Fitting downlighters in a plastic ceiling.

Bathroom re fit today. Customer wants downlighters (don't they all, energy inefficient carp, should be banned)

Anyway, the ceiling is being clad in plastic. It's white plastic "boards", a sort of soft PVC looking material, each board is about 250mm wide and they tounge and groove together. The boards are about 9mm or less thick.

I was concerned about heat, and melting the plastic.

The DL's the customer had bought are swivel ones, so the lamp is separated from the mounting flange by a small air gap. I looked at the instructions and there was no mention of needing to be mounted on a fireproof surface.

Anyway, I fitted one and tried it, and after being on for 2 hours with a 50W GU10 lamp in it, all seems well. In fact the actual flange that's in contact with the plastic was still quite cool. So I think it will be okay.

Anyone else done this or have any advice.

I won't be going back for final fit until the new year now.

P.S I think the ceiling looks naff, but then it's not my bathroom.

You should not be using normal downlights in a bathroom ceiling..

Building regs require that no moisture laden air should be allowed to enter ceiling or roof voids,,, therefore any downlights should be sealed.

I have used down lights (bathroom suitable ones!) in this type of plastic before, customer contacted maufactureer of cieling and they said its ok. Didnt see owt in writing tho' but they have been using them for over a year now and all ok.

I got asked to fit some a bit back when I was refitting a bathroom, luckily I managed to convince the customer to just paint the ceiling as it looks awful but I wasn't keen on fitting downlighters in it. However, they had it in the kitchen with downlighters and that seemed to be fne after a couple\few years of use. Surprised me tbh.

Thanks all.

So it's not going to melt then.

As I say, no accounting for taste.

the lamp is separated from the mounting flange by a small air gap.

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i take it there not ip rated then

I have been working on a job recently. Bathroom with halolite downlights that were ip rated but not fire rated. They had nearly caught on fire burning a joist and joint box ceiling was ruined. I have seen the damage standard d/lights can cause so would not be happy putting them on a plastic ceiling.

This is my view anyway.

Batty

I have used downlights in a ceiling such as this and we weren't sure/ Held a naked flame to it for a few mins and it just discoloured and didn't warp or melt at all. The ceiling has to be 'melt or drip' proof anyhow so you will be fine.

You should not be using normal downlights in a bathroom ceiling..Building regs require that no moisture laden air should be allowed to enter ceiling or roof voids,,, therefore any downlights should be sealed.

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if you create your own firebox from plasterboard and seal it would this not make it ok to use regular 240v unsealed downlights in a bathroom as long as the circuit is protected by an RCD or RCBO?

Me and a colleague recently removed such a ceiling from a bathroom and replaced it with plasterboard. it was less than 2 years old, the downlighters had scorched and distorted the plastic cladding.

I wouldn't fit downlights to this type of ceiling.

Ive had a similar job were customer wanted the same plastic sealing with downlights. You can purchase IP rated d/lights and fit LED lamps as these run virtualy cool, and a lot safer. Just a thought

Look fot the F rating of the fitting (the F is a small inverted trinagle), which is how large a lamp you can use when fitted to a flammable ceiling, some fittings are OK at 50w, others are only OK upto 35W. The other answer is to fit CFLs which barely get hot at all.

Look fot the F rating of the fitting (the F is a small inverted trinagle), which is how large a lamp you can use when fitted to a flammable ceiling, some fittings are OK at 50w, others are only OK upto 35W. The other answer is to fit CFLs which barely get hot at all.

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Binky,

I guess that you've never touched one that's been on for a while then??

They do get hot.....

LED is the coolest running lamp, however there is a trade off with the amount of light that you get

if you create your own firebox from plasterboard and seal it would this not make it ok to use regular 240v unsealed downlights in a bathroom as long as the circuit is protected by an RCD or RCBO?

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I see where you are going with this but.

the ip rating in bathrooms is all about moisture and vapours reaching electrical "bits".

Normally any rated downlight for bathrooms will be 65 and come with a silicone seal against the ceiling and a silicone seal against the lamp fitting.

No moisture, no corrosion, no corrosion no loss of connection etc etc.

completely agree hornet, in fact i changed some 12v non-sealed halogen down lights for some 240v robus sealed bathroom down lights at my parents flat on Sunday as they are going to be getting some work done by the OT(walk in bathroom and ceiling mounted hoist) and the surveyor that came round told them they would have to lose the down lights in favor of a bulkhead to meet regulations. fool.