Lighting Winch Systems
Eliminate the risk and disruption of working at height with electric lighting winch systems and hoisting equipment from Penny Engineering. Explore a range of solutions ideal for accessing suspended chandeliers, lighting, and fixtures such as sensors, signage, and CCTV.
Why Choose a Penny Engineering Light Winch?
UK Ceiling Winch Manufacturers
Our lighting winch systems are installed and tested by our dedicated engineers, with bespoke or off-the-shelf designs available for manufacture.
Light Hoist Servicing and Maintenance
Our UK-wide network of maintenance engineers delivers on-demand support for all lighting winch systems, with annual servicing to ensure LOLER compliance.
Bespoke Ceiling Winch Design
We design and manufacture the perfect-fit ceiling hoist system, custom-configured to the specific weight, drop, and location of the suspended item.
Committed to Sustainability
Penny Engineering continues to invest in minimising its carbon footprint, from solar panels and low-energy use equipment to insulation and landfill-free waste streams.
UK Ceiling Hoist System Specialists
Penny Engineering is based in the heart of the UK, meaning your lighting winch systems are backed by world-class British engineering.
Our core in-house capabilities include:
- Site surveys
- Design
- Risk assessments
- Project management
- Manufacture
- Inspection
- Statutory examinations and testing
- Eyebolt testing
- CE marking
- Quality documentation
- Delivery
- Servicing
Ceiling Hoist System Benefits
Simplify Maintenance
An electric light lifter dramatically cuts high level lighting maintenance downtime, making it quick and easy to raise and lower suspended fixtures.
Control Options
Our lighting winch systems come with a range of control options, including crank handles, wall-mounted push buttons, and remote control.
Safer Operations
Remove the risks associated with working at height by using a mechanical ceiling hoist system to safely lower objects to ground level.
Protect Assets
A light fixture winch prevents damage to valuable assets by enabling you to clean and maintain suspended chandeliers and other fixtures at ground level.
Compact Design
Roof space above a suspended asset can be limited. Our light winch systems are compact, with the option to hide the operating mechanism.
Reliable Access System
Robust and reliable height adjustable ceiling light systems, with ingress protection up to IP65 for dusty or moisture-rich environments.
Case Study: Lighting Hoist Installed for Northside Roofing Project at Windsor Castle
As a major feature of the castle’s décor, chandelier access needed to be quick, safe, and easy. With a ceiling hoist system from Penny Engineering, Windsor Castle was able to clean and maintain their chandeliers without the need to work at height.
Case Study: Chandelier and Lighting Winch System for Leeds Town Hall
Chandelier and lighting winch systems minimise maintenance disruption and keep mechanisms hidden from view when raised. Read the full case study to see how light winch solutions from Penny Engineering maximised operations for Leeds Town Hall.
Case Study: Bespoke Lighting Winch Solutions for The Ned Doha in Qatar
Soho House, the highly successful global private members club organisation, is a longstanding customer of Penny Engineering Group utilising bespoke goods lifts for their deliveries and lighting winch systems for their showpiece chandeliers.
Who We Work With
Light Fixture Winch FAQs
There are several criteria for selecting or designing the appropriate light winch. These include:
- Weight – the weight of the luminaire and any accessories.
- Lowering distance – from the ceiling to the ground level.
- Shape and design – to determine whether single or multiple suspension wires are needed.
- Luminaire requirements – for example, any additional contacts for DALI / dimming circuits.
- Control and operation – whether handheld unit, wireless radio remote control, or hard-wired buttons on a control panel.
- Lead time – whether you need a quick, off-the-shelf solution, or have time for a bespoke, perfect-fit design.
We offer a range of lighting winch systems for various applications.
For example, our self-contained electric light lifters are controlled using a wireless remote control and are ideal for smaller loads or when multiple units are required (e.g., high-bay warehouse lighting).
We design larger, bespoke ceiling hoist systems powered by hand or using electric motors for when loads are heavier and/or more delicate. These are fully customisable, and our design team will work with you to find the best solution for your needs.
Electric lighting winch systems – controlled via a wireless remote-control handset, a removable handset that plugs into a wall socket, hardwired controls mounted to a faceplate on the wall, or control via a building management system (BMS) (e.g., Crestron or Lutron).
Manual lighting winch systems – operated by manually rotating a crank handle / winch handle, whether permanently attached to the body of the hoist or removable should the light hoist need to be tamperproof (e.g., it’s located in a public area).
We use tested and certified wire rope for our bespoke and off-the-shelf self-contained winches to suspend luminaires. The diameter of the rope depends on the weight of the suspended items.
Stainless rope will be specified when the light winch is in a corrosive environment (e.g., outside, swimming pools and waste processing plants).
Our UK electric lighting winch systems require a domestic, single-phase 230 Volt 50Hz power supply. We require this as a fused spur next to the winch control box.
For international customers, our ceiling hoist systems can be built to run on your local domestic or commercial power supply. Please indicate this when enquiring.
Our bespoke, height adjustable ceiling light winches use several parts to function, depending on their configuration:
- Hoist assembly – drum for the wire rope to feed onto and an electric motor / gearbox to rotate the drum.
- Pulleys – to direct the rope between the hoist assembly and the contact suspension unit.
- Contact suspension units – engages the electrical circuit and relieves the winch, pulleys, and wire rope from tension when the suspended item is in use and does the opposite when the item is being lowered to ensure cables are not live.
- Cable reels – pays out the electrical flex to the light fitting as it’s lowered to the ground, and then automatically retracts the flex when raising the item back up.
- Hoist control enclosure – all system control circuits feed to this enclosure, which is usually housed close to the winch assembly (though not essential and can be up to 30m away).
No, the light lifter can be located remotely to the main lowering point (directly above the light fitting). If required, it could be positioned in a completely different building.
For this, we would use a series of pulleys to direct the hoist rope from the hoist location back to the main lowering point.
Depending on the light hoist system, there are two options:
When using a contact suspension unit (CSU) or off-the-shelf self-contained light hoist, the electrical feed to the light fitting is broken when raising or lowering the item, until it is returned to the fully raised position.
When using a spring-operated cable reel, the cable reel pays out the electrical flex to the luminaire as it’s lowered to the ground and automatically retracts it when raising the fitting. This would keep the lights energised throughout the raising and lowering process.
Secondary support anchor – a mechanical lock or secondary rope for when the item is fully raised.
Worm drive gearboxes – to prevent the gearbox from running back if the motor was to fail.
Electromagnetic brakes – engaged when there is no power to the motor.
Torque limiters – so the hoist will deactivate should a winch rope snag or become entangled.
Slack rope switches – to monitor the tension of the hoist rope and deactivate the hoist should it slacken off.
Limit switches – to set the ultimate range of travel so that light fixtures won’t impact the floor or ceiling.
Winch inverter – “soft start” functionality to ensure a gradual, smooth acceleration up to full speed.
A fully bespoke light fixture winch would usually be ready to install approximately 6 weeks from design approval. Our self-contained “off-the-shelf” solutions can be ready to ship in less than a week.