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Recessed light fixtures or downlights are becoming an ever more popular feature of modern household lighting design. All the rage with homeowners, they’re both discrete and good looking simultaneously, perfectly complementing the décor of any room in which you might choose to install them.

They represent a particularly versatile lighting solution that’s ideal for modern homes in which a suspended or recessed ceiling is installed. It may, however, come as a surprise to you to learn that simply cutting into your ceiling to install downlights brings with it a significant risk from fire.

Don’t Risk It

If you’re only using normal fittings, your ceiling won't be protected against the spread of fire. Even if they look well fitted, there will still be small gaps around the edge of your fittings that, in the event of a fire, will allow heat, smoke and flames to enter into your ceiling cavities and spread to the rest of your home in a matter of minutes.

That’s right, every time you cut a hole in your ceiling you’re compromising its fire-integrity so, in order to combat this problem, we strongly urge you to invest in fire-rated downlights.

How Do They Work?

Modern fire-rated downlights effectively seal off the hole you’ve created and slow down the spread of fire. Modern fire-rated downlights are fitted with an intumescent pad which swells when it reaches a certain temperature. This blocks the spread of the fire which is then forced to spend time finding another way around the obstacle.

The delay this causes will enable the building’s occupants to escape the conflagration, and should allow additional time for the fire to be extinguished.

You’ll notice that some fire rated downlights are rated at 30 or 60 minutes, but all of ours boast the maximum 90 minutes’ protection.

All of our fittings have undergone extensive testing and are fully compliant with parts B, C, E, L and P of UK Building Regulations.

In its report, entitled Electrical Installations and Their Impact on the Fire Performance of Buildings, the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) recommends that fire-rated downlights should be used in all ceilings, irrespective of the type or purpose of the building.

A Wide Variety On Offer

Just because a downlight is fire-rated, it doesn’t follow that their stylish aesthetic qualities are compromised in any way, as you’ll see when you check out our wide range of superb GU10 Fire-Rated models. They’re available in a variety of stunning finishes, any of which will complement your existing décor perfectly.

Fire-rated Downlights can also be had complete with a high IP65 (Ingress Protection) rating, which means they’ll be suited to environments in which there’s the likelihood of them becoming wet, so they’ll be brilliant for the bathroom, shower room or even for outdoor applications.

Luckily, both these types of fire-rated downlight are compatible with our range of GU10 LED Bulbs. This means that you won’t only be getting an incredibly safe fitting, you’ll also discover the benefits that this variety long-lasting, energy-efficient LED bulb will bring!

Although fire rated downlights are more expensive than normal downlights, you just can’t put a price on your family’s safety.

For more information about our fire-rated downlight fittings, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0116 321 4120.

You can also send us an e-mail enquiry to cs@wled.co.uk if you’d prefer.