We replaced all of our R80 bulbs with Philips 9w e27 800 lumen r80 warm white LED's a few years ago. No changes required to light fittings - just unscrewed the old bulbs and screwed in the new LEDs. They fit nicely and provide equivalent light output.

You are permitted to replace light fittings in your own home. Whether or not you are competent to do so is another story.

Being permitted to do something doesn't mean you have no liability if things go wrong. You are also required to follow the electrical code of practice and perform all relevant tests.

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2010/0036/latest/whole.html#DLM2763688

Replacing the existing lights could be very straightforward or could be a complete pain in the backside. It's usually a straightforward job.

It depends on how easy it is to access the ceiling, how the existing lights are installed and what fitting you replace it with. There can be significant insulation benefits but you need to make sure you use the correct type of fittings and check them impact on potentially derating the TPS.

Any particular reason for replacing the downlight with LED versus just installing LED bulbs?

If it's because of how they look, I just repainted 10 R600 downlights with another 21 left to do. Assuming the R80 is like the R600, you can just remove the reflector, strip the paint, mask, repaint and reinstall. I powder coated mine, but I don't think they were powder coated from the factory.

You need to measure the size of the ceiling cut-outs and see what you can find that will fit.

Replacing them is not necessarily difficult, but I found it quite difficult to get some lights that fitted in the hole properly (unless you want to re plaster your ceiling).

You will also have to decide on the colour of the new lights.

Usually different colours, Yellow (like an incandescent bulb), through to very harsh white. That is denoted by the colour rating in K - do you homework and maybe buy a couple of fittings in different colours to see what you prefer.

Also, look for the moisture/dust rating: https://www.flexfireleds.com/led-ip-ratings-led-flex-strip-waterproofing-explained-waterproof-v-nonwaterproof-led-strip-lights/

They are going in the ceiling and you likely want  to make sure they are able to be covered by insulation. Some cant be covered and some need clearance from wooden timber etc.

This has info on the covering/clearance details: https://www.buildmagazine.org.nz/index.php/articles/show/tucking-up-downlights

If you have loose insulfluf insulation, you would need to remove the insulfluf from around the fitting (say .5m radius) and pop some Pink Bats or similar around/over the fitting to keep the potential fine dust away from the new lights.

None of this is that difficult, but you do need  to do a little homework and planning.

steve98: Yeah am definitely aware of that option but I do prefer the cleaner look of the sealed unit.

good move. sealed units are a must and you want them to fit nice and flush ie sealed to the ceiling. one of the biggest improvements in the last 40 years is getting rid of those air leaky downlights. the amount of heat wasted due to the air gaps is absolutely huge. you will gain more in reduced heating bills than in reduction of lighting costs.

We replaced all the R80 downlight fittings with fittings designed specifically for LED bulbs.  We contracted an electrician to do this.

The major reason for this is that the old fittings included ventilation slots to flag away the heat from incandescent bulbs.  This meant insects could access the house from the ceiling cavity and there was a moderate fire risk with older insulation based on paper fill, which is pulled back from each fitting, reducing the effectiveness of said insulation.  The new fittings are sealed units and insulation can be laid directly over the top.  Bulbs and power supplies on each light are both replaceable.  We have dimmers on some fittings.

Most LEDs will have a plug on them, that you have to keep in place for warranty to be maintained. So you will need to put sockets on the wires to plug the lamp into.

This is probably the one place that cheap ones are OK to use since it will be low load and never connected and disconnected once installed. A friend got a whole lot from trade depot to do their house when swapping out to tuya based downlights from kmart. They had decent sized terminals and worked fine.

Some downlights have a tail from them and a little terminal box on them.

Whatever you do, do not get any that have 2 pathetic little terminals on the lamp with a tiny cover as you will not be able to get 2 or 3 pieces of 1.5mm into it and would have to start extending and adding boxes, and that wouldnt be a like for like swap.

This assumes that your wiring is all good and has the earth connected up, and was not done by a cowboy.

jayemm:

We replaced all of our R80 bulbs with Philips 9w e27 800 lumen r80 warm white LED's a few years ago. No changes required to light fittings - just unscrewed the old bulbs and screwed in the new LEDs. They fit nicely and provide equivalent light output.

We're slowly replacing our r80 with the units below.  They are designed for retrofit but we still end up with a small ring that we need to repaint but they fit the hole which a lot of new ones won't as old downlights had massive holes.   We had gone around and replaced all the r80 bulbs with led versions but these look nicer and also make better light IMHO.  

Job is simple (but I am certainly not an electrician), turn off power, pop old unit out.  See what dead stuff/crap falls on you.  Unscrew wires.  These don't need the ground wire as they are plastic (there is no place to put the ground wire on the new unit anyway).  I just terminated the ground wire in a terminal block.  Wire the new ones on, choose light temp colour and then put back in.  This is the most difficult part managing the spring wires that hold it in place.  Then have beer and admire handiwork!

richms:

This assumes that your wiring is all good and has the earth connected up, and was not done by a cowboy.

tchart: Also speaking of drivers, regarding my comment about getting spares, when I purchased some spares the manufacturer had updated the driver and the connector between the led and driver was different. So even in the case of a driver/led failure there may not be compatibility even with the same brand model.

richms:

Most LEDs will have a plug on them, that you have to keep in place for warranty to be maintained. So you will need to put sockets on the wires to plug the lamp into.