My Lawn Care

Lighting outdoor areas for night-time entertainment is often a challenge. Many people still use torches, while others have moved to low-voltage lighting. However, perhaps the best and safest lighting outdoor lighting is LED rope lighting.

If you need to light up a patio or other area where you don't want or have cords or fixtures, or if you want great accent lighting, LED rope lights can be the best choice.

Rope lighting is a generic term for accent lights displayed in long tubes or "ropes." A typical rope light consists of numerous 1/2 watt micro-bulbs, spaced about an inch apart and placed inside a clear or colored flexible PVC resin tube. Both 120 volt and 12 volt versions are available, and the lights are rated for both indoor and outdoor use.

The tiny bulbs are maintenance free, and are not intended for replacement. Most of the rope lights are rated for about 25,000 hours of use before they fail -- if you had them on for an average of 4 hours every day, it translates into about 17 years of life. At 1/2 watt each and spaced 1 inch apart, a typical rope light will generate approximately 6 watts per foot (it would take about 10 feet of rope light to equal the energy usage of one 60-watt light bulb). The tube gets only slightly warm to the touch, and does not present a burn danger.

Outdoors, rope lights are beautiful around decks and deck railings, along paths, as safety lighting for steps, or as architectural or landscaping accent lights in any of a variety of areas.