Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 32Jul 27, 2007 1:47 pm As I said earlier it is a requirement that guards, usually made from rolled sheetmetal or similar, be used as a guard or barrier around downlights. This is to ensure that insulation does not contact the globe direcly which is very hot.
I think cement sheet or similar on top of the guard will be OK as its not the ambient temp that can spark ignition but the direct contact of blown in insulation, and to some degree batts. I have seen Batts (fibreglass) sitting up against downlights, creat a black burnt section due to the heat but not ever catch on fire. None the less its good to check. ps seeing as these downlight kits are so readily available, and have an ordinary plug attached its not unlikely many people would adopt the approach of di it yourself. Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 33Jul 27, 2007 1:49 pm YSSIM Have you secured the ceramic pots in some way? Or are they just kind of sitting there? I have just sat them over the light fitting. I figure the weight of them is enough to hold them in place, whilst not being heavy enough to 'sag' the ceiling. They are the 6" type terracotta coloured tapered-side pots you see everywhere at nurseries & bunnings. Also, with the transformers, I sat them on top of the insulation adjacent to the pots, on offcuts of villaboard (bathroom wall sheeting) approx 200mm wide by 200-300mm long. I put them up on this so they are not just resting on the insulation - or worse still, how I found mine - nestled into the loose fill insulation if there wasn't a ceiling joist nearby (only a few were fitted to the joists if they were close). One big mistake I made: The leads are only just long enough to reach from the globe holder, out of the drain hole in the pot, and into the x-former. I found out later that I can't replace a globe from within the house as there isn't enough length to get the holder out of the fitting. My next plan is to drill a "lead hole" half way up the side of each pot & feed the wires from the X-former to the globe through that hole. You can drill these pots easily with a masonry drill in a cordless (with no hammer action). Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 35Jul 27, 2007 5:21 pm aaurora Don't most new houses these days have downlights in them , anyways?? Not on mine! We didn't install any as we were told that downlights drive your electricity bills nuts.... aaurora What are the odds of this happening, is this a real cause for concern? Our new house does not have any extra insulation, just the normal insulation supplied by the builder, just batts I think. do I still need to be wary of fires?? If it's installed by licensed eletrician, you shouldn't have to worry about it. I also found some information from greenhouse.gov.au web site, and posted it here on my blog: http://building-our-first-house.blogspot.com/2007/07/others009-follow-up-on-downlights-fire.html Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 36Jul 27, 2007 5:30 pm double07 Hang on. This just occurred to me. I remember reading a lot of places that insulation is supposed to be non-combustible. Yes it is fire retardant. But the older stuff that is chemically treated can loose its fire retardation over time, so I have heard, not sure if it has merit or not. Fibreglass batts would be my choice of insulation. Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 37Jul 30, 2007 8:44 am ahuang Not on mine! We didn't install any as we were told that downlights drive your electricity bills nuts.... Is this true? How much extra would you be looking at per bill? Our Adenbrook home was completed in September. Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 38Jul 30, 2007 10:32 am aaurora ahuang Not on mine! We didn't install any as we were told that downlights drive your electricity bills nuts.... Is this true? How much extra would you be looking at per bill? Sorry, I don't have any figure to answer that question. But I do remember reading one of the post somewhere in this forum talking about some LED based downlights which doesn't generate that much heat and are much cheaper with the bill. May be someone can help about this? Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 39Jul 30, 2007 10:34 am Halogen downlights are the ones that are pricey - especially because where you might use a single 100w bulb (incandescent) for a room - you'd need anywhere between 4-8 downlights - and even though they may be marked low voltage, the transformer also requires power.
You can get CFL downlights - similar to the energy saver bulbs - but use way less electricity. Plenty of information on the NECO site. Re: downlights setting fire to insulation in the roof 40Jul 31, 2007 11:56 am ahuang aaurora ahuang Not on mine! We didn't install any as we were told that downlights drive your electricity bills nuts.... Is this true? How much extra would you be looking at per bill? Sorry, I don't have any figure to answer that question. But I do remember reading one of the post somewhere in this forum talking about some LED based downlights which doesn't generate that much heat and are much cheaper with the bill. May be someone can help about this? There was a bit of LED discussion in this thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... ght=#13580 LED prices are coming down almost weekly and their quality is going up every few months. Once our halogens start dying we will be replacing them with luxeon LEDs. We are tossing up between a Jarrahdale radiant wood fire (the Pioneer) and a convection wood fire (Innovator or Countryman) but cannot decide on which type of wood fire is… 0 5251 Need some advice. Living in a townhouse with one common wall, recently we have discovered that the fire separation wall is incomplete and on further investigation, support… 0 3866 Not back peddling at all. You seem to have issues with comprehension my friend. Guy fcked up, he's considering being dishonest with his bank and hiding it. It will end… 21 14274 |