lv downlighters

The following came from the iee.org forums, under lathe (sp) and plaster ceilings:

"Check if the proposed luminaire has an 'F' rating

The 'F' mark is situated in an upside down triangle and denotes that the fitting is suitable for mounting on normally flammable surfaces

Sometimes a luminaire rated at 50 Watts is only 'F' rated to 35 Watts"

"Cutting the laths could well destroy the integrity of the whole ceiling. IF they REALLY want downlighters tell them that it is nigh impossible to fix them (they ARE designed fo p/board!), and to replace ceiling, good move from fire-risk point of view"

HTH

Very true!

I will come at it from the other point of view, if someone has larve and plas ceilings, they most likely live in a victorian house with very intricate coving detailing and ceiling roses, to replace that sort of stuff costs proper money! Regardless of regulations, I have seen LV downlights installed in many different types of ceilings and to be honest, a standard 50w 12v dichroic will be fine with adequate airflow as long as the distance to the floor boards above is not too tight, many of the cheaper intumescent fire hoods are not too good at venting the heat output of dichroics, which causes premature lamp failure, so if you think you may have problems then you can use Aluminised reflector lamps which throw a lot less heat into the ceiling void.

The other point that people don't seem to realise is that if the room above is not a living area (eg. Loft space) then there is no need to attach fire hoods, although I have seen it done and it is down to local building regulations whether or not you need to keep the integrity of the fire breaks between certain areas.

miniman

thanks so thats a no then ?

What we are saying is you can use them, you just need to make sure that the fitting is fire rated and that the fire barriers (if any) are intact after the fitting has been installed!