Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Sep 02, 2008 7:52 pm My intention in a family room upstairs was to install some downlights in the ceiling - its around 4m * 4m - so there was going to be a few of them put in...
Then I came up with the bright idea of while the building was going on (no plaster) - lets get the builder to put some yellow tongue flooring down above that ceiling area - just to make it easier to move around in the attic. And possible storage area... Sounded like a good idea - and its done... Then I looked at the area and thought oh no what have I done.... The space between the plaster and the attic floor is now 90mm - the thickness of the ceiling battens. And immediately realised that I can no longer install any downlights there - at this stage I don't have them, and don't care if they are incandescent / halogen or whatever... But no space for a heat shield / no space for air flow - looks like I am out of luck now installing any downlights... So maybe LED lights ? Energy efficient ? Low Heat - maybe I can check the specs and find something that is safe to install... Problem though - I want to dim them... I am installing c-bus, and I like it when you turn a lamp on it ramps up, not comes on full brightness straight away... If LED is my only option, then I could (at an added expense - ouch) - use a DALI gateway to possibly do the dimming (as I believe LED dimming occurs by turning them on/off thousands of times a second - or similar)... Anyone have any other ideas on what I may be able to do, or links to read up about LED dimming ? Thanks guys & gals - you have been helpful to me in the past! Re: Recessed ceiling lights - low heat output ? 2Sep 03, 2008 9:14 pm It's been several months since I've looked at the AS3000 clauses related to the shielding/spacing requirements for downlights; it might only be specific to certain types of globes (from memory it was incandescent and halogen globes) - in which case you may not need the shielding/spacing requirements if installing LED globes... However I have been informed recently by an electrician that the fancy LED globes which are fitted with a chunky heatsink, that retro-fit into standard downlight fittings, are only designed to dissipate the globe's heat while in free-air, and once it's installed into a fitting, it's efficiency at removing it's heat is diminished, thus causing the globe to fail or blink on and off...
I can have a look in the Standard tomorrow, however you (or your electrician) is still going to have the problem of getting the wiring across from one ceiling cavity to the other, past the timber beams... I've done it in the past, and it's not fun (using extension drill-bits to reach the beams while trying to drill through the hole already made for the fitting in the gyprock, while at the same time not causing any unwanted damage to the gyprock...). A few tips I was told by an electrician recently... If you use electronic transformers, you will need to connect several LED globes to it before it will be able to turn on (some have a minimum load of 5W or 10W). I am not aware if the LED globes are able to be dimmed, though. This electrician just replaced all the lighting in a cinema complex with LED globes (he told me he is now virtually an expert on LED globes and fittings after researching to complete the job!), only he's in Sydney and you're in Melbourne... Other options might be available to you such as wall lights (but might be more difficult to install now the walls are sheeted). Re: Recessed ceiling lights - low heat output ? 3Sep 04, 2008 12:33 am Thanks for that...
- No gyprock as yet - so anything is possible.... thats why the research going into what / where / how now.... to make the job easier... You always had to wonder about those replacement LED bulbs with huge heatsinks - hmmm... large heatsink - must be some heat to discharge eh>? I have bought leds from this crowd before - recessed led path lights - http://www.ledlighting.net.au Very friendly and helpful in the past... and their ceiling led lamps apparantly do dim, so long as you use an iron core transformer and a trailing edge dimmer... Well I got caught out before about the electronic transformers - they have a minimum load - typically 20-30A, and wont drive a LED unit at 0.5A - so you either need plenty of leds on the circuit so an electronic transformer will drive it or you need an iron core transformer... I opted for the iron core transformer in the past - and works well... Unluckily or Luckily - it appears that if their led ceiling lamps do dim with a trailing edge dimmer, at least c-bus do have a trailing edge dimmer (at present I only have leading edge of course - but it is a simple solution to purchase another unit for a few hundred dollars). So I shall get one of their lights and try.... There may be answers here but can't find anything. I have a closed in veranda, four windows. North facing, just had sunblock blinds installed. A bit cooler (actually… 0 2981 4 6201 If you can calculate the reasonable charged head from let's say 100mm below the gutter to the top of where the vertical riser's horizontal discharge pipe will be, that… 11 17538 |