Downlights might be robbing you blind - but if you cover them over - you could burn down the house.
Our test has resulted in some discussion suggesting that covering downlights would solve their heat loss problem. No, no, no and no.
The ventilation gaps around downlights allow warm air to escape from your living area into the ceiling space.
That's bad … but these gaps are designed to stop the fitting from overheating. Covering downlights with insulation – or anything else – will stop that airflow, overheat the fitting and could cause a fire.
That’s much worse than the heat you lose. It's happened in Australia where house fires have been attributed to covering downlights with insulation material.
We think it’s cost-effective to replace old downlights with new CA- rated fittings designed specifically for CFLs.
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