LED downlights, sensors and outdoor lighting
Old halogens out, properly spaced LEDs in, with the ceiling clearances and the insulation checked rather than assumed.
Booked in, usually within the week
This is the page if any of these is happening
- Halogen downlights that make the room hot and the power bill worse
- Lights that have started flickering or buzzing since a dimmer went in
- Dark corners in a kitchen because the lights were spaced around the old ceiling, not the new bench
- Outdoor and sensor lights that have corroded through in the salt air
- A downlight that has stopped working and a ceiling full of identical ones
Spacing first, fittings second
Most disappointing downlight jobs are not disappointing because of the fittings. They are disappointing because someone replaced eight halogens with eight LEDs in the same eight holes, and those holes were positioned for a 50-watt flood beam in 2004.
We set out the lighting for the room as it is now — where the benches are, where you stand, where the shadows land. That sometimes means fewer fittings than you had, positioned differently, and we will tell you when it does.
The other half of the job is what is above the ceiling. Halogens needed clearance from insulation and most old installations either had it removed or had it pushed back over the top. We check clearances, we check the existing wiring is not the perished rubber-and-cotton that turns up in seventies stock, and we fit IC-rated LEDs where insulation is in contact.
What is included
- Lighting set-out
- Positions marked and walked through with you before a single hole is cut. Changing your mind is free at this stage and expensive later.
- Supply and install
- Dimmable, colour-selectable LED fittings with a five-year warranty as standard. Fittings we would put in our own houses.
- Insulation clearance check
- Roof space inspected, insulation reinstated correctly, and IC-rated fittings used where they need to be.
- Dimmer matching
- The dimmer matched to the driver. Nearly all LED flicker and buzz comes from pairing a new fitting with an old trailing-edge dimmer.
- Make good
- Where a new set-out leaves old holes, they are patched flush and ready to paint. Included, not an extra.
What lighting work costs
Priced per fitting, with the rate dropping as the count goes up because most of the cost is access, not the light.
- LED replacement in existing holes
- $65 – $85 eachStraight swap where the spacing is already right and the wiring is sound.
- New downlight, new position
- $120 – $160 eachNew hole, new cable run, old hole patched. Cheaper per light on runs of ten or more.
- Whole-house relight, 24–32 fittings
- $2,600 – $3,900Set-out, supply, install, patching and a new lighting circuit split where it is warranted.
- Sensor or outdoor flood light
- $220 – $380Coastal-rated fitting where you are near the water, because standard ones do not last out here.
Ceilings with no roof access, two-storey voids and raked ceilings are quoted separately — they are genuinely more work and we would rather say so than surprise you.
Before we start
- 01Clear the floor under the lights and take anything breakable off the benches. Ceiling work makes dust regardless of how careful we are.
- 02If you have a preference for warm or cool white, have a think beforehand — most of our fittings are switchable but it is easier to set them all at once.
- 03Let us know if you have a manhole and where it is. No roof access changes the method and we would rather know before the van is loaded.
The same job, written up with the clock attached
5 out of 5
We asked for the same lights back and they talked us out of it. Twenty-four instead of thirty-two, moved to where you actually stand, and the kitchen is a completely different room. They also found insulation sitting on top of the old fittings that had started to scorch, which nobody had ever looked at.
Anthea R.Hillarys · February 2026Read the job this refers to
What people ask about led & lighting
How many downlights does a room actually need?
Fewer than most people have. A 4 by 4 metre living room is usually right with six well-placed fittings, not the ten that got installed when halogens were dim and cheap. We set them out with you before cutting anything.
Why do my new LEDs flicker?
Almost always the dimmer. Old dimmers were built for a resistive halogen load and behave badly with an LED driver. Matching the dimmer to the driver fixes it in about ninety per cent of cases, and it is a twenty-minute job.
Can you put insulation back over the lights?
Over IC-rated fittings, yes, and we use those wherever insulation is in contact. Over anything else, no — that is a genuine fire risk and it is one of the more common things we find in ceilings up here.
Do you take the old fittings away?
Yes. Old halogens, transformers and packaging all leave with us, and the fittings are recycled rather than binned.
Booked in, usually within the week
Ring it through and we will tell you which band it falls in.
We text when we are on the way, and you get the price before we start.
7:00am – 7:00pm, seven days · EC 13927