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I have a carport with 24″ OC framing and a low pitch roof. I am going to put on twin wall polycarb or lucite when I pull off the ancient rippled fiberglass.
I would like to light this for both outdoor living(hanging out with a brew) and for when the cars roll in at night. I don’t like the floods on a sensor, want a lot softer look, less glare. Thought about rope light on a sensor, can lights in boxes(would need ugly boxes), Christmas white lights(hard to keep up with the bulbs etc. Anyone have good ideas? Don’t think gas tiki torches will be right for this!
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Rope light should work well. Low profile, low wattage, low maintenance. Are you going to use the kind that chases itself?
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Don't know, how does that work? You mean that plug in end to end?http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
As soon as I sent that I wondered if it would be confusing. No, I meant the kind like you see on christmas trees wher the colors change and look like they are moving down the row."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Ack! I don't think so! But I have thought of using icycle types with twinkler bulbs. Cheeky, but it might look pretty good. If I used rope it would be easy to install and maintain.http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
Dang it, I'm on the wrong computer for a photo.
I used Phillips commercial tree lighting and ran a loop around my 10x20' porch, and that (200 lamps) was exactly the right amount of light for my porch. I spent about 4-5x what plain white xmas lights would have run--but, it was only a month ago that nth lamp finally burned out enough to darken the string. Not a bad run for six years, really.
Mine are on X-10 switches, including a motion detector, only problem there is that you have to keep moving, and then wait out the reset period on the MD. I'm probably going to go with a split of half on MD, and half on a dedicated X10 switch. That will probably be 'reactive' enough for occasional use, and not go completely dark during dedicated use.
Exterior-rated rope lighting might make a neater install (especially with dedicated clips) though--a little more planned "looking." Maybe.
With the holidays coming up I've noticed Phillips LED xmas light strings at Target and other retailers. I've used them with a small inverter on my sailboat for years. They use a minimal amount of energy...about 90 percent less than incandescents, and strings of tiny white bulbs are available. They aren't as 'warm' as filament bulbs but they advertise 60,000 hr life, and you won't notice them on your electric bill.
Cool. I noticed the LED lights all over the place. Far less wattage, less chance of popping the breaker. Spendier up front, lower cost down the road. Maybe I need swirling color fiber optics!http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com