Share
just wondering if you can get covers for these? I can see right through to the roof and i really don't like it, I do know they're older style so may just need to be all replaced but as I'm in a rental thought possibly covers may work.
Hello @jazrose101
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about down lights.
Unfortunately, the old-style downlights were open at the top to provide ventilation. A long time ago high wattage lamps that were used in down lights generated a lot of heat. In order to let the heat escape the tops of the downlight fixings were open, cover diffusers were not viable yet at the time because of the heating problem.
As the bulb heated up hot air would be generated around the housing, and it would rise up through the open slots and out to the ceiling cavity. This airflow provided cooling for the lamp and prevented hot air from being trapped. As technology progressed lamps became smaller and not so hot, better ways of ventilation and cooling were developed until finally LED came along and then you could get fully covered colour change downlight fixings.
I don't know what kind of bulb you have in that downlight fixing, but in the interest of health and safety, I don't recommend covering it with anything just in case it's an old-style filament bulb.
However, you could always propose a downlight upgrade with your landlord. You could split the cost or make a deal and discuss the merits of an Arlec 9W Tri Colour Dimmable LED Downlight.
If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.
Eric
Hi @jazrose101,
Just to add my two cents, those appear to be the older downlight fittings that took an incandescent R-80 globe that filled the fixture neatly, and you couldn't see around them. They also protruded further out with a flush finish. Your fixtures have been retrofitted with smaller and likely energy-efficient globes. The appearance isn't great, as they are substantially smaller than the originals, and an energy-efficient globe in an R80 style would have been a better choice.
Here's a Luce Bella R80 E27 LED 800lm 10W Warm White Globe in the original R80 style that should fill the fixture much more adequately.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
