New stable yard - electrics

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LynH

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I've just had a new yard built at home, 3 stables, tackroom, hay/feed barn and covered washbay. The electrician is coming next week and I am planning on having bulkhead lights in the 6' overhang (one per doorway) and a strip light in the tackroom but as yet I am undecided about the stables, washbay and hay barn. Do you have bulkheads in all to eliminate the risk of bulbs breaking in beds or hay or are pendants easier? I'm assuming all cabling will need to be in conduit to protect it from mice and naughty horses.

I'm planning on have two pairs of sockets in the tackroom and one in the washbay. Is this sufficient or would you have more? Any suggestions or ideas would be very helpful as I'm ridiculously indecisive and don't want to have to add things I've missd at a later date. It's a private yard next to my house so only really need a kettle and small fridge in the tackroom and sockets on the yard for vet purposes/clipping etc. Ive already spent a fortune on the yard and arena so don't really want to give OH a heart attack with an over the top electrician bill ;0)
 
We have strip lights high up in the eaves of the stables. They provide plenty of light to muck out by, groom etc when the dark nights/mornings come. You can use low energy bulbs, they don't use much electricity but they take a while to 'warm up' & give off a decent amount of light.

Make sure when you fit the switches for the lights in the stables that they are well out of the reach of the horses otherwise the lights will be going on & off all night. You will need to give a lot of thought to where you want switches & sockets etc as the electrician will more than likely know nothing about horses & what is needed & where things need to be fitted around stables. :)
 
We have the downlighters like the halogen kitchen ones but replaced the bulbs with LEDs. They are sealed so not easy to break the glass, last longer, give a bright white light and don't burn hot like incandescent bulbs. The power consumption is lower too. Ours are all run via 12v though it is just as easy to get 240v LED lights and might be worth considering.

Our arena lights are LED floodlights too, 240v ones run via an inverter to a leisure battery.
 
I have a mix. Long strip bulbs in most (with plastic covering) and bulk head type (plastic covering) in a couple. Being honest I think the strip bulbs give off more light, I rarely have to change the bulbs either maybe one a year or two if I'm unlucky. Whatever you choose I honestly wouldn't have anything that doesn't cover the bulb - the thought of glass in hay or bedding... :(.
 
Thank you. I was struggling to remember what people had on previous yards. LED seem a good idea if they last longer.
 
Make sure that the entire wiring loom is in metal conduits (not plastic) to prevent mice and rats eating the cabling and then causing a fire.
Also ensure that all appliances such as fridges and kettles are brand new and not discarded ones as old ones are likely to cause a fire.
The rear of a fridge needs cleaning of dust and cobwebs at least one a month to reduce the risk of fires caused by overheating due to collection of dust.
Buy yourself a copy of @Guidelines for Fire Safety in Equine and Agricultural Premises by Harry Paviour Published by the British Horse Society and available from their bookshop. ISBN 0-900226-69-2
Ensure that you have one large fire extinguisher for each stable and a fire alarm in the tack room/feed shed.
 
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