We have a tray of 4 strip lights positioned over and halfway up a return flight (a flight of stairs that doubles back on itself). Q. Has any one suggestions for accessing the lights or come across a similar situation and how did they deal with it? At the nearest point there is a 20 ft gap stair tread to ceiling and more on the other side. Last time these were changed was when the decorators were in and before my time. As ever all assistance is gratefully appreciated. Badger

Agree with Steve. Not sure on the exact set-up but have you looked at using the oxford safety stairwell platform system? Not sure if it can be used for this purpose, but the site would suggest it can be used after a staircase has been installed? Not sure if i am allowed to post a link to it but here goes: http://www.oxfordsafety....%20safety%20platfom.html FYI - i have no affiliation with this company

Barrie, It may be difficult to effectively implement a system to lower the recessed fitting from a suspended ceiling by design of the fitting. You could scaffold up the stair well! Not very user friendly but... There are small access platforms that are designed to fit into stairwells, but I'm not sure they will reach 20' up in the air! The Oxford system by the earlier post may be the best option. I know the type of fitting you have and I don't believe the "winch" system I looked at would be suitable by virtue of the centre of gravity of your type of fitting, unless you want to swap to a chandelier, or use 4 synchronised on your fitting, one certainly would not do! Would it be possible to change the lighting for 2 fittings which are easier to access, but provide the same level of lighting & reduced running costs? e.g. 2 off 2 lamp high efficiency fittings at easier to access points in the stair well? The cost of change may be offset against the cost to access the existing fitting and the reduced energy consumption from the more efficient lights and the reduced maintenance cost? You should be able to hire access systems like the Oxford one in the previous posts. Again as previous poster, I have nothing to do with the Oxford access system, nor the others, nor have I used any of them, however, I am fully aware of their type and operation. Paul.