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One fitting dead in a row, a flicker that started last winter, a buzz from the hallway. Our licensed electricians work out whether it is the fitting, the driver, the dimmer or the wiring, replace what has failed, and match the new fitting to its neighbours in size, colour and look. Melbourne-wide, 7 days a week.
Tick two or more and it is time to book — every one of these gets worse, never better, on its own.
Integrated LED downlights do not have a globe to change. The light engine and the driver are built into the fitting, and when either one fails the fitting is replaced. The driver is the usual suspect: it is a small electronic power supply that runs warm inside a sealed housing, and the cheaper ones age faster, especially in a warm kitchen ceiling. When a single fitting drops out in a row, it is usually the driver, and the fix is one new fitting.
Some ceilings still carry replaceable-lamp fittings, a GU10 mains lamp or a 12 volt MR16 halogen with its own transformer. Here the lamp can be changed, but if the same holder keeps eating lamps, the holder or the transformer is the real fault, and swapping globes just spends money slowly.
When several fittings fail close together, the pattern matters. Three failures in one room over a year points at a cheap batch of fittings, a dimmer that is not suited to LEDs, or a run that is overheating under insulation it was never rated to be covered by. We look at what is in the ceiling before we replace anything, because the wrong diagnosis means you pay for the same fault again in six months.
Flicker at low dim, steady at full. Usually a dimmer designed for halogen loads driving LED fittings it was never matched to. The fix is a trailing-edge LED dimmer sized to the fittings on the circuit, not another fitting.
Buzz or whine. Usually a dimmer mismatch as well, or an old transformer under load from a retrofit lamp it was never built for. A fitting that hums on its own is on its way out.
Slow start, or a faint glow when switched off. A driver taking a moment to charge is normal for some fittings. A ghost glow after the switch is off often comes from an illuminated switch or a long shared neutral run and is usually not a fault, but we check it, because the same symptom can be a wiring fault.
Dead, with the others fine. The driver has failed. One new fitting, matched to the rest.
The whole circuit dead. Not a downlight problem at all. Breaker, switch or a connection in the roof, and worth a call before you buy anything.
Every visit starts with this sorting, because it decides whether you need one fitting, a dimmer, or an hour of fault-finding. The office quotes it once we know which, and if the answer is a dimmer rather than the six fittings you were expecting to buy, that is what you are told.
The complaint we hear most after a do-it-yourself replacement is not that the light failed again; it is that the new one is the wrong white. LED downlights come in warm, neutral and cool colour temperatures, and a single cool fitting in a warm-white row is visible from the doorway. We check the colour of the fittings around the failed one and match it, and many current fittings can be switched between three colours at install so the match is exact.
Size matters just as much. Melbourne ceilings carry 70 mm and 90 mm cut-outs, fixed and gimbal fittings, flat trims and recessed ones. A fitting that is the right colour but the wrong diameter leaves a ring of old paint around it. We measure the hole and the trim before ordering, and use a slim adaptor plate where a discontinued fitting sat in an odd-sized hole.
Sometimes matching is the wrong goal. If the surviving fittings are ten years old, not rated for insulation contact and starting to yellow, replacing the one that failed with a perfect match means you will be back for the next one soon. In that case we tell you what a whole-room replacement with IC-4 rated fittings involves, and let you decide. Either way, the one you called about is fixed on the day.
A recessed downlight needs a cavity behind it, and not every Melbourne ceiling has one. Apartments on a concrete slab, the ground floor of a two-storey home under a timber floor, flat-roof extensions and skillion ceilings with the insulation pressed against the plaster all leave little or no room for a standard fitting.
Apartments and slabs. Where the original fitting was set into a recess cast in the slab or into a plaster drop, we replace it with a low-profile LED that suits the depth available. Where there is no recess at all, a surface-mounted LED downlight sits flat against the ceiling, throws the same light and needs no cutting into concrete.
Shallow cavities. Flat-plate and low-profile fittings are made for ceilings with only a few centimetres behind the plaster. Where the insulation is already pressed against the plaster we choose a low-profile model rated for insulation contact; where no rated model suits the depth, the insulation is held back to the maker’s clearance and you are told before the visit.
Discontinued fittings. A failed fitting from a range that no longer exists is replaced with the nearest current match in size, colour and trim, and the office tells you before the visit if a full-room swap would look better than a near match.
Whatever the ceiling, the work is done by a licensed electrician, tested at the switch and photographed before we leave.
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Whether one fitting has failed or a whole hallway has, the same list applies.
Dead, flickering, buzzing, how many fittings and what the ceiling is made of. That is all the office needs for a free phone estimate.
Once the fault is described, the office confirms the price and books a window, 7 days a week. Nothing starts until you have agreed to the number.
The electrician checks the fitting, driver, dimmer and wiring, replaces what has failed and matches it to the ceiling.
Every point is tested at the switch, you see the finished ceiling, and you pay after the job.
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Yes. A hard-wired downlight, integrated or not, is electrical work and in Victoria it must be done by a licensed electrician. The only thing a homeowner can change is a plug-in lamp such as a GU10 globe in a replaceable-lamp holder. If you are not sure which type you have, send the office a photo and we will tell you.
Most often the driver, the small power supply built into the fitting, has failed. Heat is the usual cause: a cheap driver in a kitchen ceiling, or a fitting covered by insulation it was never rated for. Less often it is a loose connection or a dimmer that has been stressing the fitting. We check before replacing.
No. An integrated fitting has no separate globe; the LED chips and the driver are built into the unit, so when either fails the whole fitting is replaced. That sounds worse than it is: the new fitting plugs onto the existing base or cable, sits in the same hole and takes minutes to fit.
In nearly every case. We measure the cut-out, note the trim and check the colour temperature of the surrounding fittings, then fit a replacement that matches, or a three-colour fitting set to the same white. Where the original range is discontinued, the nearest current match is used and you are told before the visit.
Usually the dimmer, if the flicker only shows up on low and the fitting is steady at full. A fitting that flickers on a plain switch, or flickers alone while its neighbours on the same dimmer are steady, is on its way out. We test both before anything is bought, so you are not sold six fittings when one dimmer was the problem.
Whatever depth the slab or plaster drop allows. If the original sat in a cast recess, a low-profile LED of the same diameter goes in; if there was never a cavity, a surface-mounted LED downlight sits flat against the concrete and gives the same spread of light. Either way it is matched to the fittings around it, and nothing is cut into the slab.
One or two fittings are a short visit, including the fault-finding and testing. A whole room takes longer, and a ceiling with awkward roof-space access adds time. The office gives you the expected duration when they confirm the price, and there is no call-out fee whichever way it goes.
Only when it makes sense. If the others are recent, rated for insulation contact and the same colour, replace the one that failed. If the surviving fittings are old halogens or early LEDs that are yellowing, failing one after another and cannot be covered by insulation, a whole-room swap to IC-4 fittings is usually the better call. We lay out both.
For a bedroom or hallway with a normal ceiling height, a 9 to 10 watt integrated LED at sensible spacing is plenty. Kitchens, work areas and rooms with high or dark ceilings usually sit better with a 12 to 13 watt fitting. When replacing one fitting in a row, match the wattage of its neighbours so the run stays even.
FreshDuct replaces failed, flickering and buzzing downlights across metropolitan Melbourne with licensed electricians. Single fittings, whole rooms, replaceable-lamp holders, integrated LEDs, matched dimmers and surface-mounted fittings for concrete ceilings. Free estimate over the phone, the firm price confirmed by the office before any work starts, and you pay only after the job is done.
An integrated LED fitting fails at the driver far more often than at the LED itself, and a flicker on a dimmer is usually the dimmer. We find the fault before replacing anything, so you pay for one new fitting or one matched dimmer rather than for guesswork. Every replaced point is tested at the switch before we leave.
The new fitting is chosen to match the cut-out, the trim and the colour temperature of the fittings around it, using three-colour fittings set to the same white where an exact model match is not available. No cool fitting in a warm row, and no ring of old paint around a smaller trim.
Apartments, ground floors under timber, skillion and flat-roof ceilings often have no cavity for a recessed fitting. Low-profile and surface-mounted LED downlights give the same spread of light without cutting into the slab, and the models we use are rated to sit under the insulation that is already pressed against the plaster.
All of metropolitan Melbourne, 7 days a week — and if your suburb is not listed, we still come to you. The office confirms the details for your address when they call with your free estimate.
New downlights, halogen swaps and replacements, with IC-4 fittings as standard.
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When the failed fitting is an old halogen: transformers out, integrated IC-4 LEDs in.
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What the rating on the fitting means, and why it decides whether insulation can cover it.
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The trailing-edge dimmer that stops the flicker, and smart fittings for the rooms that suit them.
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Fittings rated for the steam above a shower or bath, paired with the exhaust fan that keeps the ceiling dry.
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Ceiling insulation laid edge to edge once every fitting in the ceiling can be covered.
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Tell the office what the fittings are doing and how many there are. Free estimate over the phone, firm price before any work, and you pay after the job.
