Wiring Dollhouses: I wired all my dollhouses and I didn't know a thing about it when I started. I did have a short and smoke starting to come out of the dollhouse but that was due to my improperly wiring a ceiling canopy for a chandelier - the wires inside were touching. That was when I first started and since then I haven't had a problem and have even installed canopies for customers. As a precaution, I don't leave the dollhouse lights on while I'm out. This page will tell you the size transformer you need for the number of bulbs. This is an important concept. It's the number of bulbs, not the number of lights. If you have 2 bulbs in a light, you have to count that as two.
http://cir-kitconcepts.com/eshop/index.cgi?ID=OG65ZV&task=show&cat=Transformers

Carol, S P Miniatures

Easy lighting: I have done several room boxes using either a night light (available in many styles) or a Christmas village light string. If I only need a general source of illumination I recess a nightlight into the ceiling of the piece. If I want general light and illumination through window(s) and/or door(s) I use a multilight village string, with one placed near each wall opening, and one or two behind a camouflage board. In either case, an extension cord brings the power to the piece. When using a night light, it is handy to get one with an on/off switch. The village light strings are readily available during the Christmas season with various numbers of bulbs. I always stash a couple away. I am a new visitor to SS and am enjoying it immensely.

Adrian in Kingston, Ontario

Line-O-Light/How I Did It: I've really enjoyed the chat about lighting roomboxes, which is always a challenge for me. This is the name of the one I'm using in my latest project. I bought it from Lowe's. It's by Angelo, is ten inches, in gold tone (which I don't care for, but only color they had). Average life is 40,000 hours. I, too, was concerned about the heat build-up, so rather than install it inside, I cut out a groove at the top of the box, toward the back. Where I added to the rear of the box, the front and back of the light doesn't even show, just the bottom and the top. It's not even permanently installed - rather just rests on the top. There's enough space to allow for air flow because the heavy plastic on either end protrudes out just enough so the metal sides do not touch the box. I've had it on for only a little while, but I really haven't noticed that the lights get hot (it's a soft lighting) - the metal strip does though which is why I'm glad it doesn't fit real snug. I've always sprayed my dh papers with Plaid matte sealer, hoping to cut down on any fading. Sorry I don't have a pic to share, as it's hard to explain.

Theresa Thomas

Using night lights or Christmas house strings to light roomboxes: Re: the warning from Diane in SFBA about the risk of heat. I neglected to refer to this problem in my original message. If I am using a double wall system to light doors/windows outside the room, I line all areas in the concealed space with tinfoil, and make sure that there is ventilation at the top of the area. When I recess a night light, I encase it in a foil lined box if it must be disguised, or just place it over a hole in the ceiling, if there is hollow roof space above to cover. I always take particular care to allow for ventilation of any potential heat accumulation.

Adrian in Kingston

Wiring: I cannot stand it any longer. If you are going to use any lights that are not in a 12 volt system, such as night light bulbs (7 watt), or the 15 watt ones mentioned, these go directly to your 110 volt house wiring and they get HOT. Be sure you have vent holes up high in the dollhouse or room box or you will be very unhappy in the near future. My hardware store sells something called a "closet vent" with louvers that comes in many diameters, but the 1" diameter one fits in a 1" round hole, and up high under the eaves of a dollhouse looks just great. It provides the venting you would need very nicely. It can also be used up high on the back wall of a room box. It comes painted white, but you can change that. I know of many a miniaturist who has had disastrous results with tape wiring, I have always taught "round" or hard wiring, but I have never used Tom's insertion tool. If you are going to use tape, please buy his tool so your lights continue to light for a long time. My favorite story is of the lady who used tape wiring, then wallpapered, then trimmed the wallpaper at the ceiling with an X- Acto knife. Yep, slit right through the tape as well. Of course, that was not the tape's fault!

Barb Jones

Lighting Wiring

To Wire or Not: Before you decide you might like checking out Tom's web site, he makes it look easy. http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com/toms-tips/electical.html

Kathy

To Wire or Not: No! Please don't skip the electricity! Take it from another beginner. It is not really that difficult. I'm busy with my first house now. Its only half finished, but it looks lovely, especially at night, when you switch those little lights on. Everything just comes to life. I can't imagine my house being without lights. I did it without any help. We have no mini clubs or shops here, so I had no-one to ask. I used the Cir-Kits booklet. I must add, I did my wiring with copper tape, not actual wires. The tape method really is very easy. Just read the book before you start, draw up a plan of your house (walls and floors), decide where you want your lights and how many. Then you draw pencil lines in your house where you want the tape run, and stick your tape on that line. Make sure that your connections work every time you punch in your brass brads, and you can't go wrong. You really don't have to be an electrician to do it. If I can do it, so can you. My husband still can't believe that my lights are actually working! And.....NOTHING beats that feeling when you turn on the power for the first time!

Betsie, Western Cape, South Africa

Wiring Ornamotors: you could hang the ornamotor in the flue and just wire a resistor in series between it and your 12 volt dollhouse transformer. What size resistor I am not sure, or possibly you'd need a power resistor, and the size would determine the speed of the ornamotor. What a clever idea you have. I don't know what kind of bearings are in the ornamotor, so don't know how long it would last if used on its side. Resistors do give off heat (that power has to go somewhere), so make allowances for that (open flue, for example).

Barb Jones

Round Wire Vs. Tape: The owner of the dollhouse shop where I purchased my dollhouse, five years ago, persuaded me to use the round wire method. He claimed it was more reliable than the tape wire. This may no longer be true as the product has improved. I still prefer the round wire because I feel future repairs should be easier. I just made channels (with an electric drill) in the upper floors and a hole in the middle of the floors for the ceiling fixtures for the lower floor rooms. I have easy access to these wires just by lifting the carpets that hide them. The wires then run along the edge of the floors and walls down the open back to reach the transformer. I have explained in an earlier post how they can be hidden by L or U shaped strips of wood. Tape wire is hidden by wallpaper. From what I've heard you (1) would have to remove the wallpaper to repair it (ugh) (2) be careful what wallpaper paste you use as it can react with the metal (3) can short-circuit the whole system as it is all interconnected. However, it must have some advantages as it is very popular. Perhaps someone else can elaborate on this.

Harriett- Framingham, MA

Round Wire Vs. Tape: I agree with Harriet that the round wire method is more reliable. In my opinion it is also easier, once you understand one basic concept. I know it is faster. I used to teach dollhouse wiring for many years in a miniature store. In the beginning I taught both round wiring and tape wiring, but my students all preferred round wire in the end, so I just taught that after awhile. A tape system seems easier because you have these two pieces of copper tape, side by side, going all over the dollhouse. If in round wiring you use 2 wires of different colors and pretend one is one piece of tape and the other round wire of the other color is the other piece of tape, you cannot miss. The other way I present it, is if you never connect the two different colors of wire together you won't have a short circuit. There is a fairly clear video on "Wiring your Dollhouse" put out by Mindstorm, and I believe they have some left.

Barb Jones

Round wire vs. Tape wire: Which is more reliable? You tell me, is a piece of round copper anymore reliable than a piece of flat copper? (keep in mind that most of the wiring in satellites, where it can't be repaired, is printed circuit boards which are flat copper) Speed? I charge $49 labor to tape wire a 7 room house, I charge $140 to round wire that same house based on the time it takes. With round wire you have to mark the walls for me, where you want every outlet (receptacle) and sconce, as well as the exact location of every ceiling light. With tape wire, you can forever continue to add outlets along any wall without rewiring or destroying your decoration (even through wainscoting). Between myself, and the students in my wiring classes, we have wired literally thousands of houses (19 last month alone) with tape wire. The average student takes 2 1/2 hours to tape wire a 10 room house (like my Dover). If you are concerned about connections, you can solder tape wire. I have previously discussed the methods of making connections, and explained how you can make a reliable mechanical (eyelet) connection without having to resort to soldering, which is a real turn-off to most miniaturists. Suffice it to say, since we have invented our insertion tool (several years ago) we have eliminated problems with mechanical connections (in fact, I have more problems with solder joints on the printed circuit boards I use for flashing lights). Tape wire vs. round wire: it's like religion, everybody has their favorite.

Tom Berkner

Tape Wiring: I use tape wire and generally only wire the ceilings so I place my tape wire on the floor above to wire the ceiling below. Should I need to fix it for any reason I simply remove the carpet. If you are going to use wall outlets you could probably put your tape wire behind the baseboard and not permanently attached the baseboard for easy removal should you need to get to it. I have used wall sconces and yes the wallpaper does cover up the tape wire - but knock on wood - I have not had any problems where I needed to fix any of the wiring.

Marsha, Newark, CA

Painting over Tape Wire: o, you can't just paint over tape wire and have it look good. I apply a very thin coat of spackling compound to the wall before I paint it. This just covers the tape wire so it seems to disappear.

Tom Berkner

How High to Hang a Chandelier: Being a 6' 4" guy, I have this problem with low doors and low-hanging lights. My advice, therefore, is: don't hang it too low! If you have a 13" high ceiling and a 3 ½" tall (scale) fixture, I'd let it hang down 18" so that the bottom of the fixture hangs at about 8" height. Another consideration is how high will people look at this room - will they be looking straight on, down a little or will they be looking up when most people view it? If they'll be looking down, I'd 'cheat' just a little on how low it hangs (shortening its chain) so that it isn't in the way of seeing all your beautiful plants and furniture. In truth, many of the old homes with chandeliers suspended them with ropes attached to pulleys. They lowered them down to light and then raised them back to whatever height the owner of the home preferred. If you're going for an authentic pre-electricity look, you might want to add the rope and pulley system for realism. So… my conclusion is, make it high enough not to bang any- one's head (even miniature people's) and raise it enough so that it doesn't obscure the view of the room as a whole.

George Held

Chandeliers: Chandeliers are usually hung low enough to provide light, usually in a dining room, sometimes in a more dramatic space as it sounds like you have. I would think somewhere between 6 1/2" and 8" from the floor would be OK in 1" scale, pick whatever in that range looks good to you. It definitely would not be hung high.

Barb Jones

Lights in a Room Box: Cir-Kit sells a vignette light. They have a web site and the light is listed on http://www.cir-kit.com/commerce/product_detail.asp?prodid=CK212 Unfortunately they forgot to include the picture. If you have Dee's catalog I think it's in there. The Cir-Kit web site is a good site in general for information on wiring and available accessories. http://www.cir-kit.com

Carol

Room Box Light Fixture: I needed a light fixture to use in a pet shop and found a fixture in our local Home Depot. It is a gold long lamp about 9 inch....not certain of length...pet shop was donation....but the lamp was one that normally is used to illuminate a picture on a wall or could shine down from bottom of a shelf on the contents of the shelf below. The price was about equal to the fingers of both hands. The fixture has an off/on switch on the cord.

Katherine

Room Box Light: I would suggest that you use the CirKit Cannister Light. Mine was really easy to install and if I had been using standard 3/8" plywood, the bulb would have been completely hidden. It works just like a can light in your ceiling. They are very reasonably priced. I have also seen small florescent bulbs that are about 1.5" long and could easily be hid behind some type of valence or crown molding in the back of the room.

Dale

Room Box Light: you can get from Dee's catalog (Mini shops can order if you do not have one) an accent light -AURALite - this is app1/2" square by 10" or 24" long. This adheres to the top -inside- of your room box. it uses a regular plug and has an on & off switch. I use these on almost all my boxes. They are very easy to hide. I've been told Home Depot has them but I haven't seen them.

Kathleen, CC,NV

When to Wire: I put in wiring after the house is put together but before any decorating is done inside. If you're going to do the exterior before installing lighting think ahead if you're planning to have outdoor lighting. For example, I bricked my house and I put in the coach lights as I bricked in order to hide the wires underneath the brick. A good hint is to take photos of the interior of the house after you've put in the wiring so that you know exactly where it is after you've decorated the rooms. Wish I had done that.

Carol