For this review, Steve Hewish, Approved Electrician at Turrell’s, tries out a couple of this year’s leading lights from Robus.
1. ROBUS GOLF SURFACE FITTING (10W) WITH PRO DIFFUSER
If you’re after a versatile surface fitting that can be used to equal effect in both domestic and commercial premises, the GOLF 10W surface fitting with pro diffuser should be just the ticket. It offers the perfect option for replacing the failed bathroom light in a domestic property or upgrading all of the bulkheads in a school or office building that could also have emergency fittings in the same corridor that you need to match throughout.
Designed for use 24 hours a day, seven days per week, the GOLF surface fitting is an energy efficient replacement for fluorescent fittings, utilising high quality long life SMD technology to provide 860 lumens using only 10W of power.
It is housed in high impact resistant polycarbonate with a rating of IK09. Both the regular GOLF unit and the emergency version are based on the same housing with different gear trays so if you need to change one into an emergency as the building plans change it’s a very easy swap.
In terms of performance, I was impressed by the quality of the cool white light and the high impact polycarbonate feels robust, well made and suitable for the none-too-glamorous tasks is asked to perform. It offers a wide operating temperature range and is suitable for switching by PIR, microwave or photocell.
Overall, this is a good quality, reliable unit which can provide a decent solution to a number of different commercial or domestic requirements.
Get more product details here
2. ROBUS ULTIMUM TILT+ DOWNLIGHT
This IP65 fire rated downlight is packed with useful little features, including the ability to adjust the tilt to 25˚, allowing you to more precisely direct the light where required.
The joy of flex
Gone are the days of making T&E off into tiny little enclosures or having to pre-flex up fittings and then have another connection onto the fixed wiring. Instead, ROBUS ensures these ULTIMUM Tilt+ downlights come pre-flexed as standard with MF piano key connectors to make installation an absolute doddle. In addition to the MF connections, the downlights also feature the termination for your cpc’s as well – this is a significant improvement on cheaper brands I’ve tried before that will often require you to make this connection outside of the wiring enclosure.
The colour temperature switch is another welcome addition to the unit, as some brands (that are not that much cheaper than Robus) require you to buy the colour temperature that you require. No such problems here fortunately, as the switch on the back of the fitting allows the user to select between 2700/3000/4000/6000K effortlessly.
Simple colour changing
One thing that I value enormously is offering my client maximum versatility without them having to invest in multiple products – this product ticks that box emphatically. If they want to change the colour of their kitchen, or would prefer daylight lighting rather than warm or cool white, they can do so without having to change the product.
It’s a simple case of popping the downlight out of the ceiling, flicking a switch, and putting it back in. In fact, it’s that easy that the client could do it whilst painting without having to call the electrician back.
Ok, you might be doing yourself out of some extra work on that job, but the client will value the fact you’ve installed quality fittings that won’t break the bank. That’s sure to get you repeat work further down the line.
The unit comes with all of the required accreditations and is designed and tested to retain the integrity of 30, 60 and 90 minute fire rated ceilings – compliant with Building Regulations Parts B, C and E. It is also tested for use with I-Joists & Metal Web Joists. A shallow profile of only 70mm depth makes for a less intrusive fitting and different trim options (chrome, brushed chrome and matt black) are available as an accessory.
I’ve been impressed with this range of Robus downlights, and would recommend that installers who want a good quality product that offers lots of features and strong value for money, take a look at them in the future.
Get more product details here
