Double Insulated spotlights
Spotlights, or downlights if that is how you refer to them,
are one area of lighting that seems to have existed for absolute years and over
that time have adapted and moved along with the current technology. I’m talking
about the recessed ones. Either your own house has some or you’ll know someone
with some. They look great in kitchens, some are designed to be moisture proof
for bathrooms and some will tilt to throw light where you want it. The 1980s
conjure up memories of large spotlights with those big screw in reflector
bulbs. The 90s make me think of halogen GU10s. The downlights got smaller and
the bulbs got hotter. Hot enough to burn your hands on them if you touched
them. The 2000s brought newer technology such as CFL (compact fluorescent).
This often meant the recessed spotlights had plastic cages inside them to only
allow the longer CFL GU10s to reach the lampholders (There were rules about how
many lights in a home had to be dedicated low energy back then). Today we have
LED technology which has returned us back to the earlier size of spotlight.
Some take replaceable LED bulbs and some have LEDs integrated in to them which
are non-replaceable.
 |
| Downlight technology has changed a lot over the years. The spotlight above is a modern fire-rated version |
Chances are one thing that hasn’t changed during all that
time however is actually your homes electrics. It isn’t every week that you
have a rewire, probably not even every decade. Being a lighting retailer one
thing that we specialise in is double insulated lighting, so we know there is
an awful lot of people out there who don’t have an earth connection in their
lighting circuit. Every day we hear from people who have had a light fitting
removed by an electrician only to be told their new replacement can’t go up and
technically neither can the original either anymore! It’s one thing to be told
that your main lounge light can’t go back up but it’s another when you’re told
all 12 of your spotlights can’t go back up because they need an earth
connection and you don’t have one!
 |
| Lightahome's range of double insulated spotlights don't require an earth connection |
Double insulated spotlights are basically designed to cater
for this situation. It does happen and fortunately there is a product available
from Lightahome that is fully class 2 double insulated. The Lightahome range of
double insulated spotlights are fully firerated so you don’t have to worry
about compliance with fire regulations (a downlight should either be fire rated
or have a fire hood placed over them) and they are designed to not require an
earth connection. The range includes a double insulated IP65 downlight (for
showers) a standard double insulated fixed downlight (that emits light in a
pool downwards) and a double insulated tilt downlight (adjustable so you can
angle the light it emits). There is a good selection of colours available
ranging from chrome to brass and they are die-cast which is much better quality
than the cheaper pressed steel versions.
The bad news is existing downlights have already obviously
had their fitting holes cut in to your ceiling so there’s no guarantee that
your current holes will be ok for the diameter of the new double insulated
spotlights, but the good news is at least they exist. Only a matter of a few
years ago there was very little in the marketplace.
For more advice and information regarding double insulated
spotlights you can contact Lightahome on 024 7671 7043, visit our website or
our Facebook page.
Comments
Post a Comment