How high to hang a PH pendant over a dining table
Leave 60–70 cm between tabletop and shade for a PH 5 or PH 5 Mini, 50–60 cm for a PH 4/3 and about 60 cm for a PH 3/2, then check the height sitting down.
Short answer: Leave 60–70 cm between the tabletop and the underside of a PH 5 Pendant Lamp, and start a PH 5 Mini at the same height. Hang a PH 4/3 at 50–60 cm and a PH 3/2 at around 60 cm. Then sit down at the table: if you can see up into the shade, lower it; if it cuts across a face, raise it.
The starting height for each PH pendant
The number that matters is the gap between the tabletop and the bottom of the shade, not the height from the floor. Louis Poulsen gives 60–70 cm for the PH 5 and 50–60 cm for the PH 4/3 Pendant, whose all-metal shades send the light cleanly down. The PH 3/2 Pendant, a compact combination drawn for lower hanging heights, settles at around 60 cm. For the PH 5 Mini Pendant Lamp we start at the PH 5's 60–70 cm, since it is the same geometry at 30 cm.
| Pendant | Shade width | Lamp height | Weight | Gap above table | Table it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PH 5 | 500 mm | 267 mm | 4.6 kg | 60–70 cm | Four to six seats, kitchen islands |
| PH 5 Mini | 300 mm | 163 mm | 1.9 kg (brass 3.1, copper 4.3) | 60–70 cm | Two to four seats, counters, a pair over an island |
| PH 4/3 | 400 mm | 200 mm | 2.5 kg | 50–60 cm | Dining tables, counters, a wide desk |
| PH 3/2 | 285 mm | 242 mm | 3.1–3.2 kg | About 60 cm | Two-person tables, island ends |
All four come with a 3 m fabric cord and a canopy, take one bulb with no bulb included, and are rated IP20 for indoor use.
Work out the cord drop before you drill
The drop is the length of cord between the ceiling and the top of the lamp. The formula is simple: ceiling height, minus table height, minus the gap, minus the height of the lamp itself. People forget the last one, and on a PH 5 it is 26.7 cm.
Worked example: a 250 cm ceiling, a 74 cm table and a PH 5 at 65 cm. 250 − 74 − 65 − 26.7 = 84 cm of cord below the canopy. Here is the same sum for each pendant at the middle of its range, over a 74 cm table:
| Ceiling height | PH 5 (65 cm gap) | PH 5 Mini (65 cm gap) | PH 4/3 (55 cm gap) | PH 3/2 (60 cm gap) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 cm | 84 cm | 95 cm | 101 cm | 92 cm |
| 270 cm | 104 cm | 115 cm | 121 cm | 112 cm |
| 300 cm | 134 cm | 145 cm | 151 cm | 142 cm |
In all of these rooms the 3 m cord has plenty to spare. Only in a double-height space, roughly above 4 m, do you need to measure carefully. On a sloping ceiling, take the vertical measurement at the point where the canopy will sit.
Check it sitting down
Henningsen built the three-shade system in 1926 so the light source is hidden behind the shades. That protection is geometric: it holds while you look at the outside of the shade and weakens once your eye can look up into it. So the test is done seated, not standing.
Hang the lamp temporarily at your calculated drop. Sit in the chair furthest from it and look at the person opposite. You should see the outside of the shade, not the inside, and you should not have to lean to see a face. Adjust in small steps and recheck from the same chair. The table is right when it is the brightest surface in the room.
Pairs and rows
A long table or island often wants two pendants. Spacing follows the shade, not a fixed number:
- Leave at least one shade width of air between shades. Two PH 5s then sit about 100 cm apart centre to centre, two PH 5 Minis about 60 cm, two PH 4/3s about 80 cm and two PH 3/2s about 57 cm.
- Keep the edge of each outer shade in from the table end by at least half a shade width, so the row does not overhang the last place setting.
- Set every shade at the same gap above the table, measured from the tabletop, because ceilings are rarely as level as they look.
Worked example: a 220 cm table with two PH 5s 100 cm apart puts each centre 60 cm from the table end, so the shade edge sits 35 cm in, comfortably more than the 25 cm minimum.
Our pick for each table
- A round table of about 90 cm for two to four: one PH 5 Mini at 65 cm. A shade about a third of the table's diameter lights it without crowding it.
- A rectangular table for six: one PH 5 at 60–70 cm, centred on the table rather than the room.
- A kitchen island of 200 cm or more: two PH 5 Minis about 60 cm apart, which give two even pools instead of one large one.
- A small table for two by a window: the PH 3/2 at about 60 cm, whose opal glass also glows when seen from the side.
- A low room where the pendant should stay quiet: the white PH 4/3 at 50–60 cm. At 200 mm tall it uses the least height of the four.
For what each shade in the system does, read how the PH three-shade system works. To compare every Henningsen pendant, see the Poul Henningsen collection.
