Hiding wires on outside of house

[bimsb6]

langtounlad said:

mickmcpaddy said:

I once saw an outside light wired by drilling the cable into the down spout at the top and then out again at the bottom with a bit of silicone to seal it.

Assuming no joins in the cable in the downpipe, is that technically a bad installation?
No UV light degrading the cable and the cable won't actually be permanently immersed in water.
I'm inclined to think that is a neat solution.

I’ve done phone cabling like that on houses that would look dreadful surface cabled .

[mickmcpaddy]

langtounlad said:

Assuming no joins in the cable in the downpipe, is that technically a bad installation?
No UV light degrading the cable and the cable won't actually be permanently immersed in water.
I'm inclined to think that is a neat solution.

Its probably safe from an electrical point of view, certainly no more dangerous than a cable inside a water filled ducting in the ground. Don't think it complies with the regs though, the downspout is quite flimsy and certainly wont comply with a cable being secured correctly, my main concern though would be the downspout leaking after having a hole drilled in it.