LED Rope Lights V/S LED Strip Lights - A Comparative Guide (2023)

FAQs

What's the difference between LED rope lights and LED strip lights? ›

Since strip lights are mounted on a circuit board, they have a beam angle of 120 degrees. However, they are brighter and help cover a large area. On the other hand, rope lights are omnidirectional lights. They offer a beam angle of 360 degrees, as it comes in a transparent casing.

LEDs from strip lights often produce a much better illumination than rope lights. The chips mounted on LED strips come in different sizes. They run mostly on 12/24vDC input.

LED strip lights shine brighter than the LED rope lights, so they are used for task lighting and display lighting. LED strip lights are dimmable, so they range from low brightness to high brightness.

The answer to this question is a resounding yes. You can leave LED light strings on all night and not worry about safety, cost, or reliability.

How much electricity does a rope light use? LED rope lights consume approximately 1 watt per foot of lighting. In contrast, an incandescent rope light uses 3 watts per foot. LED rope lights also have longer working lives, roughly four times the life span of their incandescent counterparts.

Incandescent rope light has the benefit of lower up-front costs and lasts up to 3,000 hours, which is perfect for seasonal use. For long term and landscape lighting projects, LED rope light uses less energy, which allows for longer runs to be connected together. LED rope light is estimated to last up to 100,000 hours.

The higher the Kelvin, the bluer or whiter the light. People tend to look the best when illuminated by light bulbs that measure around 2700 kelvins.

Overheating – While properly installed rope light can handle outdoor conditions like water and cold with ease, too much sunshine and high temperatures can warp the plastic casing, which in turn can cause early failures.

How many feet of LED rope lights can be connected together? ›

CONNECTABLE & FLEXIBLE: These RGB LED rope lights are extendable units. Coaxial connector can connect up to 65.6ft (Connect up to 4 sets of the same model rope lights).

Since 12v LED rope light requires a transformer, it will lower the overall power usage however LED already has a lower electrical draw than incandescent so the difference between the two might not be readily noticeable.

There are a number of basic reasons for LED lights to fail but the primary issue is heat. Over-heating can be a result of a number of design and assembly issues but is still the cause of the majority of LED lamp failures – both in the fitting themselves and also the drivers.

LEDs use between 25- and 80-percent less energy than incandescent lights. According to the DOE, the annual energy cost of a 60 W incandescent light is $4.80, but the comparable cost of a 12 W LED, providing the same light as a 60 W incandescent light, is $1.00.

It's well-documented that exposure to blue light can negatively impact your sleep quality. Electronic screens, LED lights, and fluorescent lights can all contain blue light. One small older study from 1991 and one 2016 study on mice found evidence that green light could also negatively impact melatonin levels.

Blue light, the type of bright light that comes from natural sunlight and the LCD/LED screens of our electronic devices, can boost our attention, reaction times and moods during the day. But at night, it disrupts our biological clocks and makes our bodies think we should stay awake when all we need is sleep.

“The benefits of LED lights are cumulative,” says Darden. “So if you're going to spend all that money on the product, you need to be diligent. Everyone has their own routine, but I recommend five times per week. Sure, you'll see some results when using it less often—but they won't be nearly as effective.”

Lighting accounts for around 15% of an average home's electricity use, and the average household saves about $225 in energy costs per year by using LED lighting. if you are still using incandescent light bulbs, switching to energy-efficient lighting is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy bills.

LED lights are definitely cheaper than their counterparts. Not only do LED's consume less energy, but the bulbs also use energy more efficiently, which saves a lot of money.

Is it cheaper to leave LED lights on or turn them off? ›

As lighting accounts for around 15 per cent of home electricity usage, turning off your lights can play a part in reducing your energy use.

They Don't Burn Out

LED bulbs don't burn out like regular bulbs, which simply stop working abruptly when they run out of power. Instead, LED bulbs slowly degrade over time. After several years, their brightness dims.

After unspooling your rope light, not only should you plug it in to test it, but it is a good idea to keep it plugged in for a few minutes to warm up the outer plastic tubing, making it more pliable. (Be sure to unplug it again before installation.)

The mark that indicates a safe spot for cutting rope light will typically look like a small pair of scissors or a dashed line. This is the only place that LED or incandescent rope light should be cut.

After weeks of testing, the LIFX Lightstrip Color Zones (available at Amazon) is the best LED strip light thanks to the variety of lighting features, easy setup, and integration with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri for hands-free voice control.

XED lights are better in terms of spectral contents, power consumption as well as total running life hours. They produce less glares and are clearer under foggy weather. Moreover, the XED lights don't have excess blue emissions like LED lights.

Red light. Red light is by far the best calming light color for sleep. Choosing a red light as a nightlight ensures that you don't disrupt your circadian rhythm. So switching to a red light a few hours before going to bed will surely help you fall asleep easier.

Are rope lights a fire hazard? ›

Rope lights can indeed be a source of fire, despite what at first appears to be an innocuous level of heat dissipation. In our view, the rope light is akin to a light producing heat tape. Some of the caveats that apply to installing heat tapes also apply to rope lights.

Rope lighting has sections of light bulbs connected together in 18”, 24” or 36” lengths depending on the rope construction. Unfortunately, the bulbs are not replaceable. If this occurs, replace the item, or use it as is.

We found that the GuoTonG and the Amazon Basics were brightest in the 24-inch test, and the Torchstar brightest overall when coiled together. Even though the GuoTonG is just a rope light it fully illuminated our loft.

Vetco recommends, as a general rule, not to connect more than three complete strips end-to-end without adding in extra, higher gauge power wire or additional power supply units down the line.

The cutting intervals are as follows: 30 LEDs per metre can be cut every 10cm, 60 LEDs per metre can be cut every 5cm, and. 120 LEDs per metre can be cut every 2.5cm.

You can typically connect 8 to 10 times more LED light strings together end to end while only using one plug outlet. Most traditional Christmas mini lights allow you to connect only 4 or 5 sets end to end, but with many LED mini light strings you can connect 40 to 50+ together depending on the light count.

Voltage Selection

The most common LED strip and battery voltage combination is 12V DC. Unless you have a specific situation that requires something else, 12V should work just fine.

Do LED rope lights get hot? No. While incandescent rope light generate light by heating a filament, LED rope light use a completely different silicon-based technology that does not produce heat under operation.

A common choice when choosing an LED strip is either 12V or 24V. Both fall within low voltage lighting, with 12V being the more common specification.

What is the average life of an LED light? ›

In recent years, many have switched from old incandescent or halogen bulbs to LED, with one main reason being the longer lifespan of this technology. The average lifespan of an LED light is a whopping 50,000 hours, whereas many traditional bulbs only last a few thousand.

LED lights are unlikely to start a fire. The bulbs don't get hot enough to ignite anything. The biggest risks are faulty wiring or overloaded circuits. This is often caused by the way they are installed, rather than an issue with the light itself.

If the LEDs will not light up at all, then this could be down to a faulty power supply. Solution: If you have several power supplies, then try a different power supply onto the same strip to see if this now works. If it does, then you have a faulty power supply and will need a new one.

To put it simply, well-manufactured LED lights are extremely long-lasting and can be left on 24 hours, 7 days a week. This is because, unlike conventional types of light, LEDs produce minimal amounts of heat, which means they are unlikely to overheat or set on fire.

Because LED lights are cooler than other types of lightbulbs (meaning they don't get as warm), bugs aren't as attracted to them in general.

Fundamentally, there are three different types of LED technology that are used in LED lighting – DIP, SMD and COB.

A rope light is primarily used as a decorative lighting fixture, featuring small light bulbs linked together and encased in a PVC jacket to create a string of lights. Rope lights can be used in many applications both indoors and outdoors. Used in place of neon signs, it is sometimes called soft neon.

Incandescent rope light has the benefit of lower up-front costs and lasts up to 3,000 hours, which is perfect for seasonal use. For long term and landscape lighting projects, LED rope light uses less energy, which allows for longer runs to be connected together. LED rope light is estimated to last up to 100,000 hours.

How do rope lights work? A rope light is comprised of bulbs (LED or incandescent) spaced along a set of inner wires. Rope lights are divided into sections and are wired in "series parallel". This means that if a bulb fails, only the section it is in will go dark; the rest of the rope light will stay lit.

Which type of LED is best? ›

There are three types of LED in the market LED, OLED and QLED. Which is better LED or OLED or QLED? OLED comes on top by delivering a better viewing angle, uses less power, and with a deeper black level and is also good for health. QLED has higher brightness, a longer life span, and larger screen sizes.

Whereas the smart bulb offers lights and ambiance alike, the light strip is more designed for ambiance than lighting up a room. Available in a variety of sizes, colors and price, smart light strips like the Govee are really fun to introduce accent colors, decorate a wall or add some vibrancy to a room.

If one of your LED light strands isn't working, it's probably just because it has a bad bulb. If one bulb dies, it can cause the rest of the strand to stop working. The only way to fix the problem is to find the bad bulb. Sometimes only a section of the lights will go out, making your job pretty easy.

To put it simply, well-manufactured LED lights are extremely long-lasting and can be left on 24 hours, 7 days a week. This is because, unlike conventional types of light, LEDs produce minimal amounts of heat, which means they are unlikely to overheat or set on fire.

The answer is that, like any light source, they do indeed generate some heat. However, LED lights actually produce significantly less heat than other alternatives because they have a built-in heat sink. This heat sink is a feature that is added to LED lights that allow the heat generated by the light to escape.

The mark that indicates a safe spot for cutting rope light will typically look like a small pair of scissors or a dashed line. This is the only place that LED or incandescent rope light should be cut.

Vetco recommends, as a general rule, not to connect more than three complete strips end-to-end without adding in extra, higher gauge power wire or additional power supply units down the line.