Halogen downlighters in a Lath and plaster ceiling?
tegwin - 22/6/09 at 09:35 PM
I just fitted three 40W halogen downlighters over the sink in the kitchen on a dimmer switch...
They work really well and look really nice (once I cleaned up the plaster dust!)
However... the lights are this sort: with the back of the bulb exposed inside the floor void..
I now have a slight concern that the bulbs will get hot and could cause the laths to catch fire.... Is this a real threat, or am I just being a bit
OTT?
None of the wood actually touches the bulb itself... but the holder gets pretty hot!
Have I been a muppet and fitted the wrong sort of lights?
[Edited on 22/6/09 by tegwin]
DavidW - 22/6/09 at 10:06 PM
I didn't dare do it after someone said it was a bad idea.
I'd be interested to hear from someone who knows.
delboy - 22/6/09 at 10:08 PM
you could consider using a intumescent down lighter cover, they are available from people like envirograph. It would at least give you some comfort if
they over heat.
bbwales - 22/6/09 at 10:53 PM
Another fix, you could use LED downlighters, the only problem is that they are £10 quid a lamp.
HTH
Bob
s2gse - 22/6/09 at 11:03 PM
fitting downlights in a plaster and lath ceiling is a bad idea for 2 reasons
1. the wooden laths can get very hot and burn
2. this type of downlight is not permitted to be fitted to a ceiling void where a room is above or a loft this is because where the plaster fire
barrier is broken by a downlight the fire can spread from room to room
you will need to use fire rate downlights with a built in fire hood
see link below
http://www.aurora.eu.com/ProductPages/ListCategory.aspx?b=50&c=88
hope this helps
MikeRJ - 23/6/09 at 12:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by s2gse
2. this type of downlight is not permitted to be fitted to a ceiling void where a room is above or a loft
That pretty much rules out most rooms in the majority of homes I should think?
Liam - 23/6/09 at 12:55 AM
quote:
Originally posted by s2gse2. this type of downlight is not permitted to be fitted to a ceiling void where a room is above or a loft this
is because where the plaster fire barrier is broken by a downlight the fire can spread from room to room
Not true - the only ceilings that need to be fire rated in a typical domestic situation are those above garages and between a 1st and second floor
(i.e. a normal 2-storey house with a loft conversion). Only if the property is divided into seperate flats do all floors between flats need to be
fire rated.
I'd shudder at the thought of cutting holes in a lath and plaster ceiling - recipe for a crumbly mess! Sounds like you've already managed
it though - wow! But you really need F-rated downlights (symbol is a letter F in an upside-down triangle). This is not the same as fire rated
and just means the luminaire can be mounted to combustible materials - i.e. wood. Your's got this symbol on them?
Fitting energy saving lamps (CFL or LED) will almost eliminate hot running, but isn't reeeeeeally an acceptable solution if you've fitted
non F-rated downlights, cos anybody could retro-fit halogens. Be vigilant that nobody fits halogens until 2012 when they're all banned
anyway!
Liam
P.S. I hope you've notified mr building control about this 
tegwin - 23/6/09 at 08:05 AM
quote:
P.S. I hope you've notified mr building control about this
There were already light fittings on the cieling.. so I just replaced like for like... which is not a notifiable job!
vindicator - 23/6/09 at 09:50 AM
I replaced one normal light bulb at the top of our stairsway which was suppose to be enough light for walking up the stairs and across the landing to
any one of 5 rooms. I put in 7 of these down lighters in the ceiling which then goes into the loft area. I also noticed that they did get very warm
and was advised to make sure that each lamp was covered at the back of the lamp for fire safety.
So far, I have left two bulbs in that have failed as it is like spot lights every where you walk.
At least you don't fall down the stairs because it was too dark.....
Regards
TimR