Technology in lighting has evolved rapidly and with the growing popularity of items such as LED lighting and smart phones, the public should be becoming more aware of IP ratings and their importance. How many of us are frequently worried about dust or water damage to our precious phones? The same concern should also be directly applied to lighting.

Dust and water-proofing used to be features associated with the kind of tough phones you’d expect mountain-climbers to pack into their rucksacks. Or the phones people on construction sites take to work. Times have now changed and the ability to brave the elements in phones continues to develop. These days waterproof and water-resistant smart phones on the market are not huge ‘rugged’ phones, but sleek, pocket-friendly handsets with some of today’s best features.

Protected devices are judged by the Ingress Protection Rating, also known as the International Protection Rating (IP rating). This rating system is also directly applicable to lighting and is essential to products where it is important to monitor or stop the ingress of dirt and/or water, such as outdoor accent lighting, garden lighting and swimming pools/ponds as well as indoor areas where water is present such as kitchens, bathrooms and laundries.

Ingress Protection is fundamentally a rating system developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The system is now being used to classify different degrees of protection against intrusion or immersion. The IP rating is an informative way to communicate how well a product is guarded against dust or water from damaging a product.

In an IP rating the first number always refers to dust protection, while the second refers to water resistance. For example, a rating of IP54 would mean a dust protection rating of 5 and a water resistance rating of 4. Dust-resistance levels go from 0 up to 6 while water-resistance goes from 0 to 9.

When it comes to light fittings, many people are concerned if the fitting is suitable for their bathroom or outdoors. ANL Lighting compliance officer Rui Pi says, “We often get from our customers like ‘is this fitting suitable for my bathroom’ or ‘are these fittings suitable for use outdoors or in wet areas near a pool’, so understanding IP ratings is fundamental knowledge for our representatives to pass onto our customers.”

As a recommendation, ANL Lighting suggests a minimum of IP65 for outdoor applications in temperate climates. Rui Pi says, “Generally we recommend IP65 for exposed outdoor lighting with the option to drop down to IP44 for covered areas i.e. Patios, where there is roof cover and low exposure to water and rain. ”Due to the growing popularity of beautifully landscaped gardens and outdoor accent features, alongside the concerns of product performance to natural elements such as dust and rain, Vibe Lighting is set to launch its new Elite series of LED Recessed Ground Lights and LED Outdoor Projector Lights.

With an IP rating of 68, the soon to be released Elite series of products offer supreme water and dust protection. With the LED Recessed Ground Lights and LED Outdoor Projector Lights’ IP68 rating, coupled with energy efficient CREE LED chips, advanced construction and a 3 year warranty, makes these products the first choice for anyone looking for the perfect lighting solution to wet indoor or outdoor environments.