Halogen to LED
Why the halogens should go.
A 50 watt halogen downlight is a small heater that happens to give off light. Six of them in a lounge draw 300 watts, run hot enough to scorch the insulation around them, and the globes and transformers fail one after another. A modern LED downlight does the same job on about a fifth of the power, around 10 watts each, runs cool to the touch, and is rated for 10 years or more of normal use. Swap six and the lounge lighting bill drops to about a fifth of what it was, the ceiling stops cooking in summer, and you stop buying globes.
Like for like
A like-for-like swap: what that covers.
Like for like means the new LED goes in the same hole, on the same circuit, with the old fitting and its transformer removed and taken away. Most of the older halogen cut-outs are 90 mm and the new fittings are made to cover them, so there is no patching. Each extra light on the same visit is quoted on the phone. We supply the fittings, in warm white (3000 K) for living rooms and bedrooms or cool white (4000 K) for kitchens and laundries; tell us when you book if you have a preference, or if you have already bought fittings you want used.
New positions
Downlights where there were none.
A room with one light in the middle of the ceiling usually wants four to six downlights spread out, and a kitchen wants them over the bench, not behind you. New positions mean cutting the holes, running cable through the ceiling from the existing light point and sometimes a new switch, so they are quoted on the phone: the number of lights, the ceiling access and the switching are what set the price. We mark the positions with you before anything is cut.
Pendants and fittings
Pendants, oyster lights and the fittings you have bought.
Bought a pendant for over the dining table or a new oyster for the hallway? We hang it from the existing light point at $130 an hour plus parts, with the price given on the phone. Have the fitting unboxed with its globe, bracket and screws, and tell us the ceiling height so the pendant's cord is set right the first time. Heavy pendants need a proper fixing above the plaster, which we sort on the spot.
Dimmers
Dimmers that actually work with LEDs.
Old dimmers were built for halogens and make LEDs flicker, buzz or refuse to go low. The fix is a trailing-edge LED dimmer matched to dimmable fittings, which is what we fit and supply with a downlight swap if you ask for dimming. A dimmer on the lounge and the dining room is the most common add-on, and it goes in on the same visit at the hourly rate.
Outdoors
Outdoor, sensor and security lights.
A sensor floodlight on the driveway, an under-eave light at the front door, a light over the back steps or an LED wall light on the patio: all fitted at $130 an hour plus parts, with the cable run setting how long each one takes. Outdoor fittings near the coast should be rated for salt air; we carry sensor lights on the van and can supply them, or fit the ones you have bought.
What we don't do
The work we leave to others.
No emergency or after-hours work (we work Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 4:30pm), no switchboard upgrades or rewires, no solar and no air conditioning. Everything else lighting in a house, from a flickering fitting to a whole-room change, is ours.
