A brief introduction to the halogen downlighter
Back in the 1970 and 1980 decades halogen downlighters were all the rage and people lavishly installed them in their kitchens, bathrooms and work areas. Many homeowners called in the handyman to drill 80mm diameter holes spaced at accurate distances all over their ceilings and fitted downlighters andhalogen bulbs with purpose made low voltage circuits. The halogen bulbs produce a whitish blue ambiance characteristically with very high intensity so as to light up every corner of the room. This high brightness illumination was in fact perfect for kitchen preparation areas and other work areas where decent visual definition was important. Because of the fact that the installation involved drilling large holes all over the ceiling, these installations have stood the test of time, but not through beauty but more because the elevated cost of filling the holes and plastering is prohibitively high. It could not have been foreseen that LED bulbs would later be a partial saviour of this situation.
Fire risk through halogen bulbs explained
There are 2 reasons why the halogen bulb can be a fire risk.
The first point is that the halogen bulb is small and of large wattage for the lumens output, which means that it does create a lot of heat in comparison to high technology bulbs. As a direct result of the high heat radiated from the halogen bulb there is a danger of fire unless suitable care is taken.
The second reason is as a result of the method of installation of these light bulb. The halogen down light if fitted normally to a 80mm diameter hole in the plasterboard and the back of the light is actually within the floor void or roof space. The halogen spot will create a lot of heat which, because of the close proximity of installation, is now focussed on a very small area. The halogen spot is usually fitted to an area with loft of floor void insulation which means that the possibility of cooling through flowing air is very limited.
Taking these 2 points into consideration the fire risk can clearly be seen and this can be significantly reduced by using LED bulbs.
So why do LED bulbs reduce the fire risk? .
LED Bulbs are extremely efficient. As an example a 3W MR16 bulb will develop the same output as a 25W standard halogen bulb. The improved technology implicit within LED bulbs results in the fact that more electrical power is converted to light and as a consequence less power is turned into waste heat. What this means is that the LED light bulb hardly gets hot at all, unlike the halogen which is far too hot to handle. It is then self evident that the use of LED bulbs in confined spaces which are typical of these spot light instalations is far improved from a fire risk perspective. Now as you are undoubtedly aware LED bulbs will save you a very significant amount of electricity and the composition of this financial saving together with the reduction in fire risk does mean they are a good solution for the modern world. And last but not least LED bulbs use less electricity reducing CO2 levels exhausted into the atmosphere and their long life decreases landfill so they are in fact astonishingly environmentally friendly.
The energy saving trust have good information.