Advice on Replacing Oyster Light with Downlights

RainInWinter on 14/09/2025 - 18:46

I would like to replace all oyster lights in my house with downlights. The main reason it is getting harder to get ring fluorescent replacement and also some of the light units are broken and need replacement.

I need to get advice on what LED downlights to get and what are factors to consider. For example, they come in various wattage, 6.5W, 7W, 9W, 10W etc. My house is 3 bedroom house and would like to replace lightings for all rooms. Which wattage would suit my situation; or how do I determine which wattage I need?

Also want to get advice on which brands to get. I have seen LEDvance and reading from Reddit posts, it seems people recommend SAL or Clipsal.

Do they come in different radius as well? Or most of them are basically narrow and I will need to make sure I install enough to cover the room?

Thank you in advance.

Electrical & Electronics Lighting

Comments

  • Far Cough on 14/09/2025 - 18:59
    -1

    Get a 90mm drill, drill all the holes for you downlights, and then put downlights in them

    • Megatron on 15/09/2025 - 15:10

      And void your insurance if a fire started from electricals in the house

    • Dr Phil on 15/09/2025 - 17:25

      Better to get an electrician to provide the correct advice and do the installation if OP is set on going with downlights

      OR the simple and economical answer is to replace the Ring Flouro light fittings with a bayonet batton holder, use standard DIY batton fix light fittings and plug in a common LED bulb of your choice of watts and colour

      See here:
      https://www.bunnings.com.au/hpm-batten-holder-with-anchor-pl…

      Problem solved!

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 14/09/2025 - 19:03
    +1

    900lm typically as a minimum. I like it BRIGHT.
    Maybe consider asking sparky to install a dimmer for rooms like bedroom and lounge .

    • theHMASfriendship on 15/09/2025 - 06:47

      I like it BRIGHT.

      I like you too

    • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 12:48

      Ok I'll check the lumens when deciding which one to buy. Thanks.

  • Stewardo on 14/09/2025 - 19:10
    +2

    These days your sparkie wires up plugs in your ceiling for each light. Electrician can advise on size and location and supply downlights. You can buy wifi lights or install a wifi switch.
    Once you have the plugs in ceiling if you want to change them later it’s very easy.

  • p1 ama on 14/09/2025 - 19:18
    +1

    I need to get advice on what LED downlights to get and what are factors to consider. For example, they come in various wattage, 6.5W, 7W, 9W, 10W etc. My house is 3 bedroom house and would like to replace lightings for all rooms. Which wattage would suit my situation; or how do I determine which wattage I need?

    To put it super simply, you either need to have multiple smaller downlights or one larger downlight in the middle of the ceiling.

    Having multiple smaller downlights is better for lighting quality, as you will tend to have more even lighting, less directional shadows, and softer lighting that better illuminates a room, but will be more expensive to purchase and install (as it requires more wiring, more labour costs…etc.)

    Having fewer larger downlights is worse for lighting quality, as you will have harsher directional shadows, less even lighting, and things tend to look less flattering as they will have a "bright" and "dark" side as opposed to being more evenly illuminated from multiple angles. However, this will be cheaper to purchase and install.

    Depends on what you want - realistically, most lights these days have a plug socket, so I would check if yours do, and if so, installing downlights is quite simple. You just need a hole saw and a drill. If they don't have sockets, just call a sparky, and they can come and put in the downlights for you for super cheap. It'll be much more expensive if you want to put in multiple small ones as it's a fair bit of work that needs to be done in the attic, particularly if you have insulation up there.

  • fantombloo on 14/09/2025 - 19:46
    +1

    Downlights have their place but are so overused in situations where other options could make more sense.

    If you're replacing oysters and have enough ceiling height I'd suggest also consider other fixtures to replace them, not just downlights. A 1-for-1 swap will possibly be much simpler too than a bunch of downlights.

  • MS Paint on 14/09/2025 - 20:25

    Are you doing the electrical work yourself OP?

    • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 12:44

      No, I'll have a sparky to install. I just need to decide the lights best to my needs.

  • geekcohen on 15/09/2025 - 05:36
    +1

    Go for the Philips Down Light LED 1000Lm CCT 9W Downlight. 9W is plenty and these ones have the ability to set the white "colour". I've recently replaced most of my lights with these and they are fantastic. The house already had some and now they are all the same.

    • RogerLoger on 15/09/2025 - 06:49
      +1

      Ditto. They can be difficult to find in some Bunnings stores. Mine came from Reduction Revolution with enough bought for free postage, but Bunnings beats their price ATM. https://reductionrevolution.com.au/search?type=product&optio…

      They are rated to use in contact with insulation (or I would not have bought them).
      I believe they are rated IP54, so OK for bathroom, but our sparky used a different light in there.

    • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 12:43

      So would you recommend 9W? I'm not sure what needs to consider to define wattage other than bigger is I suppose will be brighter.

      • geekcohen on 15/09/2025 - 14:11
        +1

        I found 9W to be plenty bright enough. Both for during the day and night time. I don't have mine on Cool White, I have them on Warm White and they light up the area plenty.

        I replaced my 3 hallway lights and with these, made a huge difference and bright enough.

        The entire house is 9w downlights and does a great job. I would like to put dimmers on a few of them to have flexiblity like the Lounge Room.

  • djandymarc on 15/09/2025 - 08:24
    +1

    Or just replace the flouro ring tube with this…
    Replace 32W T9 Circular Fluorescent Tubes With LED G10Q https://share.google/jDE3vblJ9zCOeTM9c

    One thing you need to consider is that where the existing light is there will be a big hole so you are up for a sparky to install the downlights and then you need to oatch the hole and repaint.

    • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 12:41

      Yep aware of the need to patch… But I really want to move away from fluorescent. Thanks

      • MS Paint on 15/09/2025 - 15:04

        You do realise the link above is an LED light with the appearance of a fluro?

        • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 16:31

          Ahh sorry wasn't aware of that. Thanks for pointing out.

          • MS Paint on 15/09/2025 - 16:47
            +1

            @RainInWinter: Also you will need to paint all of your ceilings. Just painting the patched part will stand out something horrible. Painting ceilings is the worst job in living history.

  • bargaino on 15/09/2025 - 13:42

    The main reason it is getting harder to get ring fluorescent replacement and also some of the light units are broken and need replacement.

    Thats not a reason for downlights. Why not just replace the oysters with proper LED oysters? (not with bulbs inside)
    You'll need multiple downlights to replace one oyster, and have to deal with patching the holes left.

    A single 36W oyster is equivalent to 3 or 4 downlights. And I think they are a bit passe now.

    • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 16:29

      When LED oyster died do I need electrician to replace it?

      • bargaino on 15/09/2025 - 17:18
        +2

        Only if
        a) it is hard-wired
        b) you live in Australia
        c) you want to be compliant

  • RainInWinter on 15/09/2025 - 21:50

    If I buy downlights with 92mm hole, can I later replace the downlights with 90mm?

    • lgacb08 on 16/09/2025 - 21:09
      +2

      90 or 92 is the same, just as aldi 20v and ozito 18v power tool. Most downlight now come with plug, sparky will install a surface mount socket in the ceiling and plug that in.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join