Upgrade Ceiling Lights

Dr4gul4

I'll try my best to keep this short and sweet.

Went looking about the grants for insulations, both in the walls and the attic, however the Down lights we have at the moment currently have no covers over them in the attic, the insulation that's there is laid around the lights not on top, this it seems is due to the risk of fire as the lights can get quite hot.

The nice assessor said, yea we can resolve this, you can either buy covers to go over the lights, or replace them with energy saver bulbs that don't get as hot.

So my questions is where can i either get replacement bulbs from, ( i understand that's rather a generic questions, but there strange bulbs that have been fitted, there cone shaped with a thing bayonet ends, and a flat top ) or, where can i get these covers to go over the lights so i can lay the insulation over said covers ..


d.

galwaydude18

You should be able to get them cover in an electrical wholesalers where the trade go. That would be your best bet to find them

Dr4gul4

galwaydude18 wrote: »

You should be able to get them cover in an electrical wholesalers where the trade go. That would be your best bet to find them

Thanks GD, i'll see if i can locate on in Limerick so, i've seen a few prices listed, on the webby going from 5 - 8 euro a cover, thats 30 + euro for the sitting room alone

macnab

If they are a GU10 type bulb then Lidl were selling them lately. I replaced all my 50w halogen downlighters with 3w LED GU10 bulbs. They are available in other shops too, anywhere from €5 to €20. Yours may be the low voltage type with the 230v-12v transformer, in this case I would ditch the traffo and wire the 230v straight in to a 230v bulb holder.
The LED bulbs come in 2 flavours, soft white (yellow light) or Bright (Blue light)
For reference a GU10 bulb is about the same diameter as a golf ball.

Dr4gul4

macnab wrote: »

If they are a GU10 type bulb then Lidl were selling them lately. I replaced all my 50w halogen downlighters with 3w LED GU10 bulbs. They are available in other shops too, anywhere from €5 to €20. Yours may be the low voltage type with the 230v-12v transformer, in this case I would ditch the traffo and wire the 230v straight in to a 230v bulb holder.
The LED bulbs come in 2 flavours, soft white (yellow light) or Bright (Blue light)
For reference a GU10 bulb is about the same diameter as a golf ball.

I'll have to review the bulbs when i get down to limerick this weekend. i think the sets currently install are made by philips so i'll have a nosey about and see if i can find any examples, we also suffer from them blowing quite a bit... possibly wiring issue ? or perhaps there the wrong kind of bulbs

Edit ....

Just had a nosey around homebase, i'm fairly sure these guys are the kind thats installed, all over the damn house ..

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=697790&c_2=2|cat_16849318|Ceiling+lights|14327249&c_1=1|category_root|Lighting|16849318

macnab

Yeah they are the low voltage ones, they need lots of ventilation or they blow regularly. They are completely at odds with your insulation requirements. I think the GU10 light fittings are a direct replacement, just that you ditch the transformer and use a 230v fitting. It will reduce your ESB bill too. If you have 4 50watt halogens on for 6 hours a day it will cost you about €10 per bill, if you replace them with 3watt LED's they will cost you about 60c per bill.

Dr4gul4

See now thats the odd thing, i'd wager there's a lot of ventilation as there's a crazy draft coming down from the attic around the edges of them ..

When you say replacement do you mean the entire socket, or simply the bulbs ?

macnab

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

See now thats the odd thing, i'd wager there's a lot of ventilation as there's a crazy draft coming down from the attic around the edges of them ..

When you say replacement do you mean the entire socket, or simply the bulbs ?

I would say you might need to change the socket/fitting too, though I have never used the type you have at the moment so I dont know if they are the same fitment or not.

Dr4gul4

i'll have a look so and get some detailed snaps at the weekend, really need to do some thing as the house has gotten darn cold, and was especially bad over winter