I have just moved into a house that is riddled with 50w low voltage downlighters everywhere. I must have about 60 of them on the upper floor I cant stand them!
Firstly they cost a fortune to run as there are so many of them. In addition I have just been up in the loft and the electrician who installed them has simply removed the loft insulation well away from the light fittings and individual transformers.
My questions are:
1) Whats the approx luminous efficacy for these lamps and how do they compare with other types of lamps. They seem to get very hot so they can't be that efficient?
2) Can I put back the loft insulation or is this promoting a fire risk?
3) The light fitting and lamp with the ceiling is not air tight. This is obvious to me as when in the loft I can peer down through the small gaps between the lamp and fitting into the floor below, this presemably to allow for plenty of cooling air around the lamp and for lamp expansion etc. However I am not very happy that the integrity of the ceiling is breached allowing warm air to escape into a cold draughty loft space. So much for energy efficiency. Any comments?
3) What is the standard fitting detail for this type of recessed light going up into the loft to take account of my observations above.
Firstly they cost a fortune to run as there are so many of them. In addition I have just been up in the loft and the electrician who installed them has simply removed the loft insulation well away from the light fittings and individual transformers.
My questions are:
1) Whats the approx luminous efficacy for these lamps and how do they compare with other types of lamps. They seem to get very hot so they can't be that efficient?
2) Can I put back the loft insulation or is this promoting a fire risk?
3) The light fitting and lamp with the ceiling is not air tight. This is obvious to me as when in the loft I can peer down through the small gaps between the lamp and fitting into the floor below, this presemably to allow for plenty of cooling air around the lamp and for lamp expansion etc. However I am not very happy that the integrity of the ceiling is breached allowing warm air to escape into a cold draughty loft space. So much for energy efficiency. Any comments?
3) What is the standard fitting detail for this type of recessed light going up into the loft to take account of my observations above.