ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Earth-Loop Testing

So what's the deal on downlights down-under? (Sorry, I couldn't resist that play on words! )

Paul,
The low-down on Downlights in this part of the world, is that they are recessed into various types of ceilings over here.
The worst type being the Skillion roof,where you only have, say 200mm, to fit a 150mm fitting into.
Being a fire-fighter, these are not good news, as they are renowned for setting roof-spaces on fire.
The powers that be over here, thought to regulate, the types and sizes of lights, fiited into ceilings.
It is not so much as the fitting of the equipment into the ceiling space, it's when Builders put insulation over the top of them, effectively cutting off their ventilation,hence the temperature rise.
What has actaully compounded this problem,is the advent of Insul-Fluff, this is a mix of wool and macerated paper, spray,this over the top of a few downlights, the result does not take a rocket-scientist, to work out.
But, as Old Appy will back me up on,the Building Industry, over here is so sour
about us having self-certification,that they lump the extra burden of making sure that the safety of our installed light fittings,are not compromised by some Builder, lazily installing insulation over our downlights. :rolleyes

Yep they be a pain in our collective arses

Sounds familiar. The house at Bacton pictured in my thread of a couple of months ago had downlighters in the remodeled kitchen/dining area, and somebody there had installed fiberglass insulation right over the whole lot.

Who is responsible for seeing that such a thing doesn't happen here? Good question, but I don't think there's any official answer. Logic tells me that it depends upon which is there first: If I fit downlighters in a ceiling which already has insulation, then it should be up to me to remove the appropriate portions. If the insulation mob come along after I've fitted the lights, then I think it's their responsibility to not cover them up.

In the Greenbrier House we took over, we had a problem with a shower recessed canister (Air tight, IC) that was cycling with the thermal cut-off.

First we discovered that it had an A19 60W bulb instead of an A19 40W, and we thought we'd fixed it.

Nope!

Later in the attic, we discovered that the canister had about 2 feet of blown-in cellulose insulation on it!

Go figure!

Just as a sideline, to what I said the other day, about the Building Industry Association,
not liking our self-certification, a really large scandal has broken out over here, because of this particular Association, giving the blessing being given to a large number of high-rise apartments in Auckland and in various other parts of NZ, they are now leaking and have a problem with cantilevered balconies, rotting away.
Note that these are in new houses, not in
places that are a few years old.