Winter is in full tow as we are smack dab in the middle of it. That means cold weather which sometimes means wet weather. Is your commercial lighting safe from the rain and snow? You may have come across water resistant ratings like ‘IP65’ looking up specs. But what does it really mean? We’re here to give you the breakdown of the IP rating.
IP stands for ingress (the act of entering) protection and is the name of the standard drafted by the International Electrotechnical Commission.
The first digit describes the LED light’s level of protection from solid foreign objects, how resistant it is to penetration by everything from fingers to dust. A level of 0 means the object has no protection against any entering substance. You will rarely encounter this rating in LED lighting; no fixture will perform well with no security from the elements! Conversely, you will encounter level 6 often, which indicates dust-tight protection.
If you were to open an LED shoebox light, you’d find no dust on vital components.
The second digit denotes the level of protection from liquids. The most common level of water ingress protection in our LED lighting ranges from 5 to 7. LED light fixtures with an IP65-IP67 rating are at least protected from water jets and at most withstand immersion up to 1 meter.
Unless you opened an LED wall pack before your installation, risking its tight seal, your LED light fixture would be free of moisture inside.
Below is a table of the most common IP ratings.
| IP Number | First Digit - SOLIDS | Second Digit - LIQUIDS |
|---|---|---|
| IP65 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP66 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP67 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP68 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
No matter which commercial outdoor fixture you install, repose as rain, sleet, and snow finds itself rolling off your LED lights unable to penetrate their casing. You can check out the full IP rating chart for your reference. Come back next week when we explore how to find certified electricians to professionally install your LED light fixtures. Also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for tips and updates.
