Australia / New Zealand Wiring Rules AS/NZS 3000
Halogen, General Technical Stuff April 27th, 2009The New Downlight Wiring Rules and What They mean to You
The new Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules AS/NZS 3000 stipulate a minimum clearance for halogen recessed downlights of 200mm between the downlight and structural members, thermal insulation and any other substance, unless the luminaire has a suitable fire resistant enclosure.
The electronic low voltage (ELV) transformer must be fixed in a well ventilated location, not directly above the downlight and free from direct contact with any insulating material. The minimum distance of the secondary wires is 250mm.
So this really gives you 3 options when considering your downlights
1> Fit after-market halogen down light guards These are quite expensive and hard to fit in low access ceilings
2> Buy fire rated halogen downlight hood kits which have the covers built in
3> Consider fittings that don’t use halogens and there run cooler and reduce the risk of fire
Always consult the safety warnings and installation instructions when fitting all fittings including the fire rated downlights as there are still guidelines for their safe installation.
Eg on the fire rated down light hood kits a minimum distance of 25mm must still be kept (see image below). This is due to the aluminium heat hood and fire guard cylinder is acting as a heat sink and providing fire resistance.
The isolite halogen downlight fire guards can be fitted directly adjacent to the insulation without worry
June 13th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Hi,
I have just registered with lighting pro, I am a complete novice who needs six downlights to go above a pool table, three external wall lights and a couple of garden floodlights.
The wall lights and floodlights seem to be pretty straight forward to search for and order, but the choice of halogen downlights is massive, it would be easy to make a mistake.
I am thinking about six white 240 volt 50 watt down lights with gimbal fittings which I want to operate from one wall light switch, I am confused as to whether I need safety hoods and whether all of them can plug into something like a six way power board in the ceiling space ?
I would appreciate a little advice from you please before I order.
Kind regards
Stan.
June 13th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Hi Stan
Thanks for your enquiry
Under the new wiring rules there should be guards installed for all halogen lights. They burn extremely hot and have been the start of many fires in homes in Australia and hence the new rules
You could run them off a power board- especially if you have a surface socket to plug them into as then you wouldnt need an electrician. The FP (Flex and Plug) option on some our lights will make this easier as that means it has a flexible lead with a 2 pin plug that plugs straight into a surface socket. Otherwise if it saw HW (hard wired) that means that the electrician would wire the power straight to the fitting
If you want an alternative halogens but the same look then have a look at these (I have just put them in my house) http://lightingpro.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=62_117&products_id=441
You should also have a look at this site http://lighting-store.com.au/lightshop/ as there are a lot more choices in fittings (and prices will be better too!)
Anything else please let me know
Kind regards
Daniel