Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Apr 30, 2012 7:48 am Hi, I'm getting downlights in parts of my new house but I've been reading about the negative sides. At this stage the builder includes low voltage halogens which are energy inefficient, I'm considering LED's but not sure if I can afford it yet However, I also noticed that gaps in the insulation must be left over downlights of 200mm, doesn't this provide a significant disadvantage in terms of energy efficiency? I'm paying for R4.0 batts in the ceiling but with the downlights I believe there will be a lot of gaps there The only downlight I noticed that says it has a 20mm clearance from insulation was the brightgreen D900 or putting some kind of cover on the existing downlights... What are my options here? Thanks Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 2Apr 30, 2012 7:58 am Hi, I had the same dilemma. I was also concerned about the clearance around the downlights. They were going to charge me $120 to upgrade each downlight to led. In the end I decided to remove downlights completely and install energy efficient light/fans. I came to an agreement with my builder that they would install owner supplied lights and got a credit back for the downlights. Good luck! House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 3Apr 30, 2012 8:08 am buildingwest Hi, I had the same dilemma. I was also concerned about the clearance around the downlights. They were going to charge me $120 to upgrade each downlight to led. In the end I decided to remove downlights completely and install energy efficient light/fans. So did you just install standard oyster/pendant lights instead? Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 4Apr 30, 2012 10:10 pm After reading this article: http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/rece ... st-results I decided against downlights, not I need to find nice looking lights... More work, but this should be worth it. Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 5Apr 30, 2012 11:19 pm Interesting how little a difference it makes with and without the 50mm clearance around the mr15! I wonder what difference if any these make? I like them because you can put insulation up to them and close the lid, they only have two slots open one on each short side! http://www.sparkydirect.com.au/p/930642 ... medlg.html 2 Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 6May 01, 2012 7:38 am The comments in the article generally implied all downlights need some venting and therefore you can't avoid the heat loss completely. The test itself did mention on this page: http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/rece ... t-our-test That the "CA" means the insulation is right upto the light itself, therefore the leakage would be from the downlight. And its still large in the test results. Now to find nice lights Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 7May 01, 2012 10:10 pm There are quite a few options with uplights; we have installed in-wall compact fluro uplights, and they work well (but getting the electrician to get them tight and straight is another story), as well as some Artemide Mini Surf light, using "Eco" 120W halogens instead of 150W halogens. For some areas, such as bathrooms, we have LED strip lights (German units rated to IP67), which were rebated into the ceiling Gyprock, so no penetration except the wires to the driver. They were all in the $300 range each, but 2 of these lights most bedrooms, which would have required 4-6 downlights, so you save on install costs. Re: Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 8May 01, 2012 10:43 pm theanonyuser buildingwest Hi, I had the same dilemma. I was also concerned about the clearance around the downlights. They were going to charge me $120 to upgrade each downlight to led. In the end I decided to remove downlights completely and install energy efficient light/fans. So did you just install standard oyster/pendant lights instead? In the meals, living and family areas I installed fans with lights (energy efficient). Installed fluro from envirolux range for main hallway and kitchen. Bedrooms, pantry etc all have oyster lights. House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 9May 04, 2012 1:46 pm Thanks for the info, I think I've found a light I like. Now I just need to see how much refund I get from removing downlight's Re: Downlight disadvantages - Insulation 10May 06, 2012 7:21 pm mattismase The LED downlight will pay for itself in energy savings 20 times over its life. The more you use it the quicker the return on investment.<cut> 200mm clearance around the lights is still small as a % of the total roof space area thus losses are relative. Hope this helps We'll have to agree to disagree here I think I think the payoff time for LED lights is exaggerated, the calculations should be based on 6hours a day in certain rooms and much less in other rooms. Therefore the LED would take longer to payoff then expected. However, I strongly agree that LED is better than halogen, I just think they are overpriced. Also very few manufacturers have proven the claimed runtimes, and people haven't had most LED's long enough to know. Personally I'm looking at CFL's or similar. As per http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/rece ... t-our-test, even a small gap in insulation makes a large difference, and the downlights are always ventilated to some point. As you can see from the test, the CFL downlight mentions "CA" in the test, which is described as 5% or less of the light in used for ventilation and the insulation can be abutted to the light fitting. Even in that case its close to 171% so 71% extra heating to keep the room at 20 degrees. The builders standard is halogen downlights and the report says 199% or nearly double the heating cost. Their test doesn't exactly match Australian conditions as its generally warmer than 9degrees outside, but we also leave much larger insulation gaps. Either way, it was enough for me to change the plan and I'm getting batten's fitted and probably a ceiling mounted CFL Hey guys building a new place through a volume builder and just wondering if i should complain to the site supervisor as we just had plasterboard installed. Looks like… 0 11320 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 6262 |