Upgrading your downlights could save your more than money

We recently received a call from a resident in Torquay who mentioned that one on their downlights wasn’t working and when they went to check the globe they found it covered in some green gooey stuff.

Not really being sure what was going on we went to investigate and it didn’t take long to realise that the ‘goo’ was actually melted plastic from the transformer.

In this instance, this downlight, and as it turns out many others in this apartment, were completely covered by insulation. The heat at this one particular downlight was so intense that it ‘browned’ the insulation and completely destroyed the transformer. This situation could have very easily started a fire but luckily it never did.

For anyone who has ever tried touching or handling a halogen globe after it has been on, even for only a very short time, halogen globes create a lot of heat and were supposed to be installed with a heat hood and could not be installed next to structural timbers or covered by insulation for this reason.

For those that want to know, halogen globes create light by heating a filament inside the bulb which makes the filament white-hot, which then produces light. Because light is created by heating a filament, about 90% of the energy used is wasted to generate this heat.

So the owners of this apartment made a very smart decision to swap out all the old downlights for new LED downlights. Changing over downlights is just one of the many electrical services we provide to residents in Torquay and Geelong, and throughout the Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula.

All downlights installed by us are IC-F rated which simply means that because they don’t generate anywhere as much heat as halogen downlights, they can be abutted to structural timbers and covered by insulation. As they don’t rely on energy heating a filament to create light, LED downlights are up to 80% more energy efficient, not only saving you money on energy costs but potentially your apartment, house or possibly your life.

Most now also come with a colour changing option so the colour temperature they output can either be warm white, cool white or natural/daylight. The colour can even be changed at any stage later on, without the need of replacing the light.

Another bonus of replacing the old halogen fittings with new LED downlights is that the brands used by us come with very generous manufactures warranties so if for any reason any of these new fitting fail we’ll simply swap it out for a new one free of charge.

So if you’re wanting to replace your old downlights or simply need someone to check they have been installed correctly to avoid any potential disasters, please contact us.