Insulating loft after spotlights

grannybroon

I met a lady in B&Q yesterday looking at teraccota plant pots. She said her electrician had said to put them over her spotlight fittings in the loft (spots had been fitted into bathroom ceiling) to help insulation. I looked in our loft today and it is obvious there is heat loss through my bathroom spotlight fittings. Has anyone tried this method of insulation, does it work and is it safe?

Paul_the_Painter

I THINK what the electrician was suggesting, was to put these (upside down) over the light fitting inside the loft, but to keep the hole in the bottom clear of insulation - to allow heat to escape.

I don't think it's going to feature in any training manual for sparks, but they are fire proof, and the hole will let out excess heat.

You can buy special boxes though, that go over the top of the fitting in the loft.

BlueC

grannybroon wrote: »

I met a lady in B&Q yesterday looking at teraccota plant pots. She said her electrician had said to put them over her spotlight fittings in the loft (spots had been fitted into bathroom ceiling) to help insulation. I looked in our loft today and it is obvious there is heat loss through my bathroom spotlight fittings. Has anyone tried this method of insulation, does it work and is it safe?

It isn't to help insulation, it is to keep the insulation away from the spots as it would be a fire risk.

wonka

If you want to do the job properly, you should use a loft cap. This not only complies with building regulations, but for spotlights above a bathroom it will stop vapour escaping into the loft and causing damp. See: http://www.allaboutelectrics.co.uk/aico-thermal-loft-cap.html

See this thread on the same subject: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/556867

Using upturned flower pots is just a short-term solution.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Paul_the_Painter wrote: »

I don't think it's going to feature in any training manual for sparks

Wanna bet?


..........

tristinh

Sorry to hijack, but our electrician has said we need to remove our spots from being inset into a wood cladded ceiling in the kitchen (I know what you are saying 'wood cladding?????' but we have just bought the house!) as they are a fire risk. We have looked on the web and as long as they are 'f' rated, they should be ok... any thoughts on this? They have been in there for about 10 years apparently. Isn't plasterboard just as combustable as wood?