IP Protection

On several times the lamps or luminaires must endure certain conditions of use and function properly indoor or outdoor environments. These environments may be subject to external agents such as dust or moisture, which is dangerous to nearly people. That´s why when buying lights for outdoor installation, bathrooms, swimming pools, etc. is very important to know the IP protection product. The IP protection code is a system that allows us to classify a luminaire according to different degrees of protection against moisture or dust, which in practice allows us to define which can be installed without any security risk.

An IP code is made up of the "IP" letters and 2 digits. The first runs of 0-6 and the second 0-9. For indoor and outdoor installations the best known are the IP20, IP44, IP54, IP65, and IP67 protection.

- IP20. Protected against solids above 12mm size and no protection liquid.

- IP44. Protected against solids greater than 1 mm size and splashing water.

- IP54. Protected against dust and splashing water.

- IP65. Watertight to dust and water jet.

- IP67. Watertight to immersion.

In the next picture we show examples of protection zones in a house.