IP44 Rated Crystal Chandelier for a Bathroom in Polished Nickel

A pendant that is actually rated for a bathroom: a small chandelier rated for zone 2, with sealed holders and a stainless canopy, for the bathroom that is trying to be a room.

Bathroom lighting is the one part of a house where getting it wrong is a safety matter rather than a taste matter, and it is sold almost entirely on photographs. Every listing here states the zone the fitting may be installed in, the IP rating with both digits explained, the colour rendering index, the lumen output and the efficacy in lumens per circuit watt. If a fitting is not suitable above a bath we say so on the page you are buying it from. If a mirror is backlit and will not light your face, we say that too.

Specification

• Zone: zone 2 and outside the zones. Zone 2 is the 600mm band beyond zone 1 and the 600mm radius around a washbasin tap. It is not rated for zone 1, which means not directly over the bath
• IP rating: IP44. The first digit, 4, means protected against solid objects over 1mm. The second digit, 4, means protected against splashing water from any direction. It is the minimum for zone 2 and it is not enough for zone 1
• Dimensions: varies by model, and the drop is adjustable from 300 to 1500mm by shortening the flex at the rose
• Light output: taking a 6W E14 or E27 LED lamp, supplied, at 806 lumens and 88 lumens per circuit watt
• Colour temperature: chosen above
• Colour rendering: CRI 95, measured, with R9 above 60. R9 is the deep red value and it is the one that decides whether skin looks like skin. Most bathroom fittings quote a CRI in the eighties and do not quote R9 at all, which is how you end up shaving by a light that makes you look ill
• Dimming: mains dimmable with the lamp supplied. If you change the lamp, check the replacement is dimmable, because most decorative LED lamps are not
• Electrical: Class 1, earthed, with a gasketed ceiling rose and a sealed lamp holder. The earth is not optional on a metal bodied fitting
• Fire rating: not applicable to a wall or surface mounted fitting
• Standards: BS EN 60598 for luminaires, BS EN 62471 photobiological safety at the exempt group, BS EN 55015 for electromagnetic emissions, UKCA and CE marked
• Weight: approximately 12.9 kilograms
• Guarantee: five years on the fitting and the LED module, two years on the driver
• Finish: polished nickel, warmer than chrome under a 2700K lamp and the finish that suits a period bathroom
• Why this is rare: a decorative pendant is normally IP20 and unlawful in any bathroom zone. This one is gasketed at the rose, at the holder and at the glass, which is why it costs what it costs
• Minimum height: 2.25 metres above the floor if it is over a bath, which is the top of zone 1 and where the rules change
• Lamp: supplied, dimmable, and replaceable without breaking the seal

What arrives

• the pendant, assembled
• the gasketed ceiling rose and gaskets
• the LED lamp
• fixings for a ceiling rose or a joist
• installation instructions with the zone diagram

Installation

A registered electrician. Electrical work in a room containing a bath or a shower is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations in England and Wales. That means it has to be done by a registered electrician or signed off by building control. Replacing a like for like fitting on an existing circuit is not notifiable. Adding a new circuit, a new socket or a new spur is. The rose is gasketed to the ceiling and the gasket has to sit on a flat, clean surface, so if the ceiling is textured it needs skimming flat under the rose. Set the drop before the final connection, because shortening a flex afterwards means breaking the seal.

Choosing between this and the alternatives

Almost every decorative pendant sold for a bathroom is IP20 and is therefore not lawful anywhere in zone 1 or zone 2, which is most of a normal bathroom. The retailers rarely say so and the photographs always show them over a bath. The zones come from BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations. Zone 0 is inside the bath or shower tray. Zone 1 is above it to 2.25 metres. Zone 2 is the 600mm band beyond zone 1 and the 600mm radius around a basin tap. Outside those, the regulations impose no IP requirement, though a bathroom is still a bathroom and steam still rises. Every product page here states which zones the fitting is rated for. Everything on this page is gasketed and rated, and the zone is stated at the top of the specification rather than in a footnote.