LED panels to mount *on* a surface, preferably square

[Chris Green]

My old fluorescent light in my study is on its last legs and I'm thinking of replacing it with a pair of LED panels, probably of the order of 12 watts each.

The trouble is that these really need to be mounted *on* the surface rather than in a hole, this is both to preserve the fire prevention qualities of the plasterboard and to make it easier for me to instal them.

However it's difficult to find them, mostly because searching for 'surface mount' just finds ordinary 'mount in a hole' lamps. I can't find anything that really fills the bill at Toolstation, Screwfix or CPC.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Robin]

surface mounting is available - e.g.

[Tricky Dicky]

I bought a 1200 x 300 panel and surface mounting frame from these people

They also sell square panels and appropriate frames. As these panels are considered as commercial lighting mainly destined for suspended ceilings, frames tend to be sold separately. I am happy with my panel and even with frame it was cheaper than the fluorescent it replaced that was a mere 5 years old.

Richard

[GB]

I bought these for our kitchen:

They are 36w, and each one is at least as bright as the twin 4 ft fluorescent that it replaces. Easy enough to fit.

Surely, there are lots of lower wattage ones available that would suit you?

[Robin]

Yes, I am (still!) looking at similar for our kitchen, but I've not seen

600x600 or 1200x300 in anything like as low as 12W.

[R D S]

I've one of these in the kitchen, been happy with it for nearly 2 years. Dimmable with remote.

[R D S]

Forgot link.....

I wouldn't describe it as ultra thin though.

[Chris Green]

That's 3.5cm thick though, surely one should be able to find thinner.

[Chris Green]

Quite! 5cm is hardly thin.

[GB]

You may find thinner.

Those particular ones have a fixture that you screw to the ceiling and then slide the lamp onto.

The fixture is around half of the 3.5 cm thickness, but that does allow for surface wiring. (You can bring the cable down through a small hole in the ceiling and make the connections on the underside of the ceiling, where they'll be hidden by the light.) You might well find a thinner alternative where the connections go above the ceiling.

[alan_m]

Just be aware how thick a driver will be. If they come with a separate driver then they may be 2cm in height which need to be hidden either within or on top of the fitting or hidden in the ceiling void.

Some fitting come with a driver (power supply) already mounted to the LED panel and soe come with a separate driver with a flying plug in lead.

[alan_m]

Most of my panels are 4 to 5cm deep where the driver is hidden within or on top of the fitting. On a small circular panel of around 30cm diameter it can look a bit chunky but less so the bigger panels. On my round living room panels the diffuser front is bigger than the mounting base and so the thickness of the fitting is not so apparent.

I have one surface mount panel that is around 1cm deep beneath the ceiling but the (separate) driver and junction box live in the loft.

[Adrian Caspersz]

This one is surface mount, circular and pretty bright white, not warm white or a horrid blue tint. In a 3m x 3m room, it's good light for working in.

24W Ceiling or Wall Mounted LED Luminaire, 1500lm, Daylight White - 43263 - £32 inc vat. I had the lower power 12W version, and decided to change it. In the shadows I had problems reading documents, or taking good photos with an iPhone.

Night and day, as they say ..