The question we get more than any other from customers outside the United States is some version of: will this actually work in my house?
It is a reasonable thing to ask and a surprisingly hard thing to find a clear answer to online, because most lighting retailers sell into one market and never have to explain it. We ship to more than thirty countries, so we do. Here is the whole picture — what matters, what does not, and what to check before you order rather than after the electrician has arrived.
Voltage: the thing people worry about most, and usually should not
The world runs on roughly two mains standards. North America, parts of South America and Japan use around 100–127 V. Most of Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, much of Africa and Asia use around 220–240 V.
With older incandescent and halogen fittings this mattered enormously, because the bulb itself was built for one voltage and would either burn out instantly or glow dimly on the other.
Modern LED fixtures work differently. The LED does not connect to mains directly — a driver sits in between, converting mains power into the low-voltage DC the diodes need. Most quality drivers are wide-input, typically rated something like 100–265 V or 110–240 V, which means the same fixture works on either standard without modification. Our lighting is supplied with universal-voltage drivers for this reason.
What this means practically: for the great majority of our fixtures, voltage is not the thing that will cause you a problem. It is worth confirming for a specific model, and we will confirm it in writing if you email the product link, but it is rarely the sticking point people expect.
Frequency — 50 Hz versus 60 Hz — comes up occasionally too. For LED drivers it is almost never an issue, since the driver rectifies the incoming supply anyway. It matters more for motors, which is why it comes up with ceiling fans but not with lights.
Plug-in versus hardwired, which is the real dividing line
This distinction matters far more than voltage does, and it changes what you need to check.
Plug-in items — table lamps, floor lamps, some decorative pieces — arrive with a plug fitted. We supply the plug type matching your delivery country where it is available for that product. Where a region-specific plug is not available for a particular item, a US-standard plug is supplied and an adapter may be needed; where that applies, it is noted on the product page. The full detail is on our electrical compatibility and international orders page.
Hardwired fixtures — chandeliers, pendants, ceiling lights, wall sconces — have no plug at all. They connect directly to your household wiring and must be installed by a qualified electrician working to your local regulations. This is not a formality: in many countries it is a legal requirement, and in most it affects both your insurance and your warranty.
Bulb bases, which trip people up more than voltage
If a fixture takes replaceable bulbs rather than having integrated LEDs, the base type determines what you can buy locally. The common ones:
- E26 — the standard screw base in North America.
- E27 — the standard screw base almost everywhere else. Physically almost identical to E26, and in practice E26 and E27 bulbs are usually interchangeable, though it is worth checking for a snug fit.
- E12 and E14 — small screw bases, used for candle bulbs in chandeliers. E12 is the North American size, E14 the European.
- B22 — bayonet fitting, common in the UK, India, Australia and parts of Africa. Push and twist rather than screw.
- GU10 — twist-lock spotlight base, used widely in track and downlighting.
Check the base type on the product page and confirm bulbs in that base are easy to buy where you live. Nothing is more irritating than a beautiful fixture that needs a bulb you have to import.
If the fixture has integrated LEDs — the diodes are built into the fixture and there is no bulb to change — this whole section is irrelevant, but a different consideration applies: when the LED array eventually reaches end of life, you replace the fixture rather than a bulb. Rated lifespans are typically long enough that this is a distant concern, but it is worth knowing which type you are buying.
Pendant and ceiling fixtures are hardwired. Confirm dimmer compatibility before the electrician wires the circuit, not after.
Dimmers, the most common compatibility problem in practice
If something is going to go wrong, this is usually where.
Not every LED fixture is dimmable, and a non-dimmable fixture on a dimmer switch will flicker, buzz, refuse to reach full brightness, or fail early. Check the product page for dimmable status before assuming.
Even where a fixture is dimmable, the dimmer type matters. Older dimmers designed for incandescent bulbs are typically leading-edge, and they often work poorly with LED loads. Trailing-edge dimmers, sometimes sold as LED-compatible, are usually the right choice. Symptoms of a mismatch are flicker at low levels, an audible hum, or a range that only works across part of the dial.
There is also a minimum-load issue. Many dimmers need a certain wattage to function, and a single low-wattage LED fixture may fall below it. This is why one LED downlight on an old dimmer often flickers while five on the same circuit behave perfectly.
The practical advice: decide whether you want dimming before you order, tell your electrician, and let them specify a dimmer to suit the fixture rather than reusing whatever is on the wall.
Certification marks
Different regions have different conformity marking regimes — CE in the EU, UKCA in the UK, RCM in Australia and New Zealand, and various others. Requirements vary by country and sometimes by the nature of the installation.
If your installer, your building regulations, your insurer or a strata or body corporate requires a specific certification mark, contact us before ordering so we can confirm what applies to the specific model. We would much rather answer that question in advance than have you discover a requirement partway through a renovation. Our compatibility policy page sets out the formal position, including the fact that we cannot accept compatibility-related returns where certification requirements were not checked before purchase, except where the law requires otherwise.
This is the single most useful thing in this article. The cost of one email before ordering is nothing. The cost of finding out after a ceiling has been closed up is considerable.
What to give your electrician
If you are having fixtures installed as part of a renovation, your electrician will want specifics before first fix, not on the day. Send them:
- The product link and model.
- Fixture weight, so they can confirm the ceiling box or fixing is adequate. Anything over about 35 lb / 16 kg usually needs a braced or fan-rated box.
- Driver input range and wattage.
- Whether it is dimmable, and if so what dimmer type you intend to use.
- The IP rating, for anything going in a bathroom or outdoors.
- Bulb base and count, if it takes replaceable lamps.
If any of that is not clear from the product page, email us the link and we will send it. We would rather do that than have you guess.
Outdoor and bathroom installations
These carry additional requirements almost everywhere. Outdoor electrical work is more tightly regulated than indoor work in most countries and frequently requires certification. Bathrooms are divided into zones with minimum ingress protection ratings per zone, and the zone definitions differ between jurisdictions.
Your electrician will know the local rule. Give them the IP rating and the intended position and let them confirm before you order.
When your order arrives
Unpack and inspect everything on arrival, even if installation is weeks away. This matters particularly on renovation projects, where fixtures often sit in boxes for a month or more while other trades finish.
Check the fixture against what you ordered, confirm the driver and plug type match what you expected, and count the parts against the instructions. If anything is wrong, raise it with us promptly — our shipping and returns page sets out the timeframes. Problems found and reported early are straightforward to resolve. Problems discovered during installation months later are much harder for everyone.
The short version
- Voltage is rarely the issue — our fixtures use universal-voltage drivers.
- Plug-in items ship with a plug for your delivery country where available; hardwired fixtures have no plug and need a qualified electrician.
- Check the bulb base is one you can buy locally.
- Dimmer mismatches cause more problems than voltage does. Decide on dimming before you order.
- If a certification mark is required for your installation, ask us before ordering.
- Inspect on arrival, even if fitting is months away.
Anything not covered here, email us at support@dlightdecor.com with the product link. The formal terms are on our electrical compatibility and international orders page.