LED Downlighters: Fire Hazard? Insulation? Surface Mounted? (HELP!!! Im drowning....)

bigalk

Im renovating my first home and have just landed square in the middle of the LED conundrum. Ive been reading solid for a week now and cant find an answer so its time for "Help me OBI Wan Keboardsie". If ive missed a similar post - just point me in the right direction please, ive had no luck finding it.

OK - old bungalow retrofit and weve vaulted the ceilings. A good friend who works with an electrical wholesaler recommended a good quality dimmable, fire rated, recessed downlighter with a small transformer on the back. Mains connected running a GU10. All good so far!

So went to installation spec of said lamp and it comes in about 100mm tall and required about another 50mm clearance over the rear of the housing to the insulation. this spec is pretty much identical for all and any gu10 recessed i can find - give or take 10-20mm. My problem is i dont have the headroom - ive got 100mm max. Ive also looked at going the MR16 route with a seperate transformer and hit similar barriers.

Secondly when we sat down and thought about the insulation implications we werent that happy about putting a load of large holes through the insulation, so in the end we decided to go with a surface mounted lamp of some type. with the surface mounted option we have a minimum size hole through the insulation for the wire to come through, and plan to refill with expanding foam.

For the sittingroom this is fine. we chose something like 'can' type spotlights:
https://www.google.ie/search?safe=off&espv=210&es_sm=122&biw=1366&bih=653&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=surface+mounted+wall+light+spot+light+spotlight&oq=surface+mounted+wall+light+spot+light+spotlight&gs_l=img.3...2588.6446.0.6667.21.21.0.0.0.0.323.3179.6j9j3j3.21.0....0...1c.1.35.img..21.0.0.i2iwERla_Rw

because we have additional lighting these will work fine for us in that room (as in there will not be too many of them all over the ceiling).

My problem is in the kitchen (6mtr x 3.5 mtr). ceiling mounted led is our main source of light in the kitchen. we have some under cabinet stuff too but they wont light the room, obviously. The problem is that we have 10 lamps specced for the kitchen (my mate had called up 10 x 530 lumen) and my partner and I both think that 10 of these 'can' type spots will look absolutely crap. they will totally dominate the ceiling space in the kitchen, and make an ugly feature out of something that shouldnt command attention at all really.

so - i think i have expended all options without an answer. heres my research so far:
GU10: recessed - NO. fire safety concerns. have to puncture insulation. surface mounted options too bulky
MR16: recessed - same reasons as GU10 recessed
G4 - has great low profile surface mounted housings available but does not have enough power / wattage / lumens in a dimmable bulb. Possible solution - does anyone know of any G4 surface mounted fittings that hold 2 or more bulbs?
Gx53 - same problems as G4
G9 - same as G4
AR111 - has enough power in a dimmable bulb (too much - but thats fine we can reduce the number of lamps) but cant find any suitable fittings

Lastly- from a different area:
Wire (Track and wire / tension wire) system. seems like it will work brilliantly for us but i cant find any answers (other than 1 vague yahoo groups post) as to whether these can be configured with dimmable leds of any kind.

So i hope my question isnt lost in the detail. does anyone know where i can get a dimmable surface mounted LED system, that has a small or neat fitting / housing but with about 500-600 lumen power? Or alternatively a tension wire system.

Any comments appreciated! Also if there are any queries / objections to my mates spec id be glad to hear about it.

ted1

A good friend who works with an electrical wholesaler recommended a good quality dimmable, fire rated, recessed downlighter with a small transformer on the back. Mains connected running a GU10.



What's the transformer for? GU10 are mains fed.

bigalk

sorry - looking at it again maybe its not gu10
http://www.downlights.co.uk/downlights/halers-h2-pro.html

ted1

An LED running at 6w will be a hell of a lot cooler than a lp at 50w. In my opinion a fire rated fixing isn't as relevant.

I have small cans I use for feature lighting under counter,

I think forsinlighting they dint look great. For then lights I'd go with a white surround led receded GU10. If your worrying about puncturing the insulation you could try to fit a cone over them.


For vaulter ceiling lighting there's some good ideas here:
http://www.houzz.com/vaulted-ceiling

bigalk

thanks for the replys - ive got sorted!! found some dimmer options with neat surface mounted housings. these options are of questionable quality 'chinese' stuff, as in no brand names, and no mention of replaceable bulbs. Is it a good idea to buy fittings that dont have replaceable bulbs? Any thoughts from experiences?

I would appreciate if anyone had comments on anything in the below linked search - theres about 5 distinct items. Any comments on COB type LED vs SMD?

http://ebay.eu/1djWxR2

P.S. I hadnt realised ebay had gotten 'smart'! In this refined search its picking up fittings with dimmer options, even though dimmer isnt necessarily in the title of the item