Spot lights in my bathroom

[Joe11red]

I'm thinking of putting in spots in my bathroom ceiling, I'm just enquiring into put spot lights to get and also can I connect to the the current downlight wiring?? And also the current pull cord? I have acess to the ceiling via the loft, there is insulation in the loft do I need to get rid of that because are the spots too hot? If you can help that would be great.

Joe

 

[ericmark]

I have spots in my bathroom ceiling sticking out as pods and the only reason still there is to fill the holes cut.

With a LED or Cold Cathode lamp with some form of overload so tungsten lamps can't be fitted in error then in real terms no reason why you should not fit them although it will look like a planetarium.

However the regulations (422.3.1) do not separate between 100 W and less so 500 mm to combustible material rule often means to the letter of the regulations you can't fit them. Since any work in bathrooms has to go through LABC at the moment any electrician doing the work has to follow the rules.

Terms like down lights cover so many types of lights from tiny 50 mm spots to large 2D units and what you are asking is so vague there is no real answer.

I would assume when you say "I" you don't mean you will do the job that with Part P would be far too expensive. You mean getting a scheme member electrician to do it for you. So I would say ask him what he can do.

 

[Joe11red]

Hi, I'm not doing it myself but I'm going to be cutting the holes and getting the spotlights, then get a electrician to fit them. Was just seeing if they can be connected to the wiring that's there.

 

[SimonH2]

From the first post it sounded to me like you already have downlighters, and just want to replace them with something different - as in remove a downlighter and fit a different light in it's place, repeat for each light. That wouldn't be notifiable.

But later on it sound more like these are additional lights.

In terms of what you need to do with insulation, the answer is simple - you must follow the manufacturers instructions. Normally, most fittings require a certain amount of space around the fitting to allow heat to escape. Do not just accept what "an electrician" says as quite a few really don't understand downlights and instructions !

Many think that "fire rated" means "doesn't need air space around it" - just wrong. Fire rated means that it maintains the fire integrity of the ceiling it's installed through.
Some think that LED units "don't make heat" - again just wrong. LED fittings tend to make a fair bit of heat (a LOT less than incandescent though), but more importantly they are much more susceptible to heat and need air space to keep cool.

So what you need to do is lift the insulation, and apply a means of keeping it off the lights (there are fold up metal boxes sold for this). Make sure the insulation still covers everything so you don't get cold spots.

In a bathroom, you want lights that keep the ceiling sealed so you don;t vent moist air through the ceiling and rot the timbers with condensation.

I'll refrain from saying what I think about downlighters and spotlights. I'll leave it at "I don't like them and can't see why people would fit them".

 

[Joe11red]

Oh sorry ATM I have two single lights, and am thinkkng of having 8-10 spots put in, what would be your prefered lighting then?
Joe

 

[RF Lighting]

The best thing would be something like the halers H2 LED downlights. They're energy efficient, fire rated and do not allow the passage of moisture or air. TLC also have their own version which is very similar, and I think they're a bit cheaper.

Some people on here don't like downlighters, others do. It's a personal choice that's all. No different to football. I don't like it, other people do.

 

[SimonH2]

Oh sorry ATM I have two single lights, and am thinkkng of having 8-10 spots put in, what would be your prefered lighting then?

So yes, that would be notifiable - unless it was two "spotlight fittings with 4 lights each on a rail" kind of thing in which case you'd just be replacing each light with a new fitting that has four spotlights.

My preference (perhaps I'm just old fashioned) is for pendents or globes. We have spherical globes at home, but I'm afraid I inflicted a 28W 2D "flying saucer" on the tenants in the flat and house (both had originally had pendents but that didn't meet current regs). Might fit LEDs conversions in them sometime.
They give a nice uniform light that illuminates the room, not just the bit that's within the beam of the spotlight.

 

[Iggifer]

I have yet to see a 2D fitting that doesn't look gash and look either industrial or scream 'council flat'

I am of the opinion that a good downlighter installation, where it's appropriate, is as good as any other source of light. We have 4 spots in our bathroom and they hands down beat the light / look of the last (surface mounted) fitting. My mate also fitted the same down lights in his bathroom and is happy with them too

With a bathroom you're a bit limited with what light fitting works & suits the room, I think down lighters work incredibly well, sounds like you have a pretty large bathroom if you need 8-10 down lighters though

 

[Bensparks]

Aluminium lamps that project the heat down rather than into the roof would solve the heat issue at a fraction of the cost of led's. think sylvania make them, have had several experiences where cables inside spotlight have melted due to insulation and fixed it by changing lamp holders and putting said lamps into the fittings

 

[securespark]

Just to add, aluminium-backed lamps are imperative in fire-rated fittings.

 

[Joe11red]

Thanks for your input, I have spoken to the missus and she wants spotlights and I think that's what we're gunna put in, maybe 8-10 is quite a lot, what spots did you put in?

 

[big-all]

Oh sorry ATM I have two single lights, and am thinkkng of having 8-10 spots put in, what would be your prefered lighting then?
Joe

8-10 50w spots = 4-500w per hour so around 4.5kw for 10 hours at 15p 67.p a day or up to £245 a year if on for an average 10 hours just for the bathroom lights
led spots 7% £17 or 2 pendants 5%or £12 a year

edit figures adjusted slightly up[2%]

 

[Joe11red]

So how muh would led spots (4 of them) cost to run over a year??

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

8-10 50w spots = 4-500w per hour so around 4.5kw for 10 hours at 15p 67.p a day or up to £245 a year if on for an average 10 hours just for the bathroom lights
led spots 5% £12 or 2 pendants 3%or £7 a year

Was gonna say how long do you spend in the bathroom, until I just remembered my (then) teenage daughter may not have emerged for days.

 

[big-all]

8-10 50w spots = 4-500w per hour so around 4.5kw for 10 hours at 15p 67.p a day or up to £245 a year if on for an average 10 hours just for the bathroom lights
led spots 5% £12 or 2 pendants 3%or £7 a year

Was gonna say how long do you spend in the bathroom, until I just remembered my (then) teenage daughter may not have emerged for days.

its to make the calculations the same and simple 24.50 if on for one hour a day average £49 for 2 hours and so on
you have kitchens and other areas with array off spots for "mood" lighting
just trying to make people aware what the costs are