Fire Rated Downlights

The popularity of downlights in dwellings has had a much bigger effect than just transforming how modern lighting looks.

Twenty years ago a typical room would have a plaster board ceiling with plaster skim and one or two ceiling roses to provide light. The plaster and board provided effective heat and fire integrity, often exceeding thirty minutes of fire containment, even though temperatures would exceed 1000°C.

Today, that same room may have twenty or more downlights each providing a 70 to 120mm diameter hole through which flame and high temperatures gain immediate access to the underside of the wooden or chipboard floor of the room above. This has drastically reduced the ability of ceiling surfaces to contain fire and allows fire to travel vertically more quickly. As most houses have bedrooms on the upper floor, the increased danger to occupants is obvious.

All of our fire rated downlights are supplied with a fire barrier either pre-fitted between the rim and the underside of the ceiling surface or as an item to be fitted on the canister side to seal against the inside edge of the aperture cut out. Intumescent material expands when exposed to heat to fill gaps and irregularities without pressure so that there is no risk of any components dislodging during a fire event.