Lights on the house and in the garden are sometimes literally in the rain, and must therefore be water and dirt-proof in one way or another. But what does this mean exactly? In the technical description or the packaging of many electrical devices and lights you will find the respective IP protection rating. IP stands for “Ingress Protection”. The IP code is defined according to the degree of protection of the housing against the ingress of foreign bodies and water. In this guide you will learn which IP protection class is the best choice depending on the location of the outdoor lighting.
How the IP code is put together
The IP protection rating always consists of two digits:
- The first digit indicates the protection against contact and the ingress of foreign bodies. It ranges from 0 to 6. 0 stands for “No protection” and 6 is the highest performance protection against dust and contact. In between, the digits are differentiated by the diameter of the foreign body that can penetrate.
- The second digit indicates the protection against ingress of water and moisture. There are 9 levels: From no protection (level 0) to protected against dripping water, protected against spray water, jet water-protected up to protected against high pressure and steam jet cleaners (level 9).
Let there be light
The required IP protection class depends on the application. Outdoors there are many options to add lights. Different situations require different IP protection requirements. Using these examples you will get the right choice of outside lights.
IP23: For good general lighting around the house, for example, lamps in the porch and on the entrance doors, you need at least degree of protection IP23. The lamps are thus spray water protected. To compare: A model with protection class IP20 is resistant to solid foreign bodies from 12.5 mm in diameter, but not protected against water (second digit 0).
IP44: All of the lights that you use on the house or under the roof, such as a house number light or wall-mounted lights, must be protected against water sprayed from any direction. You will need at least protection class IP44, where the second digit 4 again describes the water protection. The first digit indicates that these models cannot be ingressed by debris larger than one millimetre in diameter. With IP44 classified lights, there is no chance that insects, for example, will get inside the lamp — product examples include the LED wall light with motion detector from Steinel and the LED surface-mounted wall light Flame from Paulmann.IP65: For floor-mounted lights under the patio or outside flood lights, the lamps should be awarded at least IP65. The number 6 indicates that the lamps are dust-proof. The second digit 5 also certifies jet water resistance. A typical example is the LED diffuser luminaire ELED HR2X18W12-3 from ENOVALITE.
IP67: Devices with this certification are not only protected against jet water and foreign material, they also withstand brief immersion — recognisable by the digit 7. A good example of this is the warm-white LED paving stone Akiaki model. Protection class IP67 is also used in some water-protected smartphones, tablets and other technical devices.
IP69K: Outside lights with this certification are completely sealed against the ingress of foreign bodies and water and even against high pressure and steam jet cleaning. The “k” additionally indicates that these lights can be used even in adverse conditions, such as for example in the mine.
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