How to choose outdoor lighting: buying guide

The summer season is approaching, days are getting longer and the desire of spending more time outdoors urging: but if going outside is not always an option, we can certainly make the most of the outdoor spaces in our homes, day and night. 

If you want to enjoy your gardens, terraces, patios or balconies when it's dark outside, you need to light them up properly: find out how to choose the right outdoor lighting for you by answering a few simple questions.

Where to put your lights? 

Depending on where you want to place the outdoor lamp you need, you will have to make sure that it complies with the requirements of CEI 70-1 (EN 60529) with the appropriate IP rating. 

The IP value stands for International Protecting and is made up of two numbers: the first indicates the index of protection against solids (e.g. dust), the second against liquids (e.g. water). 

Conditional to where you want to place your outdoor light source, you should choose a lamp with a different IP rating. Let's see which one:

• The IP44 protection rating is the minimum requirement for a lamp to be used outdoors and therefore potentially exposed to moisture and water splashes. IP44 is the rating normally used for temporary illuminations for festivals and celebrations or for light installations covered by pergolas and canopies. Our ready-made LUMET light strings fall into this category and are perfect for a temporary installation in the garden to light up your evenings with friends outdoors, or to give the right atmosphere to your balcony all year round. 

• The IP65 protection rating, instead, is ideal for lamps that are exposed to water and rain, as it ensures that they are highly waterproof. Within our range, EIVA lamps are perfect for this purpose in all shapes and combinations.

Which function should the light you want to purchase have? 

Outdoor lighting must be functional, highlighting specific areas when necessary, or creating a relaxing atmosphere if that is what you need. 

Each function corresponds to a different type of lamp:

• Outdoor wall lights are a great way to illuminate the entrance to your home, making it safer, or the terrace where you would like to spend more time. They create a diffused light and are perfect for illuminating your outdoor dinners. 
  EIVA's range of wall lamps comprises solutions with or without shades, covering a wide spectrum of styles and colours to suit your space.

• In a patio or porch, pendant lamps provide even, diffuse lighting, perfect for relaxing outdoors all year round. 
  Discover the EIVA water-resistant pendant lamps to illuminate your outdoor spaces in style.

• String lights, on the other hand, are what you need to create a special atmosphere on balconies of any size or under a pergola, warming up your evenings and special occasions with diffuse lighting over several areas. 
  Take a look at the Lumet lighting system to tailor your string lights to suit your space and style needs, which thanks to its IP44 protection rating will be perfect for your lighting installations that are not exposed to the elements.

Whichever lighting you choose for your outdoor space, it is important to light it without excess: always make sure that the light you choose does not dazzle you or your neighbours and that it respects the light pollution regulations of your municipality.

What kind of existing electrical set-up is there?

The last thing you need to take into account when illuminating the outdoor areas of your home is the electrical set-up of the space you want to light up. 

Wall and ceiling lamps and pendant lamps come with a ceiling rose and need to be connected directly to the electricity supply by skilled hands: make sure the space you want to bring light to is suited for this. 

Plug-in lamps, on the other hand, come complete with a plug. They're designed to plug into the nearest socket and give you the flexibility you need to install them. You can find plug-in lighting either in the form of string lights, with several light points along the fabric-covered electrical cable, or as a single pendant, with a single light source that you can complement with LED bulbs and lampshades. 

In both cases you can make your own custom solution using the components for outdoor lighting from our EIVA line: choose the length of the fabric-covered cable that best suits your needs and complete it with an IP65 lamp holder, ceiling rose or IP44 plug.  

If, on the other hand, you want to install a light string in your garden, the ideal solution is Lumet, which you can customise according to your needs and the style of your outdoor space.