Dear Daniel

I have just accidentally dropped and broken a compact fluorescent lamp while installing it

My friend tells me that I am going to die of some terrible mercury driven disease and that I should sell the house

Can you please en”lighten” me (LOL)

Many thanks

Jill

Hi,

We have just moved into a house with what seems like hundreds or MR16 lights (all put in around eight years ago), I will remove half of them (pitty the poor soul who’ll be patching the plaster on the ceiling) as these two rooms already have incandecent lighting, this should save power and heat.

The other half of the MR16 lighting is under a flat tine roof which was assembled TIN/SilverInsulation/Insulation Bats/MR16 Down lights, at points the Bats were touching the MR16 lights, I have replaced all MR16 globes with 20w ones I purchased from you and tried at best to remove the Bats from around the MR16 lights but being at flat tine roof at this point it is quite hard.

My question is this, how hot do the 20w globes get as I understand the 50w are in excess of 260c so I estimate the heat to be around 104c reducing the fire hazard considerably (I hope). Also, what is the power consumption of the transformers and do they represent a fire risk?

Regards,

Chrisb

Hello Lighting Pro

I’m renovating a pharmacy shop. Basically I’ve got normal halogen downlights lighting up both sides of the wall stock. I have 6 downlights on each side spanning ~9m each side but the lighting is still very dark.

I was recommended to get metal halide shoplighters.

Just want to know if that is suitable and whether 70W or 150W. Will 70W be too bright.

Many thanks

Kim

Hi

Just wondering if it’s possible to obtain Double Ended Linear Halogen J Type Lamps rated at 5000 Kelvin (5000K)?

Thanks.

Derek

Hi

Can the various types of Compact Fluorescent lamps (CFL’s) be used in external house lights where they are have a movement sensor?

Thanks

Bryce

Help!

I recently replaced my traditional ceiling light with a ceiling fan that has a light in it. I purchased the fan from Bunnings and had an electrician install it. The name of the fan is Brilliant Contempo Eco, and unfortunately I didnt read the packaging closely enough to realise that the light in the fan is a 16W T4 Circular Fluorescent light. This has got to be the ugliest light on the face of the planet. Instead of behaving like I would expect a ceiling light to behave - that is, lighting the room with nice bright warm light, this light bathes the room in a dim blue light, which doesnt give enough light to be able to see anything, and succeeds only in making us all look like corpses.

So my question is - is there a way of changing the light without replacing the whole fan? I am hoping that: 1. there is another type of globe that fits my fan which gives a brighter and warmer light, or 2: I can get some kind of adaptor that will allow me to use halogen or regular light globes in my fan, or 3: I can get an electrician to do some minor work to change the type of globe that my fan takes. What do you reckon?

Thanks so much

Elle Z

Hi Daniel

I am considering your new CFL downlights. Question: My downlight have 100mm Trim diameter and I guess about 70mm Hole diameter. How do you enlarge the existing hole to the 105mm for your downlight without making a major mess? Sorry if this question sounds dumb but I have never done this and no idea how to.

Regards

Hans

Hi there,

I have to tell you about a situation I had this afternoon.

It made me laugh and put a huge smile on my face but really it is quite a serious subject

One of my customers called me to tell me that the fittings he had received in the mail today were faulty. He went on to explain that for some strange reason the hole was not big enough for the GU10 CFL globe to fit into the housing and that the globe was sitting proud of the fitting. I asked him if he had removed the front twist lock and he assured me he had but it still wouldnt fit in. I said that it was very strange and to try the other 5 fittings we had supplied and see if they were any different but he told me that they were exactly the same and short of using a hammer they just would not fit in.

I assured him that if the fitting was faulty that my supplier for this fitting (Crompton Lighting) had extremely good customer service and one way or another we get the problem sorted out. In the interim I suggested he send me the photos of the fittings and the problem.

Here are the photos he sent.

The email that came with the pictures said “As per our telephone conversation earlier today all 6 are exactly the same. So either the globe is too big or the housing is too small. Or I have got something wrong? Please advise.”

This alarmed me. Here was a guy at home that got online and ordered some light fittings and thought he could fit them himself. So apart from trying to put the globe in from the wrong side of the fitting (the globe should be sitting on the rear of the twist lock face) this guy was obviously also going to do his own electrical work as well. In Australia any electrical work must only be done by a qualified electrician. Dont get me wrong there are some electricians that wouldnt know which way to put the globe in either but hopefully he has a good idea on how to wire it safely.

There are some things you can do yourself without getting into too much trouble hopefully. You can mark holes, drill the cut outs and even run some wire if you like but when it comes to attaching the wire to the mains power this job should only be done by trained professionals.

If the fitting is sold a DIY fitting then you dont need an electrician. But if you dont see DIY in the product description or on the box then do as much as you can and then call the sparky!!

Hi Daniel

Please could you let me know the difference between the Fire Guard Fixed Low Voltage Downlight Kit and the Safety Heat Hood Fixed Low Voltage Downlight Kit.

Which provides better overall fire protection?

Kind regards

Stuart

The 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