subject: Light Up Your Life With Rope Lighting [print this page] Recent innovations in lighting fixtures have opened up all kinds of creativity in decorating ideas. Switch out some of your traditional light fixtures or just add new rope lighting to your projects.
Rope lighting is a string of LED lights that are extremely flexible allowing you to use them in a straight line or they can be curved all the way into a U shape if desired. They are available in standard 120V as well as 12 V and 24 V, which do require a converter box attachment. Depending on the application you plan to use, it will be a good idea to get the advice of an electrical contractor, especially since the 120 V lights can be both used with a standard cord and plugged in or you can actually direct wire them to a light switch. The ones using a converter box are more do-it-yourself friendly.
There are several installation methods, from metal channels that the lights can fit into, to plastic clips that are attached, then snapping the light onto the groove in the hook. Then you would plug the cord into your light socket. These lights are available in clear, warm white, various colors, as well as multi-color lights on one string.
Some of these light strings can actually be cut into specified marked lengths, which vary by manufacturer, and you can connect different lengths (but not voltages) together to make unusual configurations for your lighting. This is something that you can not do with traditional lighting. Talk about economical; they only uses 6 watts per foot of power, quite a savings over traditional lighting.
Kitchens often do not have enough lighting and these would be great to install on the underside of kitchen cabinets. They could be placed inside the metal channels or by using the plastic clips. By direct wiring to a wall switch with an appropriate dimmer switch, these little lights could function as nightlights also, so you wouldn't have to enter a dark kitchen.
Another great use for these lights would be on the underside of a handrail of a stairway on a two-story house. They would provide enough extra lighting in the evening without having to turn on the overhead light to see where you are going.
Think of all the ways you can use this type of lighting outside, either on a regular basis or especially during the Christmas holiday season. These lights can be used indoors as well as outdoors because of the waterproof plastic tubing the LED lights are inside of. Light a pathway; accent the edges of the driveway and flowerbeds. Create ambiance lighting for those outdoor parties in the summer by stringing some on the patio.
At Christmas, use colors of your choice and decorate around the roof line of the house, the edge of the porch roof, trees, and the bushes. Since accessories are available to create either flashing or chasing lights, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
Rope lighting can be purchased many places, such as hardware stores, retail stores and lawn and garden centers.
