When you’re thinking of buying a particular outdoor light, one piece of information to look for is what’s called the light’s IP rating. IP stands for “ingress protection”, which translates as how effectively the body of the light fitting keeps out small particles and water. An outdoor light’s IP rating always consists of two numbers—as seen, for example, in an IP65 designation.
The First Digit: Solid Particle & Dust Protection (0–6)
The first number is an indication of how well the fixture keeps out small particles like dust. It’s graded from 0 to 6, with 0 being the least protection, and 6 being the absolute most:
|
IP Digit |
Protection Level |
Max Particle Size Allowed |
|---|---|---|
|
0 |
No protection |
No protection against contact or ingress |
|
1 |
Protected against solid particles |
50mm diameter and above |
|
2 |
Protected against solid particles |
12.5mm diameter and above |
|
3 |
Protected against solid particles |
2.5mm diameter and above |
|
4 |
Protected against solid foreign objects |
1.0mm diameter and above |
|
5 |
Protected against dust |
Dust-protected |
|
6 |
Totally dust-tight |
Totally dust-tight |
The second number tells you how well the light fitting keeps out water. For most purposes, it’s this second number that’s most relevant to outdoor lights for the simple reason that water and electricity need to be kept well away from each other. Again, the number is strictly graded, this time from 0 to 8:
|
IP Digit |
Water Protection Level |
Environmental Context / Real-World Exposure |
|---|---|---|
|
0 |
No protection |
No protection |
|
1 |
Protection against vertically falling water drops |
Vertically falling water drops |
|
2 |
Protection against tilted drops |
Vertically falling water drops when tilted up to 15º from the vertical |
|
3 |
Protected against spraying water |
Spraying water at an angle up to 60º from the vertical |
|
4 |
Protected against splashing water |
Splashing water from any direction |
|
5 |
Protected against water jets |
Water jets from any direction |
|
6 |
Protected against powerful water jets |
Powerful water jets from any direction |
|
7 |
Protected against temporary immersion |
Temporary immersion in water |
|
8 |
Protected against continuous immersion |
Continuous immersion in water |
This looks like a lot of information to take in, but fortunately high-end outdoor lights tend to share certain common industry ratings based on their architectural purpose.
Decorative exterior wall lights like lanterns and box wall lights, such as those in our A Place In The Garden (APG) collection, typically meet the IP44 standard. So they’re protected against dust particles of 1mm in diameter and above, and against splashing water from any direction.
IP44-rated light fittings aren’t intended to be completely waterproof because they don’t need to be – they just need to make sure the lamp holder (which is connected to the electricity supply) is perfectly safe from water ingress. In fact, in cold weather, they might suffer from condensation build-up on the glass if they were absolutely water tight, so many fittings have small holes at the bottom of the fitting to allow any condensation to drain out. It’s these small holes that may allow the ingress of dust particles smaller than 1mm in diameter.
One step up is IP54. This is the rating for most of our Foresti & Suardi cast brass outdoor bulkhead lights. Their designs don’t incorporate drainage holes, so they keep out all dust which qualifies them for the higher 5 rating. Note that the second “4” rating hasn’t changed, so this extra dust protection doesn’t mean they’re more waterproof than an IP44 light.
Most of our Hunza Lighting wall lights and spot lights, including the workhorse of many Hunza garden lighting schemes – the Spike Spot Adjustable PURE LED and GU10 – are IP66 rated. The first “6” tells us they’re totally dust tight. The second “6” tells us they’re fully protected against powerful water jets from any direction, making them exceptionally resilient against the unpredictable UK climate.
For Hunza’s exterior lights that are designed to be recessed into the ground or paving, the even higher IP68 rating is called for. The second “8” number tells you these light fittings are protected against continuous immersion in water. Apart from Hunza’s Pond Lights, these ground fittings aren’t designed to be installed permanently under water, but it’s reassuring to know they can withstand heavy exposure to temporary flooding without ill effects.
Finally, our LuxR Lighting and Hudson Lighting brands take a comprehensive approach. Apart from one or two exceptions in the LuxR range, all our LuxR and Hudson outdoor lights come as standard with an IP68 rating to give you the ultimate reassurance they’re as waterproof as they can possibly be, come rain, come shine, come deluge.