Incandesant lights in drop ceiling

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  • nuser101
    New Member
    • Jul 2005
    • 2

    #1

    Incandesant lights in drop ceiling

    Incandesant lights on fiber-plastic ceiling tile
    I recently purchased new fiberglass-plastic drop ceiling tiles to
    replace old tiles in the basement. When replacing the tiles I found
    that the old heavy 6" recessed lights were just resting on the tiles.
    I knew these lights were too heavy for the new tiles. So I went back to the store and purchased 4" halo NON-IC and halogen bulbs PAR20 on the salesmans recommendation. I asked if they put off too much heat for the drop ceiling. He said they were shielded and wouldnt be a problem. So I have now installed 10 lights and I am paranoid.
    I checked the manufacturer websites again and the ceiling tile manufacturer has a very small blurb that incandesant lights are too hot for fiber-plastic tiles. I was not surprised just very annoyed as I don't have a solution and I am not sure there is a risk.
    I did a sanity check and I checked after an hour's use and the canister was hot to the touch, not super hot at the bottom - can hold finger there. It seems that the inserted cone is providing shielding the bottom. I can't be sure that it is transfering heat to the tile.
    My questions are
    Is it safe? and a second dumb question. Am I going to have code problems?
    thanks
  • nuser101
    New Member
    • Jul 2005
    • 2

    #2
    Update. Multiple hours no issues. Inserted cone feels hot to touch but no signs of plastic melting. Finally, did my own burn test of the scraps of tile. All attempts with a small source (lighter), wouldn't catch fire just singed. Leave it to an acid test to make one feel safe.

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