Are halogen spotlight/downlights old fashioned?

[sedgiebaby]

Looking to tell the electrician what light fittings I want in the garage we are converting into a bedroom/playroom, it is quite dark being a long narrow room with just the one window being put in (north facing) ceilings are low so this seemed the obvious idea, my dad says this is old fashioned! I was thinking 5 pairs running down the length of the room

No.

They are just functional!

Sorry, to clarify, do you mean recessed into the ceiling, or do you mean the ones that hang down on little metal brackets?

Old-fashioned?? I may be revealing myself as an outmoded old codger, but I regard halogen spots as the epitomy of cutting-edge! I would love sunken halogen spots in the kitchen, for instance. I know the rest of the world caught on about ten years ago, but I think they're still pretty current.

Ask your dad what he thinks has replaced them, if he thinks they're such old hat!

Ooh, a dissenter here: I absolutely, absolutely those recessed halogen spotlights. But then I'm a bit of a funny one! I think they look clinical, and I always have trouble changing them, too.

ooops, should have read absolutely hate

I think they can look a bit dated, but if you have a very low ceiling can be a boon.

If you go for them, be very careful to ensure that they have a proper fire rating and are carefully fitted. There have been a number of major fires caused by recessed spotlights which were not of the correct rating or incorrectly fitted

I would not consider having them due to the fire safety risk. I thought they were the current fashion though.

CMOT, do you really think they look a bit dated? Maybe I need to recalibrate my sense of style.

Of course, we've put up with the horrible trio of directional lights (with regular bulbs) in our kitchen for so long that I think they've desensitised me to whatever's current!

Never knew that they could be a fire risk, so thanks for that (in case we fancy having them in whatever house we end up buying).

They consume a hell of a lot of electricity besides being a hassle to change, you can get LED ones nowadays which consume a lot less.

We have some in our low ceiling hallway which the previous owner installed, I think I would've put wall lights myself. One of these days we will change to LED.

They have been around for at least 15 years, no? So probably a bit dated or about to become so!

Thanks everyone, yes I did mean the recessed into the ceiling ones, I dont think that pendants are going to give the light I need, and I'm unsure of alternatives.

I'll check the led ones that don't have the fire risk/electric consumptions concerns.

They perfectly pick out every one of my grey hairs so I hate them for that reason alone I think if you can get more environmentally friendly ones that use less electricity then they can be great in rooms like the one you're planning to use them in.

I'm now thinking about recessed lights at the back wall where it is darkest and where bed/wardrobe are most likely to be and then two pendants in the main area of the room, so I can have some nice fittings, would this 'mix' work?

Sounds good.

fan. dont have anything else. but actually i use a lot of table lamps.