Downlights or Ceiling Mounted Lights?

Downlights are types of lights that are installed into the ceiling and will shine light narrowly downwards. As the downlight is recessed into the ceiling when it is on it looks as though the ceiling is shining light down. The parts involved in downlights are a part that connects to the ceiling, the bulb and a transformer if there needs to be additional safety. 

For 10 designs of LED downlights our blog offers many different models and examples of how downlights can look.

Ceiling mounted lights can either be completely flushed into the ceiling or semi-flushed. The flush mounted light will have no space between the main fixture and the ceiling. When the ceiling mounted light is semi-flushed then there will be a small gap between the light and the ceiling. Semi-flush ceiling mounted lights are similar to pendant lights but are not as low hanging. 

Light will often shine in more directions than downlights but might not be as strong. The presence of a ceiling mounted light is also more noticeable when the light is on or off compared to downlights.

Benefits of Ceiling Mounted Lights

• The circle design allows the light to be more flush against the ceiling and for light to disperse evenly across the room
• Most newer models are built to be more energy efficient and help with energy savings
• The ceiling mount helps limit the amount of excess heat, is easy to replace the light and is safe to install

There are many different types of lights to use instead of downlights, some of the more common ones being: 

Panel Lights

Panel lights are long lights that shine brightly in a room and are mostly used in commercial spaces. They can be flush into the ceiling or be on a mount to protrude off the ceiling slightly. They light up a room greatly and come in many different designs to fit into different interiors easily. 

Pendant Mounted Lights

These lights are hung from the ceiling and are suspended in many different ways to fit in with various interiors and styles. The lights can be of many different sizes and point in various directions or straight down. Most are hung from a rod, cord, chain, conduit or pipe and will be used as a feature of the room. 

Vanity Lights

In bathrooms, vanity lights can be installed instead of downlights. These lights are specifically built and designed to be installed in bathrooms and over vanities. This means that there are many designs available and will offer more direct lighting over the vanity. 

Surface Mounted Downlights

Even though these are types of downlights they are not recessed into the ceiling. The lighting design has the downlight inside of a bracket or fixture and can come in different styles. When the option to recess lights into the ceiling is not possible and downlights are wanted then surface mounted downlights are a great option. 

If downlights are wanting to be installed but you are confused to install either LED or halogen lights then read our blog ‘halogen downlights vs LED downlights’ for effective comparisons.