Plug-in or hardwired wall lamp: what suits your wall?

With a plug: hang it and plug it in

A plug-in wall lamp has a cord running to a socket, often with a switch on the cord. All you need is a screw or two in the wall. That makes it a fit for a rented home, beside the bed or above a reading chair where there is no connection.

The cord is visible, so it becomes part of the design. DCW éditions puts it in the name of the Lampe Gras N304 with cord. &Tradition sells Verner Panton's Flowerpot VP8 as a plug-in wall lamp, Louis Poulsen the VL Ring Crown with a plug cord. Ferm Living makes the Oyster with a plug.

Hardwired: no visible cord

A hardwired wall lamp goes onto a connection point in the wall, with the wires behind the lamp. You see no cord and switch it with a wall switch, or with a switch on the lamp if it has one. Makers often call this version "hardwired".

Several designs come in both versions side by side. Louis Poulsen sells Arne Jacobsen's AJ wall lamp as the AJ Wall and the AJ Wall Hardwired. HAY sells the Arcs Sconce hardwired. Check the product data for which version you order.

In the Netherlands, a home's electrical installation has to meet the standard NEN 1010. If there is no connection point, or if in doubt, have an electrician connect the lamp.

Reading light, ambient light or both

Reading light wants a shade you can aim. An arm or a joint helps. The Bestlite by Robert Dudley Best, made by Gubi, comes as the BL5, BL6 and BL7, and DCW éditions makes the Lampe Gras in versions with an arm, such as the Lampe Gras 210.

Ambient light shines against the wall or through a shade. Le Klint makes its Sax wall lamps with a paper shade on smoked oak; Louis Poulsen the PH 2/1 with opal glass.

Bathroom and outdoors: mind the IP rating

In a bathroom or outdoors you need a lamp that can take water. That is in the IP code under the standard IEC 60529: the first digit is about dust and solid objects, the second about water. IP44 means the lamp is protected against splashing water from any direction. Nordlux sells the Foam with IP44, Globen Lighting the Art Deco. Which IP rating each bathroom zone needs is set out in NEN 1010; ask an electrician if in doubt. For outdoors, wall lamps are under outdoor lighting.

Light source and dimming

A wall lamp has a holder for a separate bulb, such as E27 or E14, or a built-in LED. With a holder you choose the light colour and strength yourself; the maker gives a maximum wattage, like "max 40W" for the Good&Mojo Andes. A built-in LED often has a fixed light colour, such as 4000K on the Nordlux Marlee. If you want to dim, check whether the lamp is dimmable and which dimmer the maker names; Markslöjd calls its Arlo dimmable and plug-in.

Comparing prices

Every model is under wall lamps, and brands such as Louis Poulsen, &Tradition, DCW éditions and Le Klint have pages of their own. The plug-in and the hardwired version each have their own EAN, and Lofvi compares them separately.