Qualified contractors Certified electricians where required
Electrical
Lighting design & install
Kitchen lighting, garden lighting, smart lighting design; properly planned, properly installed, properly commissioned.
Pricing Quoted
Clear quote · Gas Safe registered · Checkatrade approved
- 1Send the detailsPhotos, postcode, what's happening: phone, WhatsApp or form.
- 2Same-day replyNigel confirms price, visit time or survey slot.
- 3Fixed quoteWritten down before any work starts. No surprises.
Vetted, certified, accountable.
Part P Notifiable work registered with local authority
Alarms Smoke and CO alarm installs
Checkatrade Approved and reviewed
Indicative scope
Exact pricing is confirmed before work starts and depends on the property, access, parts and fault diagnosis.
Single room (basic)
Quoted
Replace pendants with downlights, dimmable
- 4–6 IP-rated downlights
- Dimmable driver per circuit
- Cabling + switch wiring
- Existing chase reused where possible
- Test + commission
Kitchen lighting
Quoted
Task + ambient + accent layers
- Under-cabinet task lighting (LED strip)
- Ceiling ambient on dimmers
- Accent / shelf / kick-plinth lighting
- 2-zone scene control
- Smart switch upgrade option
Smart lighting (Hue / Lutron)
Quoted
Whole-house scenes, schedules, automation
- Hue / Lutron Caseta / Loxone integration
- Scene programming per room
- App + voice-assistant pairing
- Commissioning + walk-through
- 12-month tweak-back service
Lighting
Lighting that fits the room and the way you use it
Kitchen lighting, garden lighting, smart lighting design; properly planned, properly installed, properly commissioned.
At a glance
Quick facts before you read on.
What's included
5 things, no extras on the day- 4–6 IP-rated downlights
- Dimmable driver per circuit
- Cabling + switch wiring
- Existing chase reused where possible
How we quote
Confirmed before work startsSingle-room dimmable downlight install.
Certification
NICEIC Part PJob done to standards. Paperwork on the day.
Service area
Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, CaerphillyLighting is the single most impactful, least spent on, part of any renovation. Most kitchens have one light fitting in the middle of the ceiling and a single switch by the door. The rooms feel half-finished compared to what they could feel like. We design and install lighting that fits the room and the way it’s used.
How lighting design actually works
Good lighting is layered (task, ambient, accent) and scene-controlled, not just on-or-off.
- Task lighting: bright, focused light for the activities the room is used for. Under-cabinet LED in a kitchen, vanity-mirror lighting in a bathroom, desk lighting in a study.
- Ambient lighting: soft general illumination. Ceiling downlights, wall washers, pendant in a centre position.
- Accent lighting: picks out features. Shelf lighting, plinth uplighters, art spots, alcove washers.
The scenes (typically 3–4 per room) combine those layers at different intensities for different times of day or activities. A kitchen morning scene might be 100% task + 30% ambient + 0% accent. A dinner-party scene might be 0% task + 50% ambient + 80% accent.
What we do
- Kitchen lighting: task lighting under cabinets, ambient lighting on dimmers, accent lighting on shelves or plinth, optional pendant over island. From £680 fitted including drivers and dimmers.
- Garden lighting: IP-rated path lights, bollards, tree uplighters, all with proper waterproof connections (IP67 minimum), DALI or low-voltage transformer, time and lux scheduling. From £950 fitted for a typical garden install.
- Smart lighting: Hue, Lutron Caseta, Loxone, KNX systems wired and commissioned. Scene programming, voice-assistant pairing, app setup, schedule programming.
- Zoned scenes: kitchen morning vs. dinner-party-evening on the same circuits with proper scene control.
- Bathroom lighting: IP44/IP65 fittings (zoned per BS 7671), dimmable mirror lighting, accent lighting for niche detailing.
- Single-room retrofit: replace pendants with downlights, add dimmers, from £280.
Smart lighting: what to know
The smart lighting market is messier than the LED lighting market because of competing standards (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, KNX, DALI, proprietary RF). Most homes are best served by:
- Hue if you want simplicity, app control, and the widest fixture range.
- Lutron Caseta if you want the best switches and the lowest latency (uses ClearConnect RF, near-zero lag).
- Loxone or KNX for whole-house automation with HVAC, blinds, audio, and security all on one system.
We’re trained on all three and will recommend honestly based on your actual use case (not the kit we keep in the van).
Common mistakes other firms make
- Single-circuit kitchen lighting. All your kitchen lights on one switch and one dimmer. No layering, no scenes, no flexibility. Spend £200 more on additional switching and the room transforms.
- Wrong driver / dimmer combination. Most LED dimming faults are dimmer-driver mismatch. We always check the manufacturer compatibility list before specifying.
- Skipping the IP rating in bathrooms. BS 7671 zones in bathrooms are non-negotiable. Wrong-zone fittings are an electric shock waiting to happen.
- Driver hum. Cheaper drivers buzz audibly when dimmed. We use Mode TE/PE Pro and Lutron HiVe to avoid this.
Pricing
A typical kitchen lighting refit (4–6 downlights + under-cabinet task + 2-zone scene control + commissioning): £680–£1,200 fitted. Whole-house Hue commissioning (typical 4-bed home): £1,800–£3,500 depending on fixture count.
Workmanship and warranty
12-month workmanship warranty including a free tweak-back service. Once you’ve lived with the scenes for a month, we’ll come back and adjust them based on actual use. Manufacturer warranties on fittings vary: Hue is 2 years, Lutron is 5 years, most LED downlight ranges are 3–5 years. Smart hubs typically 2 years.
We had an interior designer's lighting plan but the previous firm bodged the install; wrong drivers, switches in the wrong place, scenes that wouldn't programme. PHBLUE ripped it back, redid it from the original plan, and the lighting is genuinely beautiful now. The kitchen has 4 scenes I actually use every day. Worth every penny.
Recent jobs near you
A few of the jobs we have finished lately, with the postcode and what was involved.
- CF11 April
Pontcanna kitchen, 4-zone scene lighting + Hue dimmers.
- CF14 April
Whitchurch garden, IP-rated path lights + tree uplighters.
- CF24 March
Roath terrace (full ground-floor downlight retrofit), dimmable.
- CF64 March
Penarth detached, Lutron Caseta whole-house scene control.
How the job runs
- 01
Free consult
1 hourWalk through the rooms with you, sketch a lighting plan on paper, talk through scenes and how the room is actually used. No charge.
- 02
Design + quote
1 weekLighting plan delivered with fixture types, brightness (lumens) per zone, switch positions, dimmer types, optional smart upgrades. Fixed-price quote.
- 03
First-fix
1–3 daysCabling pulled, ceiling rose positions chased where needed, switch boxes positioned. Plaster patched where chases run.
- 04
Second-fix
1 dayFixtures fitted, drivers installed, dimmers wired, switches commissioned. Smart hubs paired and scenes programmed.
- 05
Walk-through
30 minWe walk you through the scenes and the controls. Voice-assistant integration paired. App access set up. Tweak-back service for 12 months.
Common questions
Are you NICEIC registered?
Yes, PHBLUE's electrical work is carried out by NICEIC-approved engineers. Notifiable work (Part P) is registered with your local Building Control automatically through NICEIC. You get the certificate emailed within 14 days.
How much does an EICR cost in Cardiff?
Domestic EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) starts at £150 for a flat or 1–2 bed home, £180 for 3–4 bed, £220 for 5+ bed. Includes the full report, photographs, and a follow-up phone call to walk you through any C1/C2/C3 codes. Landlord packages combining EICR + smoke/CO checks save £25.
My RCD keeps tripping - what's likely wrong?
Almost always one of three things. A failing appliance pulling the circuit down (we'll isolate by elimination). A damaged cable connection in the wall, usually behind a socket or switch where the live and neutral have crept closer over time. Or an end-of-life RCD, since modern dual-RCD consumer units are rated for around 15 years.
Do I need a new consumer unit?
If yours is a wooden-back, plastic-back, or pre-2008 metal unit without RCD protection, yes, because Wiring Regs (BS 7671) require it for compliance. A standard CU swap is £550–£750 fitted, NICEIC-certified. We'll check yours during an EICR or any other visit free.
Can you fit EV chargers?
Yes, OZEV-approved installer for 7kW home wallboxes (Pod Point, Easee, Wallbox, Hypervolt). Survey is free for households with off-street parking. We handle the DNO notification if your supply needs upgrading. The OZEV £350 grant ended in March 2022 for homeowners, but it's still available for renters and flat-owners under EVHS.
What's the smell of burning from my socket?
Switch off the circuit at the consumer unit and ring us. Don't wait. Burnt connections behind a faceplate progress fast, so what's a hot socket today is a wall fire next week. We treat these as priority callouts.
How quickly can you come out for an emergency?
For genuine emergencies (gas leak, no heat in winter, burst pipe) we aim to be on site within 60 minutes anywhere in Cardiff and within 90 minutes for Penarth, Barry, and the Vale. Out of hours, your call goes to a triage line that wakes Nigel for true emergencies.
Do you charge a call-out fee?
No call-out fee for jobs we go on to quote. Diagnostic visits where we don't carry out work are charged at our standard hourly rate, which we'll always tell you about up front.
How does the heat pump grant work?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays toward an air-source heat pump install at one of two rates. If your home currently runs on oil or LPG you get £9,000, an uplift for off-gas-grid homes that runs until 31 March 2027. If you're on mains gas it's £7,500. The voucher is applied for through the installer before the work starts, so you never handle the paperwork or the money. The grant is discounted at the point of sale.
Are you Gas Safe registered?
Yes, every gas engineer who works under PHBLUE is Gas Safe registered. You'll see our registration number on every quote, every invoice, and every Gas Safety Certificate. You can also verify us directly on the Gas Safe Register's public lookup.
What areas do you cover?
Cardiff and the surrounding South Wales region, primarily Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Caerphilly, Llandough, Roath, Rhiwbina, Whitchurch, and Cowbridge. If you're nearby and we don't cover your postcode yet, drop us a message and we'll see what we can do.
Do you charge a call-out fee?
No, not for any job we go on to quote or carry out. Diagnostic visits where we don't end up doing work are charged at our standard hourly rate (£90 first hour, £55 after) and we'll always tell you that up front.
Are quotes fixed price or estimates?
Fixed-price for everything we can survey: boiler installs, bathrooms, EV chargers, EICRs, central heating refurbs, heat pumps. Variable-rate for diagnostic and repair work, but with hourly rates published on every relevant page so you know before we start.
Can you take a deposit and stage payments?
For jobs over £3,000 we take a 30% deposit at scheduling, 50% on day one, balance on completion. That covers our materials outlay without exposing you. Smaller jobs are paid on completion. We accept bank transfer, card, and Apple/Google Pay; no cash in hand.
Do you offer finance?
Not directly: we're not authorised to broker credit. For boiler installs, Worcester Bosch and Vaillant both run their own finance schemes (0% over 12 months on installs through accredited installers like us). Ask at quote stage and we'll send you the application link.
Do you give written quotes?
Always. Every job over £200 gets a written, itemised, fixed-price quote before any work starts. The quote is yours to keep, valid for 30 days, and the price on it is what you'll pay: line-item breakdown for materials, labour, and any provisional sums.