LED lighting installation, retrofit and design.

What's included

• Full replacement of existing halogen, CFL or filament fittings with LED equivalents at your chosen colour temperature (2700K warm-white, 3000K neutral-warm, 4000K natural - I'll walk you through the choice with a sample fitting on-site)
• Downlight replacement - cutouts, fire-hood-rated fittings, insulation-contact rated (IC-F or IC-4) where the fitting sits under loft insulation, IP-rated for bathrooms
• Dimmer compatibility - leading-edge dimmers do not drive LED loads properly. Trailing-edge dimmers do. Where dimming is needed I fit compatible trailing-edge units at the switch position, and I test the dimmer response on the actual LED load before signing off.
• Garden and driveway lighting - SWA cable to buried junction boxes, IP66 fittings, RCBO-protected sub-circuit
• Smart lighting integration where required (Hue, Lutron, KNX) - hub sited near the router, sensor integration for occupancy and daylight

Downlights, fire hoods and Building Reg B

Approved Document B (fire safety) sets out the fire-resistance requirement for ceilings between floors and between a habitable space and a loft. A downlight cut through a fire-rated ceiling breaches the fire resistance unless the downlight itself is fire-hood-rated to the ceiling's fire resistance (typically 30 or 60 minutes).

• Between floors (e.g. kitchen ceiling under a bedroom). 30-minute fire-hood rating minimum. Every downlight cutout in a first-floor ceiling.
• Between a habitable space and a loft. Same rating.
• Between garage and habitable space. 60-minute rating (higher-risk-of-fire adjacent space).

Every LED downlight I install carries the correct fire-hood rating for its position. Compliant fittings are widely available now - the days of the £3 downlight with no rating are gone from the compliant side of the trade.

Insulation-contact rating (IC-F / IC-4)

Loft-mounted downlights sit in the ceiling with insulation potentially covering them from above. Non-IC-rated fittings overheat under insulation and trip their thermal cutout, causing intermittent failure and (over time) shortened LED life.

IC-rated fittings - labelled IC-F (fire) or IC-4 (insulation coverage rating 4, meaning insulation can be laid directly over) - are designed for this. In Hales Place, Thanington and the Sturry stock where loft insulation is thick, IC-F fittings are the only correct spec.

Canterbury-specific notes

Listed properties. Downlight cuts through a listed ceiling need Listed Building Consent from Canterbury City Council. Where LBC is refused, alternative lighting approaches (surface-mount pendant fittings on modest brackets, wall-washer lighting rather than downlights, LED strip in cornice recesses) usually give a workable result without compromising the listed ceiling.

Bathroom lighting. All bathroom lighting is BS 7671 Section 701 zone-controlled. Zone 1 (directly above the bath or shower to 2.25m) needs IPX7 fittings. Zone 2 (0.6m around zone 1) needs IPX4. RCD protection on any bathroom circuit.

Garden lighting. SWA cable from a garage or side-wall junction to buried IP66 junction boxes, then armoured whips to fittings. RCBO protection at the source. Motion-sensor spec for driveway installations, timed dusk-to-dawn for garden lighting.

Frequently asked

Can I dim any LED?

No. Only LED fittings marked as dimmable can be dimmed, and even then only on a compatible (usually trailing-edge) dimmer. Non-dimmable LEDs on a dimmer flicker, buzz and fail early. I check the fitting spec against the dimmer spec at design stage.

What colour temperature should I choose?

For general domestic living space, 2700K (warm-white) gives the closest to old-halogen colour and is the safest choice. Kitchens often prefer 3000K (neutral-warm) for better cooking-area colour rendering. 4000K (natural-white) suits utility rooms, garages and workshops. I bring sample fittings on the survey visit so you can see the difference before committing.

Pricing

Straight LED bulb replacement (fittings unchanged): £90 – £150 for up to 20 lamps. Full downlight retrofit (10 fittings, fire-hood spec): £380 – £550. Kitchen downlight refit (typically 6–8 fittings with new circuit): £450 – £680. Garden lighting circuit: £420 – £750 depending on cable route. Fixed price quoted in advance after property details and scope. No day-rate creep, no surprise extras.