There are two things interior designers agree on when it comes to lighting: absolutely no spotlights and install a 5-amp circuit switch into your rooms. The former is well discussed, the latter less so. It's a piece of advice that comes up time and again in our dos and don'ts of decorating series, with the likes of Rita Konig, Philip Hooper and Angelica Squire all espousing their virtues. But what is a 5-amp circuit, and why do you need one?
Before answering that, it's worth looking at lighting generally as it's part of designing a house that is notoriously hard to get right without a designer – hence why we see so many spotlights, strip lights and cool coloured bulbs around the place. There are myriad things you can do to have better lighting and of course, a lot of lamps with warm bulbs is something you'll find in nearly every single House & Garden house. The one issue with this though, is that you are then left with the potential scenario of entering or exiting a room and having to turn individual lamps on if you want the whole thing lit. Not so, with the right lighting system in place. You can go serious on this front and use a Sally Storey-style system with various different zones in a room and a hotel room light switch panel that dictates what is lighted when and to what degree.
However, that is beyond most people's budgets or expectations. This is where the 5-amp circuit is the answer. As Kate Guinness advises, “I love having the ability to light a space with just low level lamplight, and there’s nothing more annoying than having to turn each lamp on individually. If you are doing a rewire, it’s a no-brainer to put in a 5-amp circuit to allow you to switch on all lamps from the wall.” “For a lighting scheme that uses a lot of lamps a 5-amp circuit is vital,” confirms Clare Gaskin. She continues that “having one wall switch to control all your table and floor lamps gives the option to adjust the mood."
A 5-amp switch is simply one switch on the wall into which various plugs are wired, meaning you turn all the lamp switches on when you plug them in and then they're all controlled by the master switch. The one stipulation – and reason therefore why they're used for lamps – is that they are designed for appliances that take less than a 5 amp current. The other thing that designers advise when adding this lighting system is to put them on a dimmer switch (you'll need dimmable bulbs) so you have total control over the mood.
If you are planning a renovation or rewiring a living room or bedroom, a 5-amp circuit is non-negotiable. However, for anyone reading this who loves lamps but is constantly hopping up and down turning them on and off and has no rewiring plans in their future, fret not. There is a solution and it may be a little clunky but it will have the desired effect: a pack of five (or three) remote-controlled mains switches. Available on Amazon for a steal, they work exactly like a 5-amp circuit, allowing you to plug your lamps into these instead, then illuminate them all with one press of a remote control. It's not perfect, but it's a pretty nifty solution and it'll make your life so much easier without having to replaster your walls.
A final word from Rita Konig to really push the message home: “Put lamps on 5-amp wall plugs or you will go mad hopping in and out of bed (or off the sofa) to switch them all on and off.”
