The installation of surface light seems to be more easier and it's much cheaper. I can change or replace it myself when it's spoilt. How about downlight?

Let say I plan to install surface light for living room, all bedroom, kitchen areas, dining room, bathroom etc, can surface light produce same cozy feeling like downlight?

What are the other differences?

i assume u compare same wattages, lets say 18W vs 18W.. same temperature, either 3000k, 4300k or 6000k.. warmer color might giving u cozy and comfortable at home..

surface is used for no plaster ceiling while downlight need plaster so you would see flat profile with ceiling.. functional wise, both serve same purpose.. unless you compared with eyeball..

in my opinion, if you have plaster ceiling, you could have 3 types of light.. eyeball, downlight and cove light.. all three could serve different purpose..

standard one in market as per what i knew, 18W 6 inch size should be normal one.. dont install too much or else might be too bright.. take note about fan position & shadows angle..

Can, its easier to install because no need to worry about plaster ceiling fiberboard dust..

Get those frosted osram light will be cozy

Not too high W / lumens if you want a light glow.

Suggest to buy more as sparing unit (if u need 8 buy 10 lah) so no issue about getting spare or holes don't fit etc

This post has been edited by ceo684: Jun 30 2023, 10:28 AM

LED downlight also easy but need to be careful when removing it.

May i know what are the things that need to be careful when removing? Is it more difficult than surface light?

Why need to do plaster ceiling and install downlight since surface light can serve same purpose? Somemore surface light is much cheaper and easier to install and i can save more money as no need to do plaster ceiling.

Some people CANNOT, just CANNOT see surface conduit

U definitely don't want inhale in the plaster ceiling dust . Gear up when doing this ( mask and eye shield )

If embedded into the plaster ceiling, be sure not use a screwdriver to pry it. Wear gloves as not to stain the ceiling too.

if you want to save money then dont do plaster ceiling and you get higher ceiling height too, replacing surface light with the same type of light is easy, just plug and play replacement, but for installation you will need more powerful drill since ceiling is usually reinforced concrete

the problem without plaster ceiling is to hide all the additional wiring for those downlights, and you wont get those fancy accent lightning that you see from plaster ceiling too

actually both type of light that you mentioned is also called downlight
surface downlight = install without plaster ceiling
recessed downlight = install flush with plaster ceiling, most of the internal is hidden inside plaster ceiling

you can go for LED track light or magnetic LED track light, you can conceal wiring at the side of the track and magnetic track light has many type of lights that can easily replaced surface downlight

surface downlight can be use at smaller area for example at living room to room walkway, entrance foyer, balcony, toilet, yard, and maybe kitchen

surface light will trap a lot of dust & insect after sometime.. and you will see the light there.. some concrete ceiling might have crack hairline after some time and looks ugly.. so people usually do plaster ceiling, can hide all wiring, add additional light point, AC point, fan point or whatever in plaster ceiling.. looks neat..

depend on your house renovation theme.. some like to see the piping running here & there.. some dont like.. without plaster ceiling, basically you can use only the lighting point/fan point as per provided by developer.. if you have palster ceiling, you can change the location easily..

After experiencing both surface downlight and recessed downlight for plaster ceiling.... i will say both also a pain to change

Easiest to change is still T8 tube or bulb

This post has been edited by ZeneticX: Jun 30 2023, 01:58 PM

Good quality luminaires like PHILIPS, one do not have to change every 2-3 years.
I have been using a higher grade than PHILIPS Consumer series that is rated at 25,000Hrs and this is the 6th year in service. Based on my average 4-5hrs use per day, this downlight will last me another few more years before needing to change.

Definitely t8 and bulb is the easiest. But now surface light got some come with easy connection base on the ceiling just need to change the main . Some cheap type also got or can go for Yeelight locking design

This post has been edited by keanutan: Jul 1 2023, 09:28 AM

hi, for this design, possible to not do plaster ceiling and just do LED track light?

if you want to do exactly in the picture, you will need plaster ceiling and wall panel, concrete wall can do it but it is a lot of work to hack the wall, and if you stay in condo, it is usually load bearing wall and not allowed to hack

if you dont want to do plaster ceiling you can only go surface light design, cannot look flushed like what you see in the picture

I replaced most of my plaster ceiling lights with surfaced mounted because during my renovation time did not make sure the plaster ceiling is as thick as possible! Once removed screw up the surronding so have to get slightly bigger surfaced mount to cover the damaged

how come installed surface mounted light on plaster ceiling.. quite a waste in my opinion. ya.. surface mounted light will have screw & the hole after that.. usually ppl use downlight 4inch/5inch with spring and hide all wirings inside plaster ceiling.. so it looks like light are integrated with plaster ceiling.. showing flat surface..

maybe ur surface mounted light are those expensive & smart one.. nvm.. future if want change to downlight that time, can cover plaster hole again and change type of light easily..

Keen on installing this type of lighting too
But wouldn't it be a hassle to replace the LED strip?
As I know it needs a power driver and this is easy to replace.
But the LED strip is embedded in a tunnel,
need to pull out the whole strip?

in normal case, tend to use aluminium casing to put LED strip.. yes, driver is required.. can be hide inside plaster ceiling at nearby downlight for future replacement on driver..

need to calculate the length of LED strip that u required on each.. wiring works need to done at earlier phase of renovation before plaster ceiling works..

what kind of lights are those?

These are semi-professional PHILIPS Lighting under SMARTBright Series. I still have spare, thought needed to replace them frequently but been sitting in my store room since bought brand new.

the newer so called "home grade" downlights which now rebrand as "diamond cut" rate for 50k hours. The older ones were called "essential" and then "meson". All are just as good. Mine last 7 years and counting. Out of 20+, only toasted one.

Anyone tried using lightings from Deng Lightings?
Feedback appreciated. Thanks

thanks guys, i just checked it out and saw even the lumens is much higher

Deng is subsidiary of Lightcraft which is down the road and sells expensive genuine designer light fixtures so imho Deng stuff is lower range but still got quality
Their prices should be higher than your budget lighting stores but the fixtures are better in quality.

This post has been edited by N9484640: Jan 28 2024, 10:49 AM

Thanks for feedback

Lumens not higher, just the same but power is lower.
I recently compared and this is what I found out:

PHILIPS Consumer Series
17W 1200lm 15,000Hours 1-Year Warranty
Plastic Bezel

PHILIPS Semi Pro Series
12W 1300lm 30,000Hours 3-Year Warranty
Metal Bezel

Both are recessed type and cutout hole is 6".