I'm hoping for a little advise please. we are renovating our house and want to put LED downlights in our 3m stud ceilings. I am having trouble working out how many I need per m2. The LED's are 11w, 644 lumens with 60, 38 or 24o beam angles. I understand I need 60o for living spaces and perhaps 38 or 24o for the kitchen. There are plenty of calculations offered on the web, but none that deal with a higher stud ceiling. I don't want to be left in the dark. :-)
kamitchell,
Feb 10, 7:30pm
When I first used down lights I purchased a few, wired them up to a lead and hung them from the ceiling to get an idea of what the coverage would be like. I overlapped the beams about 1/4 and seemed to cut out the shadows.
1rad8,
Feb 10, 9:33pm
Bellebutton,just a note (not relating to your question).if you are planning to put insulation in the ceiling/roof there are different downlights to use.Some downlights can be covered,some are not allowed to be covered as it's a risk because of the heat generated.There should be a logo on the packet that tells you which downlight cannot be covered with insulation etc.
rsr72,
Feb 11, 6:34am
LED 's don't emit heat as do halogens etc., and can be covered over.
tonks3,
Feb 11, 6:39am
11W LED are approx the same light output as a 50W 12v Halogen. fairly good advise for Halogens from many sites.
russ18,
Feb 11, 6:56am
No, being LED doesn't automatically mean they can be covered. they must be rated IC or IC-F as apposed to CA-80 or CA-135.
rsr72,
Feb 11, 7:19am
#6- Most wouldn't bother with bureaucratic nonsense- LED's will work just fine covered over.
russ18,
Feb 11, 7:26am
Well obviously not, downlights are rated based on manufacturers testing, not bureaucratic anything.
andrew1954,
Feb 11, 11:54am
You have not seen anything like "bureaucratic nonsense" untill you are seating in the burnt out shell of your house reading the refusal / no cover letter from your insurance company !
ryanm2,
Feb 11, 5:15pm
LED's may not emit heat but the gear that drives the LED's certainly does. The new Philips LED lamps actually have a fan in the arse of the light to remove this heat from the enclosure. If you are sparky I suggest you re-train, if not, your knowledge on LED lights seems somewhat limited.
ryanm2,
Feb 11, 5:18pm
I would start with where the locations of your ceiling batons are, no point planning for x amount of lights then finding out you have beams or batons in the way of every light. If you get dimmable LED's more is good.
belleebutton,
Feb 12, 2:01pm
Thanks for the comments!
rsr72,
Mar 4, 10:10am
#10 - Most LED's don't need it, and the stepdown transformers run cool, as they do throughout my house. Ceiling LED's also are a straight swap for halogens for those contemplating changing.
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