Boarding a loft with downlighters

[Simon Pawson]

Hi,

I'm about to do one of my Autumn jobs - boarding the loft over the bedroom that I fitted downlighters to last year. Non occupied room above (storage only) so no hoods.

The builder didn't notch the joists so I will be running 0.75 in by 1.5 in battens along the joists to lift the boards above the cables and marking the cable runs on the boards for future use.

As joists are only 100mm by 35mm (with 390mm separation) when I did the other half of the loft I also put in loose lay up to the top as the

100mm insulation isn't really adequate..

What should I do about the downlighters? I wonder about leaving a hole above and putting a chicken wire structure (maybe with a frame) to allow ventilation and also keep insulation away (and to stop things falling or being pushed on them).

Any thoughts,

Thanks,

Simon

[Rob Morley]

Use weldmesh, not chicken wire.

[Set Square]

I would have thought that the sort of wire basket which is designed to go round a low level fan-blown balanced flue would be about right to put over each lamp, with a suitable hole in the flooring. The basket would keep the insulation away fom the lamp, and allow air to circulate.

[Chris J Dixon]

Ceramic plant pots

Chris

[Owain]

"Set Square" wrote | I would have thought that the sort of wire basket which is | designed to go round a low level fan-blown balanced flue | would be about right to put over each lamp, ...

The sort of thing stacked at the entrance of Morrisons (or Waitrose for the posh of shopping)?

Owain

[Set Square]

Yes, but not the plastic variety used by Sainsbury's!

[Mike]

I recall seeing in a building trade journal recently that there are now regulations to maintain the degree of fire protection afforded by plasterboard into the roof space and that breakthroughs such as down lighters have to be sealed ... needless to say the article mentioned a special product for the job which was of a rubber-like compound. I picked up the journal in Travis Perkins last week and it is now in the recycling bin. Mike

[Set Square]

Trouble is that the device designed to stop fires spreading between floors actually increases the liklihood of a fire by making the downlighter overheat!

[Christian McArdle]

One of many reasons not to install downlighters then! Not only do they produce light in an inefficient way, most of the light doesn't actually light the room. All the energy escapes through holes in the ceiling, along with the central heating heat, unless you seal them in so that they get so hot, that the bulbs pop every 20 minutes at 5 quid a pop. Not exactly environmentally sound, either way...

Christian.

[Loft Boarding Specialist]

Thank you for sharing your brilliant ideas.

[Andrew]

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[Fredxx]

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