The Downlight Swiss Cheese Effect

How our Downlight Mitt product differs from others.

Common inefficiencies of downlights otherwise known as pot lights and recessed lighting

For a detailed explanation of this post click here to see the Electrical Solutions Magazine article.

Here is a brief explanation on how downlights make your ceiling into Swiss CHEESE, while also exposing your insulation to the risk of fire.

 CHEESE

Convection Currents

When your lights are turned on, heat from your halogen lamp encourages air from your living area to shoot up into your roof area.

Heated Air pressure

During cold days, opening around your downlights and gaps in your insulation enable hot air to freely pass into your roof space from your living area.  Hot air wants to go up.

Expansion of Heated Air

During hot days, the sun creates extremely hot air in your roof area (70˚+ C), this air expands and pushes down into your living area through ventilated downlight fittings.  This effect is especially undesirable when you have LED recessed light fittings installed.  LED lamps can be damaged by operating in temperatures of 70˚ Celcius.

Excessive Air Drop

During cold nights, downlight fittings enable cold air to freely drop into your house avoiding the R-value from insulation completely.  Our house gets cooler quicker, with ventilated downlight fittings.

Spread of Draughts

During windy days, your roof can become quite windy, these draughts freely move into your living area with ventilated downlight fittings.

Exposure to Fire damage

Should insulation or debris get too close to a standard halogen dichroic Lamp (300˚ + Celcius) there is a very real risk of fire ignition.

The root cause of these inefficiencies is the way standard dichroic lamps operate.

• They produce light downwards and
• they try to force the majority of their heat and a good portion of the light backwards up into the roof.

“So effectively they create connectivity of your living area to your roof area.”

Sometimes, building codes require products to have a fire rating. But what’s the difference between Fire-Rated and Fire Retardant/Fire Resistant?

• A Fire-Rated product is one that has been certified to contain a fire for a given period (30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, or 120 minutes).
• A Fire Retardant material, on the other hand, is a difficult substance to burn and does not fuel or propagate a fire.

Standard halogen dichroic lamps can operate at high temperatures (up to 350°C). Therefore, it’s crucial that these types of fittings are safely covered with a Fire-Rated or Fire Retardant material to reduce the risk of a fire starting.

While both options are available, Fire Rating is generally considered a better-quality product. However, it becomes extremely necessary for multi-dwelling apartments, townhouses, and commercial fitouts.