Why they get replaced
Halogen downlights turn most of the energy they draw into heat rather than light. That heat goes straight up into the ceiling space, which is why the fittings need clearance around them and why insulation has to be held back from each one.
They also fail often. A house with twenty halogens is a house where something is always out, and replacing lamps at ceiling height gets old quickly.
- Far lower power draw for the same or better light output.
- Much longer life, so the ladder comes out far less often.
- Far less heat in the ceiling space.
- Modern fittings are slimmer and sit flatter in the ceiling.
What the swap involves
In most homes the existing openings are reused, so there is no patching and no repainting. The old fitting and transformer come out, the new LED goes in, and the ceiling looks the way it did before — only tidier, because modern fittings have a smaller trim.
Where the old openings do not match the new fittings, the difference is usually small enough to be covered by the trim. We check that before quoting rather than discovering it halfway through.
The old halogen transformers come out with the fittings. Leaving them sitting in the ceiling space is untidy and pointless — they do nothing once the LED is in.
What changes in the room
Colour temperature is the decision worth making deliberately. Warm white suits bedrooms and living areas; a cooler, brighter light suits kitchens, laundries and garages where you are actually looking at things.
Beam angle matters as much as brightness. A narrow beam makes pools of light on the floor; a wider one lights the room. Getting this wrong is why some LED upgrades feel darker than the halogens they replaced, despite the numbers saying otherwise.
Dimming
Old halogen dimmers rarely work properly with LEDs. The symptoms are flicker, buzzing, a narrow usable range, or lights that will not turn off at the bottom of the dimmer's travel.
If you want dimming, the dimmers usually need changing at the same time as the fittings, matched to the drivers. It is a small addition while we are already there and an annoying callback if it is left.
Whole house or one room
Get the halogens out.
LED downlight upgrades across Greater Brisbane, quoted fixed before the work starts.
