Raito 30 opal white pendant lamp Nordlux

Raito 30 is a pendant with an opal glass shade shaped like a flattened sphere, topped with a brass cone. The shade is 30 cm across and 30.1 cm tall, and it hangs from a white cable.

How high to hang it

The cable runs up to 300 cm, so the drop is shortened to whatever the room needs — over a table, usually so the lower edge of the shade sits 70–80 cm above the top. That much cable is also enough for a stairwell or a room with a high ceiling.

The manufacturer's line drawing gives a ceiling mount 11.8 cm wide and 7.4 cm high. The whole fitting weighs 1.49 kg, which a standard ceiling hook will hold, though in a plasterboard ceiling the fixing has to reach the supporting structure. At 30 cm the shade is clearly narrower than a dining table, so over a longer top two or three are usually hung in a row.

Which bulb it takes and what the light is like

The E27 lampholder takes a bulb of up to 25 W — a limit every common LED bulb fits inside, but not a traditional 40 or 60 W lamp. No bulb is supplied, so you choose the colour of the light yourself; over a table or in a living room that usually means 2700–3000 K, a warm, slightly yellow light.

The opal glass is milky across its whole surface, so it glows evenly and the filament is not visible through it — seen from a seat at the table, there is no bare light source in your eyes. The fitting may be dimmed, but that needs a bulb described as dimmable and a dimmer: the lamp itself carries no control gear.

Finish and the rest of the series

The shade is glass; the cone at its top and the fittings are metal in a brass finish, and the cable is white and, as Nordlux states, cannot be replaced. The fitting is Class II, double insulated, and needs no earth conductor.

The Raito series was designed by the Danish studio Bønnelycke mdd. Beyond this size it also includes a wall light, a table lamp, a floor lamp and a three-light pendant, and the shade is made in a brushed brass finish as well. The lamp is intended for living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms, as well as hotel and restaurant interiors.