Can an IP44 light be used outdoors?

Yes, as long as it hangs somewhere sheltered. IP44 is tested against splashing water from every direction, not against a jet and not against driving rain. Under a canopy, a roof edge or an awning that is enough. On a facade the rain beats against, choose IP65.

Where those two digits come from

The IP code comes from standard IEC 60529. The first digit covers solid particles, the second covers water. They are independent: IP44 says something different about dust than IP65 does, even though most people look only at the second digit.

For the water part the tests are set out precisely:

• 3 is spraying water up to 60 degrees from vertical, so rain falling more or less straight down
• 4 is splashing water from any direction, unshielded, about 10 litres a minute
• 5 is a jet from a 6.3 mm nozzle, 12.5 litres a minute, from three metres away
• 6 is a powerful jet from a 12.5 mm nozzle, 100 litres a minute

So the difference between 4 and 5 is not "a bit wetter". It is the difference between water that splashes up and water that arrives against the housing under pressure. A garden hose or a pressure washer falls in the second category, and IP44 does not survive that.

For dust: 4 keeps out particles from 1 mm up, 5 lets dust in but not enough to affect operation, and 6 is dust tight. Outdoors that last one matters most. Insects and cobwebs inside a fixture are a well known cause of outdoor lighting failing early.

What the IP code does not say

This is the part usually missing from product copy. IEC 60529 tests with clean fresh water. Salt water, oil and solvents are not covered. By the coast an IP65 fixture in untreated aluminium is therefore not automatically safe, because corrosion is not part of the standard.

UV resistance, temperature swings and impact resistance all sit outside it too. Impact has its own code, the IK rating from EN 62262. A plastic diffuser can be perfectly IP65 and still yellow after three summers. So with outdoor lighting, look at the material as well, not just the two digits.

What we carry, and where it can hang

Most of our outdoor wall lights are IP44. The up-down wall light and the Zaro are among them. Those are fine beside a front door under a porch roof or against a facade under the eaves.

If the light stands fully exposed, IP65 is the answer. The Kubo is built for that. In between sits IP54, as on the Senso: dust protected and splash proof, a step above IP44 on the dust side.

The catch with recessed spotlights

Recessed spots often say something like IP65 on the box, but that rarely applies to the whole spot. On the Lyvo and the Warmo the spot is IP65 and the driver IP20. On the Lesto the front is IP65 and the back IP20.

That makes sense: only the underside protrudes from the ceiling, the rest sits dry above the ceiling board. But it does mean such a spot does not belong in an open outdoor ceiling where moisture can reach the driver from above. In a covered veranda with a closed ceiling it works, in a carport with an open roof it does not.

For a bathroom that same logic works in your favour: above a shower what counts is what comes at it from below, and that is exactly what the IP65 part catches. More on that in Can a GU10 spot go in the bathroom? and What is the difference between IP44 and IP65?

In short

Sheltered outdoors, IP44 is enough. Exposed to rain, you want IP65. By the sea, or if you plan to clean it with a pressure washer, look at the material as well as the IP number, because the standard says nothing about that. The range is at wall lights.