Strip lights at home

People fit strip lights in kitchens, garages, cupboards and behind televisions. The name covers more than one kind of light. Older strip lights are long fluorescent tubes, and newer ones are LED tubes, battens and flexible LED strips.

Replacing an old fluorescent strip light

The Energy Saving Trust says long fluorescent tubes, which it also calls strip lights, are more often found in offices and industrial buildings. It recommends that people with them at home replace them with LED tube lighting.

The Trust suggests an integrated LED batten as a more efficient replacement for a fluorescent strip light. An electrician fits it in place of the old light fitting.

Choosing brightness and colour

For LED lighting, the Energy Saving Trust advises shoppers to look at lumens, which measure brightness. Watts measure how much power a light uses.

Warm white light has a colour temperature of 2700 to 3000K, and the Trust says it suits most general household lighting. Cool white, at 4000 to 4500K, gives a purer white and might suit bathrooms, and perhaps kitchens. A colour rendering index (CRI) of 80 or more suits most household tasks. The Trust also suggests checking whether an LED works with your dimmer before you buy it.

Buying safely

The charity Electrical Safety First recommends buying electrical goods from a retailer you trust, either the manufacturer or a trusted high street name. It warns that sellers can easily copy markings such as CE or UKCA onto fake products.

The charity lists some tell-tale signs of a poor product. They include a plug without a fuse, a non-UK plug, no instructions or rating plate, and spelling mistakes on the packaging. An item from a UK retailer should come with a three-pin UK plug or charger.

Checking for recalls

The Office for Product Safety and Standards publishes product safety alerts, reports and recalls on GOV.UK. Anyone can search the list for LED strip lights.

Electrical Safety First keeps its own list of recalls. One notice covers a strip light whose adaptor could overheat and catch fire. The charity's advice for anyone who owns a recalled item is to stop using it immediately and contact the retailer. It also recommends registering appliances with the manufacturer. The manufacturer can then contact you if a problem comes to light.

Bathrooms and outdoors

Electrical Safety First explains that wet skin reduces the body's resistance. An electric shock in a bathroom can be more severe as a result. Light fittings that are not enclosed should be out of reach of anyone using the bath or shower, or still wet from it.

In its advice on decorative lights, the charity says extra-low voltage sets, typically 12 to 24 volts, are the safest choice. Lights made for outdoor use should carry a water drop symbol or an IP code. The last digit of the code shows the protection against water, and the charity says outdoor lights should have a 3 or higher. It also advises plugging the transformer in indoors, even when the lights themselves are suitable for outside.

Wiring in a new light

GOV.UK says you might need building regulations approval to change electrics near a bath or shower, or to replace a fuse box. It adds that you do not need approval yourself if you use someone registered with a competent person scheme. GOV.UK points to separate rules for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Electrical Safety First says Part P of the Building Regulations covers electrical work in the home. It says a registered competent electrician must carry out or sign off the more dangerous work, such as work in a bathroom or a new circuit.

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