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!
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!