Downlights - an overview

Installing recessed downlights in a room can help to create a feeling of more space, clean lines, and a clutter-free environment.

A downlight is a light fitting that is mostly out of sight, hidden in or above the ceiling. The only visible part of the light fitting is the decorative rim, and the light bulb in the middle. Everything else is held in place in the ceiling by spring clips that stop the whole thing giving in to gravity and falling out.

Downlighters, especially in Kitchens and Bathrooms have become very popular, as they provide a modern appearance to the room. More recently the trend has spread to every other room. Lounges, bedrooms and hallways all look great when fitted with recessed downlighters.

What to consider...

Power usage - downlights can use a lot of power. When specifying which lights to install, make sure that you know how much power they will use once the job is finished. Remember, it's the watts that count, not the volts - we have written another article about the difference between low voltage and low energy lighting products.

Beam angle - unless you are intending to create a special effect (such as lighting individual tables in a restaurant) you should always try to install the widest beam angle that you can. This refers to how far the light will spread from each downlight unit. A narrow beam angle will produce a small pool of light, and a wide beam angle will spread the light further which reduces any dark spots that you might have between fittings.

Building regulations - If you're building a new property or renovating an existing one there might be various rules and regulations that you must comply with. Regulations cover all sorts of things, from how much sound travels through a downlight, how draught-proof they are, to how long they will prevent a fire from spreading to the room above, to how efficient they are (i.e. how much light is produced from the power used).

All of these requirements can generally be met by installing fire rated downlights.

Different types of downlights

There are three main types of downlight product that you should consider, each with it's own advantages and disadvantages:

Low voltage downlights

Low voltage downlights run at 12 volts rather than at the mains voltage of 230v. This introduces the first problem - to reduce the voltage you need a transformer. A transformer is an extra piece of equipment that could fail and might introduce unnecessary cost. You must also make sure that the transformer you use is capable of running the number of lights you wish to install. You have to match up the wattages, e.g. if you want to install 9 x 50w bulbs, you will need a transformer capable of running 450 watts, or 2 transformers with at least 225 watts each.

Most modern low voltage lighting transformers are suitable for use with dimmer switches, but it's worth checking that your choice of switch and transformer are going to work together before you get started.

12v spot light bulbs used in downlights are generally MR16 bulbs (also known as GU5.3 bulbs). These are spot bulbs with two straight pins on them 5.3mm apart. They are available in a wide range of brands, wattages and beam angles.

The energy saving bulb replacement options for MR16 bulbs are a bit limited. LED bulbs are available, but the level of light produced is no comparison to standard halogen bulbs. The best option at the moment is special energy saving IRC 12v Halogen bulbs that use a special coating inside the bulb to produce more light for less power.

Mains voltage halogen downlights

Main voltage downlights use GU10 bulbs (the twist and lock type), which are generally cheap to buy and easy to install as they don't need additional transformers etc.

There are a variety of energy saving GU10 bulb replacement options available. LED bulbs, like MR16 LED bulbs, are usually either not bright enough for general lighting purposes, or very, very expensive. Be careful of buying GU10 LED bulbs that make great claims to their brightness, if the price is under £20 each!

Compact fluorescent GU10 bulbs are a much better choice then LED. They produce a lot more light and don't use that much more power than an LED while using up to 95% less power than regular halogen bulbs. It can be a little complicated to find the best choice of bulb as not all low energy GU10 bulbs are equal in terms of size or light output.

Most low energy GU10 bulbs are considerably longer than a halogen GU10, which means that they might stick out of the front of your light fittings. This depends on the design of your fittings - some have a floating lamp holder which will accommodate a longer bulb.

Small low energy GU10 bulbs are available that are the same size as halogen bulbs. This means they will fit in just about any light fitting that uses GU10 bulbs. The only downside to the small low energy bulbs is that they are not as bright as a regular halogen bulb. The 7w GU10 bulbs that we stock are approximately as bright as 30w of halogen light. In general, the higher the wattage the more light you get, although there are some exceptions - always make sure you read the product information carefully.

Dedicated low energy downlights

Dedicated low energy downlights offer the best compromise between price and the amount of light produced, while also being energy efficient. They use compact fluorescent bulbs which produce a lot of light, and also have a very wide beam angle. This means you save money on your electricity bill, and get a better spread of light in your room.

The most recent models of downlights use new T2 technology to overcome the traditional problems associated with low energy bulbs, such as low light output and slow warm up times.

Installing a dedicated low energy downlight ensures that the bulbs will fit correctly, as the fitting will have been designed to use low energy bulbs, rather then being a retro fit option. Fittings that will only accept low energy bulbs will also meet Part L of the current building regulations, unlike a regular GU10 downlight which could be fitted with a 'high energy' halogen bulb.

My Green Lighting stocks the Rio T2 range, which really is the best efficient downlight products we have ever seen. It has practically no warm up time (instantly starts at about 85% and reaches 100% in just a few seconds), and produces approximately the same amount of light as a regular 50w halogen light, even though it only uses 10w of power.

While other brands and models of low energy downlight are available sometimes at a lower price, none of them come close the Rio T2 range of downlights when it comes to efficiency, light output, or most importantly warm up times.

Product comparison

	Low voltage Halogen	Mains voltage halogen	Retro fit GU10 Low energy	Dedicated low energy (CFL)
Transformer required	yes	no	no	no
Efficiency	poor
Bulb life time	up to 2000 hours	up to 2000 hours	up to 8000 hours	up to 8000 hours
Cost of replacement bulb	approx 50p	approx 50p	approx £5	approx £5
Energy usage	20-50w	20-50w	7-13w	7-13w
Dimmable	yes	yes	no*	no
Start up time to 100% brightness	instant	instant	up to 4 minutes	nearly instant
Suitable for lighting a room	yes	yes	yes	yes

* Dimmable low energy bulbs are available, but they are much more expensive

Running costs

The cost of the electricity used to run your new downlight installation is often the most expensive aspect. It can be more expensive then employing an electrician to install them in the first place!

In addition to the cost of the electricity, you also have to consider the cost of replacement bulbs over the life time of the installation. Low energy bulbs will last for many thousands more hours than a halogen bulb so you have to buy a lot less replacements.

We've calculated some examples, to compare a room with 9 x 50w halogen downlights with the same installation using 9 x 10w Rio T2 dedicated low energy downlights.

	50w GU10 halogen	T2 dedicated low energy downlights
Number of fittings installed	9	9
Wattage of each fitting	50	10
Total wattage	450	90
Price of electricity used to run lighting	12p/kwh	12p/kwh
Hours each day lights are used	5	5
Life of each bulb	2000 hours	8000 hours
Purchase price of replacement bulb	0.53	4.95
How often will you have to replace each bulb	1 years, 1 months	4 years, 4 months
Replacements required per year across all 9 fittings	8.19	2.07
Annual bulb replacement budget	£4.34	£10.25
Annual cost of electricity	£98.55	£19.71
Total average annual cost	£102.89	£29.96

As you can see, you would save an average of £72.93 each year by choosing the low energy solution at the beginning. This would probably cover the higher initial purchase cost of the low energy downlights in just the first year, then for every year after that you have more money in your pocket.

Conclusion

Specifying low energy downlights at the start of your project will save you a lot of money in a short period of time, as well as helping to protect the environment by using less energy.

View full range of downlights »