Condensation in loft - caused by recessed spotlights?

diesel_doglet

Hi Guys,

This morning I woke up to find that the walls above the windows in the lounge and bedroom was very wet.

At first I thought this may have been caused by a roof leak. Upon checking in the loft I found that the roof felt was soaking wet with condensation.

Most rooms in my house including the kitchen, hall and the bathroom have recessed spot lights. These lights are just standard (Non IP rated) recessed lights. I think that steam from the kitchen and bathroom is getting into the loft through the gaps in these spotlights and then condensing.

I am looking into replacing all said lights and sealing up any other holes.

I have found some IP65 rated lights on screwfix. If I bed these down on a bed of Silicone can I assume that that will then be fully steam-tight?

Any advice appreciated,

Thanks
DD

Swipe

I'd first make sure your loft has adequate ventilation. Do you have roof tile or soffit vents?

TheCyclingProgrammer

I agree that ventilation is the likely issue here. We have recessed spotlights in our upstairs bathroom but we have no problem with condensation. Our bathroom has an inline extractor fan which removes most of the steam at source and if any does make it into the loft (I'm sure it does), our loft has sufficient eaves ventilation for it not to be a problem.

Not only that, but we had the inline extractor fitted - when we bought the house there was no bathroom ventilation at all, but still no signs at all of an condensation damage in the loft.

Does your loft feel cold and drafty when you go up there or warm and stuffy?

missile

Lights are not the issue.

If you have eliminated a leak, you need to improve the ventilation. Dampness in your loft will cause rot.

FreeBear

diesel_doglet wrote: »

I have found some IP65 rated lights on screwfix. If I bed these down on a bed of Silicone can I assume that that will then be fully steam-tight?

No - You will still get heat loss around the lights. You should really have an Intumescent cover which can then be sealed on to the ceiling. This provides three functions -

1. It keeps the insulation off the fitting and reduces the chance of it overheating.
2. Stops draughts and the associated heat loss.
3. Gives a small degree of fire protection to the loft space.

If you are using LED lamps, the fire & overheating risks are greatly reduced.

Also agree with missile - You need to improve the ventilation in the roof space. Rot up there will be very expensive to repair, so prevention is the better option.

Slinky

Can I butt in on this thread and ask how you go about increasing ventilation in the loft? I worry that ours is damp but don't know how to go about getting more ventilation. It's a 1970s property.

Chanes

Slinky wrote: »

Can I butt in on this thread and ask how you go about increasing ventilation in the loft? I worry that ours is damp but don't know how to go about getting more ventilation. It's a 1970s property.

Cross flow ventilation, we had these on a slate roof long ago.

http://images.linnlive.com/4a2e531d0f0df8a3c854ead528ce2d08/62b62b59-1a4f-4f41-94db-6be8ef393014.jpg

brightontraveller

Installed thousands of down lights never had that problem, Not enough ventilation in loft or leak or both.

[FONT=&quot]If down lights were that effective at removing condensation people would use them not dehumidifiers ?[/FONT]

missile

Slinky wrote: »

Can I butt in on this thread and ask how you go about increasing ventilation in the loft? I worry that ours is damp but don't know how to go about getting more ventilation. It's a 1970s property.

I would suspect that the loft insulation will have been improved since the house was built in 1970?

During this process overzealous installers may have obstructed the vents in the eaves? In which case all you need do is remove the excess insulation to allow free ventilation.

Slinky

Chanes wrote: »

Cross flow ventilation, we had these on a slate roof long ago.

http://images.linnlive.com/4a2e531d0f0df8a3c854ead528ce2d08/62b62b59-1a4f-4f41-94db-6be8ef393014.jpg

Hmm they look interesting. I have a roofer for a customer, I'll have a chat with him.

Slinky

missile wrote: »

I would suspect that the loft insulation will have been improved since the house was built in 1970?

During this process overzealous installers may have obstructed the vents in the eaves? In which case all you need do is remove the excess insulation to allow free ventilation.

I'm not aware of there being any vents in the loft, certainly not in the old part! We had an extension a few years ago with some extra insulation put in and OH put in some more after in the old section. I do worry about steam getting in from the bathroom, hence being drawn to this thread. There are what we were told were 'fire hoods' over the spotlights in the two bathrooms, but I suspect they may be loose. I sometimes find dead woodlice in the bathroom, hence my worry about damp in the loft as I think they are falling through the light fittings. We weren't sure whether we could put insulation over the top of them so we stopped the extra insulation short of the old bathroom.

The roof on the new extension is a very shallow pitch and really hard to get to the edges of the walls with the shape of the trusses.

Cross ventilation may be the way to go.