A wall lantern that looks right beside a single-storey porch can shrink to a small dot on a double-height entrance or on a plain facade that rises two storeys above the gate. The wall lights range has 14 codes listed at 20 inches tall or more, from PWL 2520 at 20 × 12 in up to the largest size of PWL 1071 at 32 × 13 in. Below are the five mistakes we see most often when an architect or a contractor moves up to one of those sizes, followed by a table of all 14.
Placing the centre mark has its own wall lantern height note. Everything here assumes that mark is already on the elevation.
Five mistakes with large wall lanterns
Mistake 1
Choosing the size from the product photograph
Each catalogue photograph is shot against a plain background, so nothing in the frame gives you the scale. PWL 1071 is made in three sizes, 13 × 7, 22 × 8 and 32 × 13 inches, and one photograph serves all three. The size that goes on the drawing has to come from the size list on the product page and its dimension image, where the first figure is the height and the second is the width across the front.
Before the code is fixed, cut a sheet of cardboard to the listed height and width, tape it to the wall at the centre mark and walk back to the gate. If the cut-out reads as a small patch against the plaster from the road, move up a size or change the code.
Mistake 2
Scaling the height and ignoring the width
A tall lantern can still be slim. PWL 2514 is 22 inches tall and 7 wide, while PWL 2555 is the same height at 12 wide. On a broad blank wall the slim body can look like a stick, and on a narrow pier between two windows the wide one crowds the openings. Give the width column the same attention as the height, and compare it with the clear plaster on each side of the lantern.
Mistake 3
Forgetting the chajja above the door
A larger body grows both upward and downward from the centre mark. Many Indian elevations carry a chajja or a lintel band a short way above the main door, and a 24 inch lantern that fitted on plan can meet the sunshade on site. Measure from the centre mark to the underside of the chajja and compare that figure with half the listed height, leaving room for the finial and the fixing. When it falls short, drop to a smaller size of the same code or take a shorter body from the table below.
Mistake 4
Leaving the fixing to the day of installation
A 32 inch casting weighs far more than a 13 inch porch lantern, and the wall has to carry it through the backplate. Hollow block and stone cladding over block each need a different anchor from solid brick, and the electrician who arrives with a drill may not carry the right one. Write the wall build-up on the enquiry, bring the cable out where the backplate will sit so the conduit stays hidden, and settle both before the final coat of paint goes on.
Mistake 5
Ordering the entrance pair separately from the rest of the house
The large pair at the entrance is often ordered first, and the smaller lanterns for the side walls and the compound wall follow weeks later. Two lots coated at different times can drift in tone, which shows when both sit in one view from the road. Put the large pair and the smaller run on one order in one finish. Several large codes are also made in smaller sizes of the same design. PWL 2520 comes in 20 × 12, 16 × 7 and 13 × 6, so the side wall lanterns can carry the entrance shape at a smaller scale.
The 14 codes at 20 inches and taller
Sizes are the product-page figures with the height first. The millimetre columns are converted from inches. Open each product page, and its dimension drawing where one is shown, before a code goes onto a sheet.
| Code | Size (in) | Size (mm) | Finish | Smaller sizes of the same code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PWL 1071 | 32 × 13 | 813 × 330 | Matte Black | 22 × 8, 13 × 7 |
| PWL 2513 | 26 × 8 | 660 × 203 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 2561 | 24 × 9 | 610 × 229 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 2515 | 24 × 12 | 610 × 305 | Raw Grey | 18 × 8 |
| PWL 2519 | 22 × 9 | 559 × 229 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 2555 | 22 × 12 | 559 × 305 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 1076 | 22 × 8 | 559 × 203 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 2525 | 22 × 8 | 559 × 203 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 2514 | 22 × 7 | 559 × 178 | Matte Black | None listed |
| PWL 2506 | 21 × 9 | 533 × 229 | Antique | 14 × 7 |
| PWL 2557 | 21 × 9 | 533 × 229 | Antique | 14 × 7 |
| PWL 2509 | 21 × 8 | 533 × 203 | Matte Black | None listed |
| PWL 2559 | 21 × 8 | 533 × 203 | Antique | None listed |
| PWL 2520 | 20 × 12 | 508 × 305 | Antique | 16 × 7, 13 × 6 |
Ten of the fourteen are Antique. A facade detailed in matte black has three codes to pick from, PWL 1071, 2514 and 2509, and of those only PWL 1071 at its 32 × 13 size is broad. PWL 2515 is the one large code in Raw Grey, and its 18 × 8 size suits the side walls of the same house. PWL 2561 sits in the New Collection.
Four codes are 12 inches or more across: PWL 1071, 2515, 2555 and 2520. Keep those for a wide blank wall or a broad pier. The other ten are 7 to 9 inches across and sit better on a tall, narrow strip of wall between a door frame and a window. How the antique wipe is applied over the powder coat is set out in powder coat and antique finish, and the comparison of the two main finishes sits in matte black or antique gold.
Placing the order
Send the elevation with the centre marks, the distance from each mark up to the chajja or soffit, the clear wall width, the wall build-up and your shortlisted codes. Mark each line either as an empty housing, which your electrician glazes and wires locally, or as a complete lantern with glass and LED. Lamp holders are B22 by default, so ask on the quote if the site needs a different one.
A pair of entrance lanterns on its own is two pieces and is billed at retail list. Adding the side wall and compound wall lanterns to the same order can bring a house up to a trade lot, which starts at 10 pieces. Prices are in INR, ex-works Aligarh, and freight is quoted on top; the About and shipping pages carry the terms. A lot of about ten catalogue pieces usually leaves the works in around four days, and bigger lots take one to two weeks. Sizes the catalogue does not list are cast only from a physical sample you send, in lots of 50 pieces or more, as custom replica from a sample explains.
WhatsApp the elevation to +91 70176 62533. All 56 wall codes, including the 14 above, are in the 2026 catalogue PDF.
Kunal's father Yogendra and his uncle Dharmendra shared the workshop knowledge used in this post.