What could LED downlights save you?
Old halogen downlights are quietly one of the most expensive things in your house. Drag the slider to how many you've got, and see the difference.
It's not just the bill
Halogen downlights make light by getting very hot — most of the power they draw comes out as heat, not light. Fire and Rescue NSW warns they can reach up to 370°C, and that if ceiling insulation, dust or debris ends up touching a fitting, it can smoulder or catch alight. Possums and rats nesting in a warm roof cavity are a common way that happens without anyone noticing.
LEDs run at around 40–60°C — cool enough to touch — and the modern IC-rated ones are built so insulation can safely sit against them.
Worth a look if you notice: flickering downlights, brown or discoloured patches on the ceiling around a fitting, or globes that keep blowing. Turn the affected lights off and get them checked.
Homes built before around 2008 are the ones most worth checking — installation rules were looser then. If you're not sure what's up in your ceiling, I'll have a look and tell you straight.
How this is worked out
- Replacing 50W halogen downlights with 8W LED
- 8 hours of use per day
- Halogen globes last about 2,000 hours before they blow
- NSW electricity rate and globe price, both adjustable below
The default of 33c/kWh is the Ausgrid reference rate covering the Central Coast — check your latest bill for your exact rate, it's usually on the first page. Globe cost assumes you're changing them yourself; if you're paying someone, it's more.
LED downlights typically last 25,000 hours or more, so over a ten-year window you'd expect to replace them once at most — I've left that out rather than guess at it. This is a ballpark estimate, not a quote.
Happy to take a look and give you a straight answer on what's worth doing.