Ideas for LED string lighting
4Has anyone done some cool stuff with the string LED lights purchased here on Meh.? I thought I could use them in my renovated kitchen, but the builder wasn’t too cool with that. Any pictures for ideas inside or out would be appreciated.
Here’s a picture of my own, stitched together by Google from pics I took with the DSLR I bought here:
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I live in loft style place that tends to be pretty dark so we took one of the 32.8 foot strands and wrapped it around the railing upstairs to help illuminate the place. It worked wonders. I’ll try to remember to take a picture tonight and post it up for you.
@MEHcus muchas gracias, i’m trying to think where the might be cool to use and have an outlet placed nearby while i can without too much effort or cost
@DMlivezey
I put a long string along the sidewalk that leads to the front door and then up behind the downspout and over the garage door. Connected to a solar sensor thing so it comes on automatically at night. It lights up the walk way as well as the address numbers that are above the garage.
I’ve used some on a temporary basis while working on stuff in the garage. It’s great that they’re flexible, not really breakable, and put off a ton of bright white light for seeing whatever you’re working on. (like under a car)
@medz excellent idea for work lighting, thanks! i just kept buying these things thinking i wanted long ones, and then i better get some shorter ones, and then Meh. sent me one in a Fuko, so they’re stacking up and the spouse is not so happy…
Interior lighting for our liquor cabinet.
We also wrapped another length of them around a spiral staircase that is in our living room because the normal light switch is in a terrible location.
@Moose
So… Meh get-together next week?
@Moose Problem: Light switch in in a terrible location.
Solution: Put a spiral staircase in the middle of the living room, so as to detract from the shitty switch location.
That’s some Feng Shui type shit right there.
@Moose great idea, thanks
@G1 Nah, the spiral staircase is in the corner. The problem is the room was built assuming you’d light it with lamps, so there is a convenient switch when you walk right in that controls two outlets (one of which we plug the rope light into). Then someone decided to install a ceiling fan/light, but put the switch on the far side of the room for some reason.
@Moose I have that same orange boomerang dog toy. Our dog loves it!
My wife hated the single light bulb in the middle of the garage ceiling, so I converted the light socket into a plug (with one of those screw in adapters) and plugged in a couple of strands of the led lights. I fastened them to the ceiling with the clips and some longer nails. Now when she flips the switch she gets a bright, smooth light that seems to come from everywhere and lights up the entire garage.
@Je11yman I would love to see a picture of this if you get a chance to share!
@luvche21 Oh boy, no judging right?
@Je11yman
Would you recommend that telescope?
@FroodyFrog Well, from someone who has little budget for that kind of thing, I am pretty impressed with it. It is old, but still works amazingly well. Lenses can be found on ebay for cheap, and the built in tracking motors are surprisingly efficient. So yes, for the casual backyard astronomer, I recommend it.
@Je11yman So I am not the only one who uses the garage for a storage shed. I feel much better now.
@Je11yman that’s much brighter than I thought it would be, thanks for sharing!
@Je11yman Like. I had thought about using the longer ropes in the garage too, but up in the corners all the way around. Ours has an I-beam running across it about 5 feet back from the door so it would be two large rectangles of rope. But I think running it along the ceiling like you did will be better. Too much chance of shelves and all the wall-mount shelf stuff blocking light from the corner mounts.
I, sad to say, have failed to complete my closet lighting projects (haven’t had time to get power run in). Wide closets with one or two sets of bi-fold doors. I have the strips mounted above the doors on the inside of the closet, with wireless wall switches. I need to get an outlet run into each closet still. They light up the entire closet, including the shelves above the hangar rods.
Last Christmas I used one of the ropes to outline a large triangle feature on the front of our townhouse with the wreath in the center. Had to use a dimmer so we didn’t blind drivers in the street
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@duodec great idea for the closet - i guess you’d have to have a switch on the outlet?
@DMlivezey Remote switch, uses a switch box on the wall outside the closet that is a radio transmitter and has batteries in it, and a little relay at the outlet that controls power to the attached device. Other than the wall switch being about 1/2" thick it looks pretty much like a normal wall switch. The batteries last about 2-3 years so not too inconvenient compared to running conduit, installing switch boxes, fixing plaster, etc.
@duodec so this is an after the fact solution, no need to pay my electrician to switch the outlet?
@DMlivezey You have to have a conveniently placed outlet (which is what I’m missing). This isn’t the exact model I have but same concept: Here
These come in two different frequencies; if you have two places you want to use them, make sure to get the different frequency variants (or a type that is user switchable) if they are close enough to each other to interfere.
@dmilvezey 3 of the 32.8 ft. strands fit perfectly between my house and backhouse/garage. Zip-tied them onto thin wire cables I hung and tightened 'em up w/ turnbuckles on both ends. I think they can be seen from the Intl. Space Station, so I’ll probably get a dimmer. Plus I might be in violation of my town’s outdoor lighting ordinance…
@Jdub Wow. That’s crazy bright. I like it.
Unfortunately outdoor lighting ruins our view of the night sky. I wish there was a compromise.
@Jdub awesome, inspired me to get an outlet by our planned patio area, but @riotdemon i do like to look at the night sky, hmmm…
@DMlivezey I’m with @RiotDemon on the night sky view too, but my burg is unfortunately located in the middle of a big city
/buy
@carl669 Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re trying to buy. Make sure you’re posting in today’s deal topic.
@mediocrebot in the context of this thread, i want some led rope lights. i was stupid not to buy them before. please help me @mediocrebot!
@carl669 After seeing some of these ideas–specifically garage lighting–I want to /buy too!
@carl669 @therealjrn i’ll bet i’ll have some left over, even after all these great ideas, but shipping cost would be prohibitive compared to VMP
/giphy shipping heavy items
@DMlivezey I’m in the middle of getting my double garage all cleaned up and organized. Now that the Oklahoma temp and humidity make it about a billion degrees I’ve slowed down considerably. I’ve got it to the point of being able to fit my car in and I’m able to open the driver’s side door without banging into crap–so it’s all good for now. Mehbe Meh will get some more by the time I’m ready to upgrade the lighting. My local HomeDepot has 18 foot LED rope lights for about $35 which is still less expensive than shop lights so I can always fall back onto them.
/giphy lights
