (whilst some 6A also exist), if you add a new electric oven to your kitchen OR wall mounted air-conditioner the same applies, a new dedicated wiring circuit is installed and paired to an adequately rated circuit breaker at the panel by the Electrician.

[Else]

Thanks everyone. I understand this a bit better now :  )

I have another question...

If power & lighting are 2 separate circuits, where do telecommunication lines fit in to the overall picture  e.g. NBN cables, telephone lines etc.? 

Also, are there any rules about the colour of wires/cables of an appliance or anything used to cover/conceal a cable or wire?

For example, when NBN was installed at my place, the cable outside was covered with a white protective 'conduit' (I'm not sure if conduit is the right word but hope that you know what I mean... ).  

Other things though, like some exterior air con wires/cables are covered with other colours such as red, to match terracotta-coloured brick. 

Is that a legal/compliance/safety issue or is that only an aesthetic thing? 

[R4addZ]

Hi @Else 

There are major rules relating to telecommunications and data cabling but colour isn't one of them. However conduit does have a colour code in that power is normally in Orange conduit and telecomms/data is in white. There are segregation rules between power and data/telecomms cabling however when run in conduit this normally satisfies the segregation rules but in reality, it may not rule out induced interference. I am a registered Cabler and I do telephone and data cabling, I am not an electrician. A lot of electricians do a telecomms/data unit when doing their electrical license but not all electricians are registered cablers. It comes down to Horses for courses. I am a specialist in my field, some electricians may choose to specialise in telecomms/ data cabling but it is hard to be a specialist in both, I have over 50 years in my field.

I always say, I'm not the cabling police but I will tell you if something is wrong, you then make an informed decision whether to break the rules if you want to but remember there may be repercussions. For example it is a common misconception that you can run preterminated cables your self. Totally wrong If the cable penetrates a void, it is considered to be fixed or concealed cabling and has to be done by a registered cabler and whats more, fixed or concealed cabling may not terminate on a plug where accessible by non registered cablers (a disglaimer here is that I am paraphrasing the rules to make it easier to understand).

[Else]

Thanks again R4aaddz. 50 years is a lot of experience! I appreciate your time.

Here's one more question...

If I plug a light into a power point then (if I've got this right) I'm using a power circuit... but if I turn on a light using the wall switch, it's connected to a lighting circuit...  is that right? 

What about a wall lamp that's hard wired? Is that also connected to the lighting circuit?