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Fire Rated Downlights Explained
20 / 10 / 2017
What is a fire rated recessed downlight?
In any building a ceiling helps slow the spread of fire and when a hole is cut into a ceiling this creates a potential path for fire to spread. A fire rated recessed light (downlight) is a product that restores the fire integrity of a ceiling once the hole has been cut for the light. A fire rated downlight needs to withstand a fire resistance test that replicates the behaviour fire.
Our fire rated accessory for our downlight family uses an intumescent layer that expands when it reaches a certain temperature and helps block the spread of fire. Maintaining this barrier allows occupants more time to escape the building and for the fire to be extinguished.
Why choose a fire rated downlight?
The Electrical Safety Council (ECS) recommends that fire rated options should be used in all buildings even though fire resistant downlights are not legally needed under a roof void.
What fire rating do I need?
The fire rating of a downlight has to match the fire rating of the ceiling, maintaining its minimum period of fire resistance. Typically fire resistance for a standard home (not a block of flats) is 60 minutes.
Take a look at the gov.uk website on more information about fire safety and building regulations in Document B or for general electrical safety take a look at Document P.
What were the old fire accessories?
Fire hoods are difficult to install which means that time and money is wasted trying to install these hence why Fire Plates are recommended.
What are the latest fire accessories?
Our downlight fire plate accessories make installing a downlight with our latest engine easy. The accessories can be bought with the downlights straight away or added later on due to the versatility of the engine.
Our fire plates are compatible with all of our downlights (except the Polespring 360).
Would you like to discuss fire rated downlights in more depth? Give us a call on +44 (0) 20 7371 9000 for UK and Europe or +971 (0) 4554 0488 for Asia.