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Immense Benefits Negate High Costs Of LED Fire Rated Downlights
Posted: Jul 27, 2015
Down lights that are fire rated are used to act as precautionary measures for preventing fire from spreading. There are some people who may argue that such lights cost a high price; however, when you consider the kind of protection they render to spaces, this cost is worth it in the long run. With fire rated LED downlights becoming the craze, this cost increases more; however, the money saved for energy bills ensures that this raised price hike is compensated gradually.
What Exactly Are Fire Rated Down Lights?
Fire rating lights are manufactured with the use of intumescent material. Such material expands when it reaches specified temperature. It then seals holes and reduces speed of fire; thus preventing it from spreading. This ensures that your building remains safe.
To fix traditional down lights, one hole is drilled into ceilings to accommodate these fixtures. This results in dropping the capacity of ceilings in resisting fire. If at all there is fire, its flames spread via holes; thus resulting in the entire building catching fire. This is largely due to ceilings being made of wood. Such material is sure to catch fire quickly. However, if the materials used to construct the building are able to withstand high temperature, spread of fire can be avoided. This is why down lights that are fire rated are crucial in buildings, rather than the traditional down lights.
If the down lights are needed on upper floors where only the roof acts are cover, then it is not necessary to get fire rated versions of these lights. This is because, the risk of fire spreading is minimum in such regions. However, using fire rated led downlights is the best option everywhere as they have other benefits too that include moisture protection and acoustic resistance.
Keep in mind that regulations for buildings clearly specify that your rooms need to be air tight. If you consider using traditional down lights without any fire rating, possibilities of warm air getting away from its holes are high. This makes it imperative that you use fire rated versions only.
Halogen vs LED
Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the energy saving capacity of LED down lights that are fire rated is more in comparison to traditional as well as halogen based lights. So eventually, you will be saving hell lot of money with the LED versions.
The other consideration is the amount of heat generated. Halogens generate lot of heat. This means wrapping them in some insulation is nothing less than attracting trouble. Instructions provided by manufacturers suggest that halogens require gaps in insulation around down lights. This actually defeats the entire concept of insulation meaning that halogens do not prove to be good for heating up spaces while put on and also do not cool the space when put off. Contrastingly, LED lights don't heat up. This eases insulation along with savings in your electricity bills.
So apart from the disadvantage related to the initial costing of fire rated LED down lights, all other advantages mean that you are purchasing something that is worth in the long run.
National Lighting UK - A market leader in the commercial lighting sector, our extensive range of over 3500 lighting products varies from cutting edge contemporary to timeless classics. Visit at http://www.nationallighting.co.uk/