Plug-in chandeliers

A plug-in chandelier looks like a workaround for people who cannot have a real one. In practice it has one clear advantage over the hardwired version, and it is the thing that matters most about a chandelier: you can dim it with nothing but a device in the cord.

A hardwired dining chandelier sized to light the room is far too bright to eat under, and dimming it means replacing a wall switch - electrical work, and permission if you rent. A plug-in chandelier runs through an ordinary outlet, so a plug-in dimmer in the cord does the same job in thirty seconds. That is the whole argument, and it is why this page is built around the dimmer as much as the bulbs.

The other advantage is permissions. The only fixing is a ceiling hook - a small hole, not a wiring change. For a rented dining room with no ceiling box over the table, it is often the only way a chandelier happens at all. The permission tiers are in can you change a light fixture in an apartment.

A chandelier is chosen for how it looks, and this site has no standing to rank one frame against another on appearance. What decides whether it lights the room well is what goes in the sockets and how you control it - so those are the picks.

Satco B11 candelabra, 90 CRI - the bulb pick. 500 lumens at 2700K with a published CRI of 90. A chandelier hangs over a table where food and faces are, which is the job color rendering matters for - and most candelabra bulbs publish no CRI at all.
Cons: enclosed-fixture suitability is not stated, and the decorative B11 shape is wrong for chandeliers with small shades over each bulb.

Luxrite E12, 2700K - for shaded or covered arms. 500 lumens, dimmable, and rated for enclosed fixtures and wet locations - the one to use if each bulb sits under a small glass shade.
Cons: no published CRI, and sold in large packs.

Lutron Credenza plug-in dimmer - the reason to go plug-in. Sits between the chandelier's plug and the outlet on a 6 ft cord and handles 100W of dimmable LED load - six 5W candelabra bulbs is 30W, well inside it.
Cons: it sits at the outlet, which is at floor level by the wall, not beside the table.

Lutron Pico remote - to put the control where you sit. Paired with a Caseta plug-in dimmer, it puts the dimmer by the door or on the table. Lutron publishes a ten-year typical battery life. See wireless wall remotes.
Cons: it pairs with Caseta hardware, not with the Credenza.

Use a hook rated for the weight, into something solid. A chandelier is heavier than a pendant, and a hook into bare drywall will not hold one. Find a joist, or use a toggle anchor rated well above the fixture's weight. This is the one part of a plug-in chandelier that genuinely matters for safety.

Hang it at the right height. Roughly 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop for a standard ceiling - the same rule as a hardwired one, covered in dining room chandeliers.

Swag the cord on purpose. Run it from the fixture to a second hook near the wall, then straight down to the outlet. A deliberate drape reads as a design choice; a cord half-hidden behind furniture reads as a problem. The routing rules are in how to hide a plug-in fixture cord.

Buy every bulb at once, and dimmable. Six visible bulbs means six chances to mismatch, and a non-dimmable bulb defeats the entire reason for choosing a plug-in chandelier.