LED Bathroom Lights

LED bathroom lights do two things a bathroom needs and older lamps did badly: they run cool, and they last long enough that you are not up a ladder over a bath changing bulbs. Every fitting here is rated for bathroom use, most at IP44, and many have the LED built in.

What LED bathroom lighting do you stock?

• LED bathroom ceiling lights – flush fittings are the bulk of this range and the standard answer for a bathroom, because nothing hangs down into the space.
• LED wall lights – for either side of a mirror or above a basin, which is where you actually need the light.
• Bathroom spotlights and downlights – bar spots for a small room, recessed downlights for a planned ceiling. See our LED spots and downlights.
• Shaver lights – wall fittings with a shaver socket built in, the standard fix when there is no other socket allowed in the room.

Whatever your budget or taste, there are bathroom light fittings here to suit. If you want the full bathroom range rather than just LED, including mirrors and non-LED fittings, see bathroom lighting.

Can you explain bathroom regulations and zoning to me?

Irish bathrooms are divided into zones, and each zone has a minimum IP rating. The IP code is two digits: the first covers solid objects and dust, the second covers water. In a bathroom it is the second digit that decides where a fitting can go.

• Zone 0 – inside the bath or the shower tray itself. Fittings must be low voltage and rated IP67, because they can be immersed.
• Zone 1 – above the bath, or inside the shower enclosure, up to 2.25m from the floor. Minimum IP65, which is protection against jets of water.
• Zone 2 – within 0.6m of the bath or shower, and the area around a washbasin. Minimum IP44, which is protection against splashing from any direction.
• Outside the zones – the rest of the room. No rating is required by regulation, though IP44 is still sensible in a room that gets steamy.

In practice IP44 covers most of a domestic bathroom and is what the majority of our fittings carry. Step up to IP65 for anything going directly above a bath or inside a shower. If you are between two ratings, go up: the price difference is small and an underrated fitting in a wet room fails early.

All electrical work in a bathroom should be carried out by a registered electrician.

What do the IP numbers actually mean?

You will only meet three of them on a bathroom light:

• IP44 – splash-proof. Protected against water sprayed from any direction. Enough for a ceiling fitting, a wall light beside a basin or anything outside the immediate splash area.
• IP65 – dust tight and jet-proof. Protected against jets of water from any direction. This is the rating for a fitting inside a shower enclosure or directly over a bath.
• IP67 – protected against temporary immersion. Rarely needed on a wall or ceiling, but it is the rating for anything that could sit under water, which is what Zone 0 means.

The common mistake is assuming a higher second digit is always better value. It is not: IP44 in the right position outlasts a badly fitted IP65 and costs less.

Lighting a mirror properly

Most bathrooms get this wrong. A single ceiling light behind you throws your own shadow onto your face, which is exactly where you need to see. The fix is light beside the mirror rather than above it: a pair of wall lights at roughly eye level, one either side, gives even light with no shadow.

If there is only room for one fitting, put it above the mirror rather than on the ceiling, and choose one with a diffuser rather than a bare lamp. For mirrors with the light built into the glass, see our bathroom mirrors, and for the fittings themselves our bathroom wall lights.

Shaver lights and sockets

Bathroom shaver lights combine a wall light with a shaver socket in one fitting. They exist because a bathroom is the one room where an ordinary socket is not allowed, and a shaver socket runs through an isolating transformer that makes it safe in that setting.

They mount above or beside a mirror and are the practical choice in a bathroom with no other power. Check the zone the position falls in before ordering, because the fitting still has to meet the IP rating for where it sits.

Colour temperature and CCT fittings

Colour temperature matters more in a bathroom than anywhere else, because it is where you look at your own face. Warm white at 2700K to 3000K is relaxing but flattens skin tones. Cool white at 4000K is closer to daylight and better for shaving or applying makeup.

A growing part of this range is CCT, meaning the fitting switches between colour temperatures on a small switch at the back. That lets you set one temperature at installation and change your mind later without buying a new light. For fittings that take replaceable lamps, our LED bulbs cover the common bases, and bathroom light bulbs should match each other across the room.

Buying LED bathroom lights in Ireland

Irish bathrooms are usually small, often have no window, and get steamy fast, which is why an underrated fitting shows its age here before anywhere else in the house. Buy for the zone, not for the price. We deliver across Ireland, north and south, direct to your door.

Related categories

• Bathroom lighting – the full range, LED and otherwise, including mirrors.
• Bathroom ceiling lights – flush and semi-flush fittings rated for a bathroom.
• Bathroom wall lights – for either side of a mirror or above a basin.
• Bathroom mirrors with lights – illuminated mirrors, some with a demisting pad.
• LED spots and downlights – bar spots and recessed fittings, including IP rated versions.
• LED lighting – the whole LED range across the house.