Bathroom and Vanity Sconces: IP Ratings, Zones and Placement

A bathroom is the one room where the lighting question is not only how it looks. Water and electricity share a small space, so the rules are stricter, and the sequence is: work out which zone the fitting is going in, buy for that zone, then think about the light.

The good news is that the part most people care about, getting a face lit properly at the mirror, is also the easiest part to get right.

IP ratings in one minute

IP stands for ingress protection. Two digits: the first is protection from solid objects, the second from water. For a bathroom only the second digit matters.

• IP44 resists splashing water from any direction. This is the everyday bathroom rating and covers almost all wall lights sold for bathrooms.
• IP65 resists low pressure jets. Needed inside a shower enclosure or directly above a bath.
• IP20 means no water protection at all. That is a normal indoor fitting, and it belongs outside the wet zones entirely.

An X in a rating, as in IPX4, simply means the solid object protection was never tested. IPX4 is equivalent to IP44 for bathroom purposes.

The zones, in plain terms

Zone 0 is inside the bath or shower tray itself. Only low voltage fittings rated IP67 belong here, and in practice almost nobody puts a light there.

Zone 1 is above the bath or inside the shower, up to 2.25 m from the floor. Minimum IP65. This is where sealed downlights go.

Zone 2 extends 0.6 m sideways from the bath or shower, and 0.6 m around a basin. Minimum IP44. Most mirror and vanity lighting sits here.

Outside the zones, in a large bathroom where the mirror is well away from any water, an ordinary IP20 fitting is permitted. Steam still argues against it. In a small room with a hot shower, everything gets wet eventually, so treat the whole room as Zone 2 and buy IP44 throughout.

Regulations vary by country, and anything hardwired in a bathroom is electrician territory. Treat the above as how to choose, not as how to install.

Now the part that changes your morning

Overhead light alone is what makes bathroom mirrors unflattering. A ceiling fitting drops light onto the top of your head, and your brow, nose and chin each cast a shadow straight down over the thing you are trying to look at. It is the reason a bathroom can be bright and still be useless for shaving or makeup.

The fix is light arriving from the sides at roughly face height.

The vanity rule: two fittings, either side, 1.6 m

Mount a light on each side of the mirror rather than above it. Two sources facing each other cancel each other's shadows. One source above does not.

Centre them at about 1.6 m from the floor, which is roughly eye height for most adults. If several people of different heights share the bathroom, a tall vertical fitting that emits along its whole length is more forgiving than a single small one at a fixed height.

Space them 70 to 100 cm apart, which usually means just outside the edges of the mirror. Closer than 70 cm and they stop working as two separate sources.

The Gild Vanity Sconce and the Thread Slim LED Sconce are both narrow enough to flank a mirror in a small bathroom without crowding it.

When there is no room for two

In a narrow cloakroom where the mirror runs wall to wall, a single wide fitting above the mirror is the only option. Choose one that is wider than it is tall, mount it just above the top edge of the mirror, and pick a diffused rather than a clear shade. It will not equal two side lights, but a wide soft source overhead is far better than a small hard one.

An alternative that often gets overlooked: a mirror with light built into its perimeter, which is a side light and an overhead light at once.

Colour temperature and CRI, which matter more here than anywhere

Use 2700K to 3000K. It is warm, it is what the rest of the house uses, and it is closer to the evening light you will actually be seen in. The cold 5000K light that some bathroom fittings ship with makes skin look grey and is a common reason people think their bathroom lighting is unflattering when the placement was fine.

CRI of 90 or above, without exception. This is the room where you judge whether foundation matches skin and whether a shirt is navy or black. A low CRI bulb makes both impossible. If you want the full explanation of the numbers, see warm white or cool white.

Brightness and layers

A bathroom wants roughly 300 to 400 lux at the mirror and less elsewhere. In practice that means about 700 to 900 lumens of mirror lighting total, split between two fittings, plus a soft ceiling light for the rest of the room.

Add a third layer if you can: something low and dim, on its own switch, for the middle of the night. A small plug-in sconce or a low level light near the floor spares you the full ceiling fitting at three in the morning. The layered lighting guide covers the principle for the rest of the house too.

Frequently asked questions

What IP rating do I need for a bathroom wall light?

IP44 for a fitting beside a mirror or basin. IP65 if it is inside the shower or directly above the bath.

Should bathroom lights be above or beside the mirror?

Beside, one on each side, whenever the wall allows it. Two facing sources cancel the downward shadows that an overhead light creates.

How high should bathroom wall sconces be?

Centre them around 1.6 m from the floor, roughly eye height, spaced 70 to 100 cm apart.

What colour temperature is best in a bathroom?

2700K to 3000K with a CRI of 90 or above. Cold white makes skin look grey and is the usual reason a well placed bathroom light still feels wrong.

Can I use a normal indoor light in a bathroom?

Only well outside the water zones, and even then steam shortens its life. In a small bathroom, buy IP44 for everything.

Browse the wall lights collection for narrow fittings that flank a mirror, and check the IP rating on each listing before you buy.