Qualified Electrician Salisbury - Mastin Electrical services the Salisbury Area.

May 17, 2021

For a fast call-out Electrician in Salisbury - Mastin Electrical Supply provides mobile electrical services to Salisbury and beyond.

Mastin Electrical has over 30 years of experience dealing with happy customers! All their work is of the highest standard, backed up by Mastin Electrical being a Master Electrician member and a preferred electrician to Beacon Lighting.

We have just completed the installation of downlights in the Salisbury area, close to Salisbury railway station.

The customer had some old halogen downlights, which we converted to new LED downlights, and then replaced the family room lights with LED downlights using the existing switching.

Halogen-down lights use more power and get up to temperatures of 300 degrees. As you can imagine, this is quite a fire hazard. On the other hand, LED downlights do not create heat and have the bonus of using considerably less power. A halogen downlight is usually 50 watts, whereas an LED downlight is about 9 watts, depending on the make. As you can see, when you get a few downlights, the power can soon add up, and the LED downlights will save you considerable money.

10 x Halogen downlights at 50 watt each = 500 watts

10 x LED downlights at 9 watts each = 90 watts

LED downlights usually come in three light colours: warm white, cool white, and daylight. When checking the colour, check for this written on the box. If it does not say the colour, it will have the colour temperature on the container. The colour temperature is measured in kelvin. 3000K is warm white, cool white is 5000K, and daylight is 6000K.

As a rule, warm white is best suited to living areas such as bedrooms and lounges, as the light is more pleasant to sit under. Cool white is typically used for kitchens and bathrooms, as the morning is bright white. Consideration needs to be taken if you have an open family room area. If you were to have warm white in the family area and cool white in the kitchen, the different light colours would be very noticeable when both were on. The best option is to choose your preferred light colour and use it in all areas of the open-plan space.

LED downlights do not need an earth in the light circuit; however, it is recommended that if you don’t have a world in your light, a course be installed, and an RCBO (safety switch) be fitted so the cabling and occupier are protected.

If you have dimmers, there is a possibility that the dimmers may need to be changed if they have not been designed for use with LED lighting, so this should be factored into your budget.

In conclusion, if you have halogen downlights, we strongly recommend replacing them immediately.