Advice on Buying Low Profile LED Downlight Fittings

Low profile LED downlights – Recessed lighting is a popular choice for home and business owners alike. Low-profile downlights like these offer a sleek, modern appearance that can elevate the overall look and feel of a space. With recessed downlights, you are free to place them wherever you like and in any kind of configuration, giving you more freedom over the artistic potential these lights pose.

 

Where Can You Use Recessed LED Downlights?  

Recessed lighting is versatile in that it can be used in many different applications, both in commercial and domestic locations. A few examples:

• lighting in retail settings
• lighting above reception desks in a hotel
• domestic kitchen lighting
• hallway lighting

They can be used to provide ambient lighting in a room and also be used to highlight features in the room such as artwork or particular ornaments.

In a commercial environment they are particularly popular in offices and hotels to provide general lighting due to their low energy costs.

 

What Are Low Profile LED Downlights?

Unfortunately, not every ceiling has enough depth for recessed downlights, leaving no choice but to use ceiling mounted or pendant lights instead. For some others, their ceiling has enough room for smaller downlights but cannot handle the bulkiness of a standard-sized light. Slim LED downlights provide the opportunity for those with smaller ceilings to still enjoy the beauty of downlights. Thin downlights fit easily into most ceilings, removing the roadblock that many people face when it comes to ceiling lighting.

Low profile downlights often have a flat disc design wider than a normal 50mm recessed downlight and give a wide beam anlge of light so very good for general lighting in an area.

 

How To Choose the Best Low Profile Downlights

• Because you are aware of the amount of room you have to work with when choosing low profile LED downlights for your particular ceiling dimensions, the size is important. With options such as downlights with a measurement of 22 millimeters in depth, you can more easily work them into ceilings of most dimensions.

• APPEARANCE AND FINISH. Though low profile LED downlights are slim, there will be parts of the light that are visible. You can use this opportunity to contrast the lights against the existing decor style for an artistic touch, or instead choose finishes that match up with the colours. Finishes tend to come in metallic hues like gold, chrome or rose gold, as well as neutral colours like black and white.

• To prevent you from having to constantly update and replace the lights, choose ones built from durable materials. Of the available metals, aluminium and steel tend to be the most reliable options. These metals don’t easily show signs of wear or tear, nor do they rust.
  

• Since the main purpose of a light is illumination, choose low profile LED downlights that are adequate and pleasant on the eyes. A warm white 3000k colour temperature has both of these traits while also being common enough that they blend right in with any existing light colours in the space.

Recessed downlights are a popular type of ceiling light that anyone with a modern space would love to have. Since some ceilings are not equipped for the bulk of a standard downlight, slim LED recessed spotlights provide an opportunity to work around this issue. In this article, we looked at a few uses for recessed lighting. We also provided a brief buying guide that will help you determine which low-profile recessed lights are best for you. Keep the article handy when shopping for your new thin downlights.

 

How Many Lumens Should You Use For Low Profile LED Downlights?

To start we should anwer the question of what are lumens

• Lumens is the measure of light produced from an LED light source.
• The higher the lumen level the brighter the LED will be.
• The higher the LED wattage the higher the lumen output will be

So how many lumens do you need slimline LED downlight fittings to produce to make it useable?

The number of lumens depends a lot on the application for a domestic application generally 500 lumens is sufficient for lighting in a lounge, hallway or kitchen application and in some cases it may be wise to add a dimmer to allow you to control the lighting to create a mood.

For commercial settings a lumen level of 1000 lumens is used as the areas are larger and ceilings are often a lot higher requiring a greater light output from the downlights.

 

How Long do Recessed Low Profile Downlight Fittings Last?

The first point to make is the quality of the fitting and the LED used. There are many slimline LED downlights on the market and many at what seem to be giveaway prices. It is the old story of you get what you pay for the cheap fittings will use poor quality LED’s and LED drivers which won’t last anywhere near as long as they may state causing you problems with having to get replacements and then the cost of having them fitted.

When buying low profile ceiling spotlights we highly recommend using a high quality LED from manufacturers such as, CREE, Osram,Philips and Samsumg to name a few. These LED’s are made with the highest quality components to give the stated life plus normally much more making the initial investment although higher much more worth it in the long run.

So now to the question fo how long do they last?

In general an LED fitting will last a minimum of 20,000 hours with some brands stating a 50,000 hour life. This will mean they will give you many years of use without any issues with failure

If you are using your recessed downlights for 6 hours a day 365 days a year you will get a minimum of 10 years of use from the light and when it does come to replacing the fittings they are 95% recyclable.

 

What is The Best LED Colour for Slimline LED Downlights?

LED colour is measured by CCT or Correlated Colour Temperature which is a measure of the colour of the light produced by an LED.

What are the different CCT’s available

The image below shows the different LED colour temperatures

They range from 1000k which is a very orange light to 10,000k which is a very icy cold blue light. 3000k is towards the warmer end of the scale producing a similar light to a halogen and incandescent bulb.

So what colour temperature is best for the home

• Lounge 2700-3000k
• Kitchen 2700-3000k
• Hallway 2700-3000k
• Dining room 2700-3000k

For the home you generally want a warmer light to give a cozy atmosphere so the 2700-3000k warm white LED’s are the ideal choice for creating this.

 

When LED Low Profile Downlights Are the Best Option

A low profile downlight is one of many styles of ceiling lighting you can install in your space. Whether you are lighting a retail shop or your home, low profile downlights are ideal if you like minimalist decor and design styles.

Low profile LED ceiling light fittings are subtle due to the fact that they fit flush with the ceiling and do not stick out the way that surface mounted lights do. Anywhere that you want the lights to take a backseat to the rest of the room, such as in a gallery, recessed downlights and slim spotlights are the way to go.

 

Why Use Low Profile LED Downlight Fittings 

Low profile LED downlight fittings, besides furthering a minimalist aesthetic, are also by extension compact. Compact lights are ideal for rooms that don’t have a lot of space. By using ceiling recessed lights instead of pendant lights or surface mounted lights, you can eliminate obstructions that might otherwise get in the way.

Low profile spotlight fixtures are also versatile in the many locations and configurations you can install them in. This allows for creative design schemes that allow you to use the fixtures as decorations as much as for their functional features.

When you opt for LED ceiling spotlights, you are also reaping the benefits of LED lighting itself. Energy efficient recessed lighting not only provides all of the aesthetic and functional benefits you need, but it also features benefits that typical halogen bulbs do not.

LED bulbs are rated to last tens of thousands of hours opposed to the 1,000 hours or so that traditional bulbs allow. These long lasting low profile LED downlights can be used for years without needing be be replaced, saving you money and effort.

Due to the fact that LED bulbs are so energy efficient, they also put less of a strain on your electrical system. Since they use less energy, you can expect to see a reduction in your energy bill as well. By the same token, low profile LED lights are also better for the environment and can help you limit your carbon footprint.

Furthermore, slim LED downlights come in many different colour temperatures and lumen counts for you to choose from. This gives you total control over the appearance of the illumination itself as well as how bright it is. Like any other light fixture, slimline LED downlights are available in a variety of materials and finishes, so they can easily be incorporated into your space.

 

Why Buying Cheap Slimline LED Downlights Is a Mistake 

Much like with anything else you purchase, when you buy cheaply made low profile lighting, you won’t be getting the most out of your fixtures. It may seem like a good idea initially to save money on upfront costs for your slimline downlights, but in the long run, it can end up costing you way more.

Cheap LED lights are more likely to burn out sooner or otherwise stop working, meaning you’ll have to replace them a lot more often. Replacing multiple LED lights at once can get expensive, negating any savings you thought you received initially. In a similar vein, cheap LED lights can quickly rack up high maintenance costs.

Many factors can cause the deterioration of cheap LED lights, one of them being heat. Quality LED lights don’t give off much heat, whereas cheaper bulbs do. LED lights do not do well under high amounts of heat. The hotter they get, the less effective at providing illumination they are. This makes them more likely to fail.

Cheap parts inside of an LED bulb means relying on subpar drivers. Drivers need a steady current to keep the LED light running. If the bulb is poor quality, it is likely to cause fluctuations in the current, which can short out the driver. When the driver fails, the light will go out.

At the end of the day, quality LED bulbs will yield quality lighting. If you don’t want unnecessarily dim LED light that flickers and wavers, it is worth it to fit premium quality LED bulbs into your budget.

 

 

Below are some great ideas for low profile downlighter fittings

LDC201S 6 Watt Low Profile LED Downlights

 

LDC202 18 Watt Low Profile LED Downlights

LDC201 12 Watt Low Profile LED Downlight