Fire Rated Fixed Downlight - Insulation safe

If you install a standard or fire rated downlight in or under insulation you may encounter some problems with overheating because the heat generated by the lamp has nowhere to go. At best the lamp life is reduced, at worse the insulation, ceiling and fixture are damaged by heat and may even be a cause of short circuits or ignition.

What is worrying is that for some years fire rated downlights have been installed in or under insulation with the wrong belief that the fixture is fire rated so won`t be affected by heat!

This design uses a heat sink (seen in the photographs) and this is a metal device that uses thermal contact to absorb and dissipate thermal energy from the lamp to a lower temperature object that has a much greater heat capacity. This process acts as a cooling mechanism because of thermal equilibrium. Simply put the heat sink takes the heat from the source and cools itself more quickly than the housing.So where and how can this be used?

Loft insulation (blanket/quilt/roll) Mineral fibre or fibreglass matting Install the downlight and roll the insulation over the top - don`t push down around the fixture. Additional insulation (second layer) can be rolled over the top

Loft insulation (Loose-fill loft insulation materials) You cannot cover the heat sink on this product with loose-fill insulation. While you may be installing the loose fill to a depth of 200mm elsewhere it must be reduced to a depth lower than the heat sink in the vicinity of a downlight. 

Insulated plasterboard (foam or polystyrene) Cut the hole for the downlight through the plasterboard and insulation. Break away about an inch of insulation to allow room for the fixing clips. The heat sink must be either in the ventilated void or have access to the ventilated void.

Rigid insulation between rafters (foam or polystyrene) You can use this fitting only if the heat sink is either in the ventilated void or have access to the ventilated void. If the fixture has rigid insulation over and around the heat sink the unit will overheat.

This fitting is supplied with a mains polished aluminium reflector (PAR) lamp.

Sadly, this item has been discontinued and we have limited stock available.