Hi - in upstairs rooms - bedroom and bathroom there are older downlights and although the loft insulation hasn't been allowed to sit on top of them they are still a hole in the ceiling allowing heat and moisture into the loft space. So looking at getting some thermahoods, but at £6-7 each is it more sensible to spend the money on fire-rated down-lights? Questions: - how much do you expect to pay for a worthwhile fire-rated downlight? - will this be airtight and can have insulation laid directly over without any extra hood needed?
There is no actual legislative requirement for fire-rated downlights unlesss the holes they are in breach a fire barrier (ie ceiling between flats/a separate property) Regardless of that I fit them by default, as they are generally better engineered, and I find the price point of £25-£50 to be a good quality light fitting with a long guarantee.
I’m only diy me but have looked into this issue for my own house so, yep agreed, the fire rated downlights are generally much better build quality than say the cheap ‘pressed’ fittings (the ones with basically a lamp holder and bezel that sits on the ceiling) These cheap fittings also suffer from insects and dust getting into the fitting as they’re just an open lamp holder sitting in a dusty loft But...... just because the fitting is fire rated, it doesn’t automatically mean you can cover it with loft insulation If your not using caps over the fittings, then you need to buy a specific downlight that actually states that it can be covered over, JCC and Aurora being two quality brands that have this type in their range. They need a little air flow so insulation can be laid over the top of the fittings but not recommended to pack tight around the fitting Hopefully your looking at GU10 LED 240V lamps and not halogen or MR16s
It would seem the better action would be to replace them with a fire rated or enclosed LED luminaire, fix 2 issues at the same time.
That does not fix the issue of covering with the insulation. As DIYDAVE said, the downlight itself should be suitable for burying under 200mm of itchy and scratchy stuff.
But the LED luminaires will produce much less heat than a GU10 so the need for heat dissipation will be reduced significantly. This may be sufficient to allow them to be used below insulation.
Quite correct in this assumption, but then you have to look at the problem from a different angle to this and ask the question of "what is to stop anyone changing the led bulb to a halogen type in the future", only resolves the problem with LED bulbs fitted.
You are right, they do comparatively produce less heat, but they still need to breathe. Some lamps have integrated heat fins to dissipate the heat. I have had to deal with a number of LED fittings that gave suffered infant mortality due to not enough ventilation or being cooked in insulation. Find a make that specifies that it can be covered in the stuff and you are ok. Anything else is just a “hope it’s alright”.
The thing I don’t get with the intergrated led lights is say you fit six in a room (or any number, other than 1) Few years down the line, 1 unit fails and that model is no longer available, or company has gone bust, or for some unexplained reason, they’ve made a slight cosmetic change to the unit. You’ve now got 1 odd light and that, would drive me crazy May not be a problem in say an office envoironment but if that was your house or a customers house, could lead to an issue I suspect They may be rated for 25,000 hrs or similiar but that ain’t a lifetime and things do conk out before their life expectancy Worries me, that’s all