Halogen downlights against joists - fire risk?!

[matt80]

Hi all,

The previous owner of our house has installed halogen downlights tight up against joists in the loft. It has been this way for over 6 years, but I understand this is a fire risk nonetheless. I am also about to add insulation in the loft, therefore raising the surrounding temperature and possibly increasing the risk.

Ideally I don't want to move them. Would I simply be OK to replace the halogen bulbs with LED equivalents? Does the inherently cooler nature of LED bulbs mean that I can stop worrying about fire risks (even with insulation over the top, subject to sensible clearance around the units)?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Theorysparky]

Matt

that will be your best course of action

regarding the insulation please ensure ,where ever possible, you put it under any cables to minimise overheating

 

[ianmacd]

You would need to read any manufacturers instructions to ensure they are suitable for installing so close to a joist and covered in insulation.

 

[matt80]

Thanks for the responses...

ianmacd: would that be instructions for the metal casing/unit, or for the new LED bulbs I plan to buy? (Unfortunately I don't have any instructions for the metal casing/unit)

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 10:28 ---------- Previous post was made at 10:00 ----------

Can someone quickly advise on whether I need to udpate the existing transformer for LED lighting? There are currently 2 transformers serving 6 lights. One is a 70W-220W unit which serves 4 of the lights. This then has a second transformer connected through its loop-in/out terminals which is a 20W-105W unit serving the remaining 2 lights.

I don't think I can use it in its current configuration as I wouldn't be meeting the minimum output requirements of the transformers (70W and 20W).

I think the 20-105W unit has three output terminals. Given that it is low voltage lighting, am I safe to double-up on these connections and serve 2 lights (i.e. run 2 cables) from each output terminal? If not, can anyone recommend a cost effective replacement? (I expect to be using 3W or 4W LEDs).

Many thanks

 

[ianmacd]

The transformers may work but will reduce the lifetime of the led's. You need to use an LED driver.

How about replacing the lost with gu10's as the LED lamps contain their own drivers then?

 

[matt80]

That would involve faffing about with a lot of additional wiring that I would rather not deal with! I've come across a 25W LED driver by Aurora with 3 outputs which I can get for about