Bathroom lighting: ceiling light, mirror light and IP rating

The bathroom needs two lighting tasks

Anyone planning bathroom lighting solves two separate tasks. The first is general light: the whole room should be evenly bright so that you can see the bath, shower, basin and floor. This is usually handled by a ceiling light. The second is light at the mirror: this is about face, skin and hair, so a small area with high demands on glare control and colour rendering. This is handled by a mirror light or a light at the side of the mirror.

A single light rarely covers both well. With many mirror positions, a ceiling light on its own casts shadows on the face because the light comes from above. A mirror light on its own, on the other hand, is usually not enough as general light because it is aimed at a narrow zone. If you are planning a small guest bathroom, a ceiling light with sufficient luminous flux may be enough. In a family bathroom with a mirror, splitting the two is worthwhile.

Before you compare a product, clarify four things: the room and its size, the position of the light relative to the bath and shower, the existing supply cable, and who will make the connection. Only then is it worth looking at lumens and colour temperature. How much luminous flux a room needs in general is explained in the guide on lumens per room. You can find the overview of all zones on the Home lighting page, and you can try out the distribution of lights in the room with the lighting calculator.

Zones and IP rating in the bathroom

In the UK, electrical installations in bathrooms are covered by BS 7671 Section 701. It divides the room into zones: zone 0 is the inside of the bath or shower tray, zone 1 lies above it up to a height of 2.25 metres, and zone 2 adjoins it at the side. The closer a light hangs to the water, the higher the requirements for its IP rating. Which requirement applies in your case depends on the specific room geometry. If in doubt, the qualified electrician decides.

The protection rating itself is given in the IP code under BS EN 60529. The first digit describes protection against solid foreign objects, the second protection against water. IP44 therefore means protection against foreign objects of 1 millimetre and above and against splashing water from all directions. It does not mean water jets and it does not mean immersion. A detailed explanation is given in the guide IP rating in the bathroom.

The word waterproof nevertheless appears frequently in listings. The product pages state this explicitly: for the Airand bathroom ceiling light Ø32.5 cm, IP44 is described as waterproof in the title, although the second digit 4 means splashing water and waterproof is only indicated by much higher digits. The DEELUX bathroom mirror light 60 cm is the same situation. So do not read the advertising wording, but the IP code, and compare it with the place where the light is to hang.

To put the products in context: the product page for the EGLO Frania bathroom ceiling light, round, 33 cm gives IP44 according to the manufacturer and classes the light as a ceiling light outside zone 0, not as mirror lighting. The page for the EGLO connect.z Rovito-Z bathroom ceiling light describes that IP44 is sufficient outside the zones and in zone 2, and that no increased requirement applies above the bath higher than 2.25 metres. For the LQWELL LED ceiling light, round, 22 cm, the product page notes that IP44 means splashing water and not waterproof. With no documented hands-on testing, these are assessments from the documents, not measurements.

Ceiling light in the bathroom: general light and connection

A bathroom ceiling light should light the room without harsh shadows. Important figures are luminous flux, diameter, mounting height and whether the light can sit at an existing ceiling rose. Mounting height matters especially with low ceilings: the EGLO Frania bathroom ceiling light, round, 33 cm is 70 millimetres high with a diameter of 330 millimetres according to the manufacturer, and the BRILONER bathroom ceiling light 290 mm measures 290 by 35 millimetres according to the manufacturer's page.

Be careful with the figures, because documents contradict each other. For the EGLO Frania bathroom ceiling light, round, 33 cm, the data sheet gives 2,000 lumens at 17.3 watts, while the manufacturer's product page for the round 33 centimetre version gives 1,600 lumens at 3,000 kelvin. You decide which version is delivered most reliably by the material number. The Airand bathroom ceiling light Ø32.5 cm is described in the listing with 2,050 lumens and 4,000 kelvin, while the EU product register gives 2,500 lumens at 24 watts for the 325 millimetre model. Here too, the title and the register give different figures.

For the BRILONER bathroom ceiling light 290 mm, the listing gives 18 watts, 2,400 lumens and 4,000 kelvin as well as class E; a registration in the EU product register could not be found. The register lists the LQWELL LED ceiling light, round, 22 cm with 1,980 lumens at 18 watts, which by the product page's calculation gives 110 lumens per watt and so sits at the lower limit of class E. The EGLO connect.z Rovito-Z bathroom ceiling light is described as a smart variant according to the listing with 1,750 lumens at 13.9 watts and 2,700 to 6,500 kelvin; no manufacturer document for it was legible.

The connection for ceiling lights is almost always hard-wired: the light hangs on the supply cable at the ceiling rose, not on a socket. For the LQWELL LED ceiling light, round, 22 cm, the product page says there is a terminal block instead of a plug, and for the EGLO connect.z Rovito-Z bathroom ceiling light, the retailer's page gives Class II (double insulated). A hard-wired connection should be left to a qualified electrician, above all in the bathroom. Before any work, switch off the circuit breaker and have the absence of voltage checked.

Mirror light: mounting, position and colour temperature

At the mirror, position matters more than brightness. A light above the mirror shines down from above, while a light at the side lights the face more evenly. Mirror lights are usually between 40 and 80 centimetres long and, depending on the model, can be fixed to a mirror cabinet or to the mirror. According to the product page, the SEBSON bathroom mirror light 40 cm can be fitted to the top edge of a mirror cabinet or a mirror up to 7 millimetres thick.

Colour temperature is given in kelvin. Warm white is around 3,000 kelvin and neutral white around 4,000 kelvin. At the mirror, a neutral to slightly warm colour temperature is usual because it makes skin tones look neither yellowish nor bluish. More important than kelvin is the colour rendering index, CRI for short: the higher the value, the more natural colours look. The guide Colour temperature and kelvin explains more about colour temperature.

The product pages show how uncertain these figures can be. For the Yafido bathroom mirror light 40 cm, the listing gives a colour rendering index of 87, but neither the data sheet nor the registration confirms it: the attached data sheet gives 80, the matching registration 82. According to the product page, the data sheet also belongs to a different light. For the Azhien bathroom mirror light 60 cm, the register gives 860 lumens at 10 watts, while the listing advertises 820 lumens. The SEBSON bathroom mirror light 40 cm, by contrast, reaches 600 lumens at 8 watts and 4,000 kelvin according to the manufacturer, which is 15 lumens per centimetre of length.

The DEELUX bathroom mirror light 60 cm gives IP44 in the listing and describes the IP rating as waterproof. The product page classes this as wrong and describes that the light should hang outside zones 0 to 2. This is a good example of why you check position and IP code before looks.

Hard-wired connection, qualified electrician and protection class

Many bathroom lights are connected permanently to the 230 volt supply cable, without a plug. This applies to ceiling lights as well as mirror lights, as the product pages show: for the SEBSON bathroom mirror light 40 cm, neither cable nor plug is included according to the manufacturer, and the light is connected to the mains voltage. For the Azhien bathroom mirror light 60 cm, no plug is included, and it hangs on a fixed 230 volt supply cable.

In the bathroom, this connection is not for do-it-yourself attempts. The work should be left to a qualified electrician, because they have to assess the zones, the earth conductor, residual current protection and the supply cable. Even a light of Class II (double insulated), which needs no earth connection, changes nothing about this. The EGLO connect.z Rovito-Z bathroom ceiling light gives Class II (double insulated) according to the retailer's page, but choosing the light does not replace checking the installation.

In practice this means: plan the light with the qualified electrician before buying if you cannot reliably assess its position relative to the bath and shower. Note down the model number, IP code and protection class, and check whether the version delivered matches the documents. Where the listing gives no connection type, as with the BRILONER bathroom ceiling light 290 mm, the question remains open before ordering.

Comparison of selected bathroom lights

The table summarises values from the product pages. Manufacturer values are marked according to the manufacturer, listing values according to the listing. Whether the figures suit your bathroom depends on the room and the installation location. There is no documented hands-on testing for any model.

The range among the ceiling lights is notable: between 1,600 and 2,400 lumens according to the respective sources is a large difference, but luminous flux alone says nothing about distribution in the room. The mirror light delivers fewer lumens but is aimed at a small area. All six models have IP44 according to their source, so they do not differ in IP rating but in form, colour temperature and connection. Put your selection together in the lighting calculator and compare it with other rooms on the Home lighting page.