Downlights for the kitchen

[misterfish]

OK, I'll get the fire hoods - where can I get them at sensible prices?
They cost more than the lamps or the holders!

Yes, you're right. I ordered half a dozen of the downlighters which they offered at the 'buy 10' rate, but he said that the fire hoods were expensive and they were selling them almost at cost. We decided that it was worth spending the extra to give us more protection and peace of mind.

The cheapest I have found are as 'buy it now' purchases on the 'bay. Most of them look as if they are branded and a fair bit cheaper, but I don't know if they act as acoustic dampers as well.

Also, these aren't things you're going to be changing every year, so it's probably worth getting decent kit. We have bought cheap light fittings in the past and on the whole they were poorly made with low quality bulb holders - now we pay a bit more and get decent stuff.

Let me know if you want any more info on the lights and I'll help if I can.

Misterfish

 

[Modernist]

Just a thought (I've been installing Low voltage downlighters myself recently. If you have a well insulated house the energy use is largely irrelevent as any heat produced simply goes into the house and turns the heating thermostat off earlier. (summer excluded but we don't have the lights on much then either).

In my experience the light quality from non-incandescents is either too dim or to cool for usability.

 

[misterfish]

In my experience the light quality from non-incandescents is either too dim or to cool for usability.

Yes, they usually are a cool white, but some manufacturers (Megaman at least) now do both cool and warm white versions that give a more 'conventional' yellowish white light.

As for too dim, the lamp technology has improved dramatically over the last few years and the current low energy downlighters give excellent light but do take a couple of minutes to get to full brightness. In our bathroom we have two 11 watt lamps and are changing the bulbs to the low energy Dors dimming variety as the light is too bright when relaxing in the bath!

Misterfish