You’ve decided to renovate or you are building a new home! Congratulations!
Sometimes that can be where lots of questions and technical issues arise that you didn’t even know existed. IP Ratings for example.
When you are designing your bathroom layout IP ratings become critical when thinking about Heated Towel Rails and other electrical appliances.
Read on to find out more about the ratings and where you can install your electrical products.
What is an IP Rating?
An IP rating is short for Ingress Protecting Mark. It shows how well a product is protected from both dust and water penetrating the product.
An IP rating is important in order to know how close household items can be placed to things such as a water source.
An IP rating consists of two digits. The first is a number between 0-6 and shows how well a product is protected from dust and dirt. The second number is between 0-9. This shows how well the product is protected from water and moisture at various intensities.
IP ratings for Bathrooms
Bathrooms are divided into zones. Each zone has different regulatory requirements according to their IP rating.
Zone 0 is an area inside a bath or shower at floor level. Fittings, in this area, for example floor level lights, must have an IP rating of IP67.
Zone 1 is the area directly above a bath or shower up to 2.25m from the floor.
IP45 is the minimum requirement for this area.
Zone 2 is an area including a 60cm radius around any bath or shower. IP44 is the minimum here.
Hotwire Heated Towel Rails
Hotwire Towel Rails are IP55.
The final decision on the placement of the towel rail in the responsibility of the Electrical Contractor.
| First Number | Second Number | ||
| 0 | (or X- see section below) ; Not Rated (or no rating supplied) for protection against ingress of this type. | 0 | (or X- see section below) ; Not Rated (or no rating supplied) for protection against ingress of this type. |
| 1 | Protection against vertically falling droplets such as condensation, sufficient that no damage or interrupted functioning of components will be incurred when an item is upright. | 1 | Protection against solid objects larger than 50mm (accidental hand contact with open palm), but not against deliberate body contact. |
| 2 | Protection against vertically dripping water when enclosure is tilted up to 15° off vertical | 2 | Protection against solid objects larger than 12mm (accidental finger contact) |
| 3 | Protection against direct moisture spray at angles up to 60° off vertical. | 3 | Protection against solid objects larger than 2.5 mm (tools and wires) |
| 4 | Protection against splashing water from any direction, tested for a minimum of 10 minutes with an oscillating spray (limited ingress permitted with no harmful effects) | 4 | Protection against solid objects larger than 1mm (fine tools and wires, nails, screws, larger insects and other potentially invasive small objects) |
| 5 | Protection against powerful jets (6.3mm) of directed water from any angle (limited ingress permitted with no harmful effects) | 5 | Partial protection against dust and other particulates, such that any ingress will not damage or impede the satisfactory performance of internal components. |
| 6 | Protection against powerful jets (12.5 mm nozzle) of directed water from any direction. | 6 | Full protection against dust and other particulates, including a vacuum seal, tested against continuous airflow. |
| 7 | Protection against full immersion for up to 30 minutes at depths between 15 cm and 1 metre(limited ingress permitted with no harmful effects) | ||
| 8 | Protection against extended immersion under higher pressure (i.e, higher depths). Precise parameters of this test will be set and advertised by the manufacturer and may include additional factors such as temperature fluctuations and flow rates depending on equipment type. | ||
| 9k | Protection against high-pressure, high-temperature jet sprays, wash-downs or steam-cleaning procedures- this rating is most often seen in specific road vehicle applications (standard ISO 20653: 2013 Road Vehicles- Degree of Protection). |
