We had recessed low voltage ceiling lights fitted and they are very nice. However, the Sparky has told us we cannot cover the backs of them with insulation. They poke out into our loft and he has pulled the insulation back around them.

Now, our house is the first to have a clean roof after the snow. I’m convinced this is heat sneaking past these lights. Is there anything we can do apart from weeing in his shoes and punching him in the goolies? Can you get some sort of cover.

You could get ‘coolfit’ bulbs that have a plain reflector rather than a dichroic ones and would thus reflect a lot more of the heat downwards. Still not sure if you could put insulation behind em though.
Or LED spots maybe.

seen lots of lofts with largish terracotta pots over the light fittings then insulated !

However, the Sparky has told us we cannot cover the backs of them with insulation.

Well putting insulation over them might stop a bit of the heat from the room getting into the loft, but the subsequent raging inferno might not be a desired side effect.

Replacing the bulbs might reduce the light temperature but your still left with a number of holes drilled into your ceiling letting heat from the room into the loft. Id just replace them with a ceiling mounted lamp.

Could be that you just have a higher central heating temp than everyone else.

Other than that, very little.

Fireproof hoods/covers for them, around a tenner a light from Wickes.

Not a bad idea anyway to prevent fire spreading via the roof space.

They shouldn’t be directly covered, he’s right.

But iirc you only need to leave an area about 150mm in the clear of the fitting and in the clear above.

Even though it’s low voltage, it still generates alot of heat and this heat needs to be allowed escape.

How much insulation have you got up there.

Most homes now have more than 300mm is per recommendation.

These kind of light kick out quite a bit of heat and as such would be a fire hazard if insulated.
You can get fireproof bags which cover the rear of the light fitting.

If you fit these null that should let you put insulation over them and keep things nice and safe.

edit: im a fudd and cant do linky

Never quite got why you can’t insulate over them as the mineral wool insulation is used as a fire barrier anyway in construction and it doesn’t conduct either. That said you can get proper hoods for a fortune. I’ve got plasterboard over the joists where mine are and then laid insulation over it all.

One word:

Light.

Emiting.

Diodes.

thats three words 😀

Hi Dave

The “fireproof bags” are designed to restore the continuity of a fire resistant ceiling that has been compromised by forming a hole for a light fitting. They are NOT a solution – unless you see burning the house down as good because it made the problem go away. The heat from the light needs to be dissipated not contained.

Sound advice all the way from Grenada!

How are things?

Peter

Here you go dave

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Fire_Cover_Downlight/index.html

Tlc are in Swindon

This will sort out your problem

Saladdodger

That is a solution to a different problem and definitely not a solution to this one. However at the bottom of your linked page there is something that may be the answer – “Fireguard Loft Brace”.

Hello Peter. I’ve just resigned again to spend a year writing a book!

So you reckon the loft brace can go over the fitting with insulation on top?
Dave

cynic-al – Member
One word:

Light.

Emiting.

Diodes.

Wouldn’t bother. We put some in the bathroom, they’re useless. Having a pee I’m sure our 10 year old knows he is on target when he hears the splashof his pee in the toilet bowl.

Couldn’t the OP board over his joists and put the insulation on the boards?

A very good reason why the world should stop using halogen lamps.
And another very good reason not to fit them in the first place.

missingfrontallobe – Member
Wouldn’t bother. We put some in the bathroom, they’re useless. Having a pee I’m sure our 10 year old knows he is on target when he hears the splashof his pee in the toilet bowl.

You should have bought some decent ones, mine are great.

Dave

Exactly. It is designed specifically and solely for solving your problem. Installing it may result in some gaps in the original insulation which you should fill given your original concern.

Now can I have my post gym dip in the pool?

Peter

(waves at Peter)

Wouldn’t the “Fire, Vapour & Thermal Seal Cap for Loft Void Protection” be even better than the brace?

We replaced the halogen downlighters in our bathroom with low energy fluorescents so that we could properly insulate. I’d not really clocked the condensation problem that’s also likely to be occurring.

Horrible dangerous things Halogen downlighters – I’ll never have them fitted anywhere again. I popped them all out of our kitchen ceiling when we repainted a couple of weeks back. Of the 12 of them one had cooked the insulation on the 240v lead that ran to the transformer, a second had melted a large part of the transformer.

Hi Simon
I’m still heading for the pool but the Old Boys reunion is conspiring against.
There is a very common and very real problem involving ceilings that are intended to stop the passage of fire from one part of a building to another. It occurs, among many other places at light fittings, and there is a whole slew of cunning devices to restore the integrity of the fire stop and allow the passage of services. The plant pot devices fall into this category. The sole purpose is to stop the passage of fire and they make no pretence to act a thermal insulation. Most of them are intumescent. That is they expand as a foam at a certain temperature and the seal gaps . The foam is fire-resistant. This is not Dave’s problem and he shouldn’t use the solution for it because it will aggravate the problem he does have especially if the heat from the light fitting triggers the intumescent magic.
Dave’s ceiling is in a house, under a roof and has no reed for any fire resistance. If he sets his bedroom on fire the next thing at risk is the sky. A fire resistant ceiling would do nothing for him (unless the sky is on fire in which case we’re all in trouble). He has some light fittings that generate a lot of heat. You could say that he has the wrong ones and I wouldn’t argue but they are the ones he has. If these fittings are contained then the heat will not dissipate and a potential fire hazard results. Dave needs to create some space round the fitting to let the heat get away safely. Hhis problem is the loft insulation. He needs a spacer to lift the insulation clear of the fitting.
Condensation is another matter. If Dave had that problem he would know so I’m assuming we can ignore vapour barriers.
Or we could suggest that he gets out on his bike more and worries a little less about what the neighbours think he’s doing to make the snow on his roof melt so quickly.
OK. Pool then lunch.
Best
Peter

Terracotta pots here….

Of the 12 of them one had cooked the insulation on the 240v lead that ran to the transformer, a second had melted a large part of the transformer.

which is why the insulation shouldnt be on top of the transformer/joint box or fitting,not just the fitting itself, which is what generally happens when the hoods are fitted. As mentioned above the hoods are really only there to provide an effective fire barrier, not to keep insulation off the light fittings.

Installing the plasterboard above the fitting and associated equipment giving enough free air to circulate would do the job, which is the same as the box thing from screwfraud.

which is why the insulation shouldnt be on top of the transformer/joint box or fitting,not just the fitting itself, which is what generally happens when the hoods are fitted. As mentioned above the hoods are really only there to provide an effective fire barrier, not to keep insulation off the light fittings.

These were in my kitchen ceiling so no insulation – this was just where the cable/transformer had ended up too close to the hot parts of the light when the electrician fitted them. It’s very hard to predict where the cables are going to end up when you push the lights back into the ceiling. The ceiling was replaced so all the wiring had been done before the plasterboard went up as well so the job was neater than most retrofits.