LED Downlight Recommendations

I'm renovating my house and have decided to put downlights in my kitchen, laundry, open plan living/dining, and covered deck. After a lot of reading I'm still a little confused so have turned to Ozbargain for some help.

My main requirement is that they are warm white, not too much glare and dimmable for the living spaces. Ceilings are a mix of flat and raked with heights between 2.7m and 2.9m.

Do the laundry and outside ones need a specific IP rating? They shouldn't be directly subjected to any water.

Can anyone suggest some good bang for buck led downlights?

Comments

  • +1

    Atom 13W are used a lot in the building sites I work on, I have used both warm white in the bedrooms & cool white in the bathroom & kitchen. I put them in my parents place also and they are very happy with them. After about 1 year they are still working great.
    They are dimmable but I haven't done this because the dimmers cost a fortune.
    https://www.lightingillusions.com.au/shop/led-downlights-1/w…

    • Link dosen't work but I think it's LI's website.
      Working now

    • Atom seem to be quite popular. I'll look into that model.

  • If you are get dimmable LEDs make sure you get the electrician to guarantee they will not hum or buzz when you use the dimmer. Often they don't hum/buzz when new, but after a few weeks they start.

  • Not sure if you're just after the down lights, or the whole unit - gimbal, transformer, etc

    We have recently installed Umbra II at home.
    http://www.brilliantlighting.com.au/products/downlights/umbr…

    Prices …
    https://www.google.com.au/search?q=umbra+2&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8…

    What I like about these in particular is;
    * Dimmable
    * "wide-enough" beam angle (100 deg)
    * Low height - so they fit into our small downstairs ceiling cavity
    * 3 year warranty

    We replaced 70mm halogen down lights with these. (The difference between the old yellow + 60 deg beam angle and these is night and day)
    I removed the old lights, they were connected to power using a standard 3 pin power plug
    Made up a template to be able to drill out the existing 70mm hole to 90mm using a hole saw.
    Cut hole.
    Plugged in these lights to power and newly extended hole.

    Spent about 10 minutes per light in the end, including clean up.

    If you're in Brisbane, have found these reasonably cheaply in the past at Brisbane Discount Lights Taps & Accessories (Logan Rd Underwood)

    • Thanks. Yeah I require the whole kit.

      Looks similar to the Atom quoted above. Good to have a few options to consider.

  • http://www.agmelectrical.com.au/buy-led-light/wholesale-led-…

    I've used about 100 of these over time, no problems what so ever.

  • I tried a bunch of cheap chinese ones with mostly poor results. The ones that produced adequate light died within a year or two. Not a disaster at the $5 I was paying, but a hassle.
    I ended up getting some Philips ones from ebay for $12 ea. They are brighter and have had no failures in the year I have had them.

  • Do you already have a dimmer installed?

    Maybe you can consider a COB design downlight for best control in glare.

    http://plsa.net.au/collections/frontpage/products/13-watt-ip…

  • Have a look at SAL Ecogem SUN S9041WWWH 700 Lm Warm White down lights. We recently had them installed throughout the house. They are much better than the Bright Green brand. The price varies wildly depending upon how many you buy. SAL is an Australian company. They were recommended by a local electrician and it turned out to be a good choice. We have a small number of Bright Green brand down lights as well in warm white, but the quality is not as good, even the warm white colour is not as good. The SAL are a quality product that should be hassle free for many years. They are dimmable and the IP rating is IP44 which would meet your requirements.
    Look at the website http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=162&name=SAL+Sunn… for led light reviews
    and http://www.ozlighting.com.au/about-lighting/ip-ratings-demys… for IP rating information. Ask a couple of electricians for their view.

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