When it comes to outdoor lighting in your garden, you need to consider the IP rating of the lights you are going to use. IP stands for Ingress Protection and is a rating system used to indicate how well a product is protected from dust and water intrusion. The higher the IP rating, the better protection the product has against these elements.
What do IP ratings mean? The IP rating system is broken down into two numbers. The first number indicates protection from solid objects such as dust or dirt.
This is rated on a scale from 0-6, with 0 being no protection and 6 being completely dust tight. The second number indicates protection from water ingress, with 0 indicating no protection and 8 indicating complete watertightness.
So, when choosing outdoor lights for your garden, you need to consider what kind of environment they will be exposed to. If your garden is exposed to strong winds or strong rain, then you should look for lights with an IP rating of at least 4. This will provide adequate protection against dust and water intrusion.
What if my garden is exposed to heavy seas? If your garden is exposed to heavy seas then you should look for lights with an even higher IP rating such as 6 or 7. This will provide a high level of protection against water ingress.
What about standard weather conditions? For most standard weather conditions such as light rain or wind, an IP44 rating should be sufficient.
In conclusion:
Your walls, fences and trees will provide sufficient protection against most weather conditions, so if you are looking for outdoor lighting for your garden then an IP44 rating should be perfectly adequate for common garden use and standard weather conditions. However, if your garden is exposed to heavy seas then you should look for lights with an even higher IP rating such as 6 or 7.
