String lights!

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Melt In The Sun

Melt In The Sun

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Oct 29, 2009
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Tucson, AZ
With our pergola just about complete (incomplete to-be-updated story here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/68235-Building-a-pergola), we're starting to think about lighting! Probably going to go with string lights...anyone have experience with these? We have used a fairly inexpensive clip-on set that we would wrap around a big umbrella at night. They've lasted pretty well for 3 or 4 years, but we didn't use them all that much and they've been stored out of the weather.

So, does anyone have anything that is more or less permanently installed? I'm wondering if the "commercial" "heavy duty" stuff is worth the 3x-4x cost. It will be exposed to the weather...mostly shaded (pergola top is 75-80% shade) but will get rained on, rarely here in Tucson.

Here's the kind of stuff we're looking at:

Cheaper: http://www.noveltylights.com/C7-100-String-on-Black-Wire-100-Sockets.html
Expensiver: http://www.noveltylights.com/100-Black-Commercial-Grade-Stringer-100-Candleabra-C7-Base-Sockets.html

Also struggling a bit with how much light we might need...recommendations for interior lighting are a bit variable, and this isn't interior anyway! The pergola is about 325 square feet, so using one of the 100' strands linked above would be 500w/325 = roughly 1.5w/sqft. Or, we could double that and be at 3w/sqft, but that seems awfully bright. We don't need to read out there, but don't want it to be too dark to, say, carve a pumpkin. Any thoughts are appreciated!
 
Have you thought about using LED rope lights. You can get them pretty much any length you need, plus you can cut them down if you buy too much. Also, they use way less power and theoretically last 20 times as long. I put a dedicated outlet that is mounted high up on one of the legs of my gazebo. That outlet is tied directly into my easytouch, so I can turn the lights on and off with the wireless remote. I was in the same boat as you, but finally decided against buying those globe type strings.
 
Stang - we looked at lots of stuff...with LEDs, nothing is bright enough unless you spend hundreds.

Smforte - really? That's odd...we have left ours out and that hasn't happened. It shouldn't unless the glass has already cracked, right? Now you've got me worried.
 
Well, we went ahead and ordered the less expensive ones...100' total. I cannot imagine that 100 7w bulbs won't be bright enough. If the cheaper wires fail we're only out 30 bucks.

I'll post some pictures once they're set up!
 
We have a 8x10 covered pergola type structure and ran rope lights around the inside up against the tin roof. My wife was insistent on adding some of those lantern type string lights with the 7w bulbs. Way to bright. And we only added an X pattern (corner to corner) so maybe 32' of them. But our structure had a lid (metal roof)
So it reflects light down.


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Melt In The Sun said:
Well, we went ahead and ordered the less expensive ones...100' total. I cannot imagine that 100 7w bulbs won't be bright enough. If the cheaper wires fail we're only out 30 bucks.

I'll post some pictures once they're set up!
Click to expand...

::epds:: Been waiting for a nice night shot. We went with a way cheap option MITS. I re-puposed a few strings of solid green traditional Cristmas Tree lights. Honestly, they have served us well, and I'll burn them till they go out. Once they do, I hope we can find something similar as they are going out of style it seems.
 
Bought a 60 ft string of LED rope lights from an EBAY seller for about $60.00 and ended up only using about 50ft. Took this photo from 40ft away. Although not always as aesthetically appealing as the globes, they do have their place.

11avj2b.jpg
 

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There is a provision for Christmas lights. It's a dark sky rule. The town also has a similar ordnance. All lights have to be shielded to cut down on light pollution. You should understand that, it's all about keeping those "stars at night big and bright".
 
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