How to Hang Outdoor String Lights and Make Them Look Good Wirecutter
Table of Content
- What is the best way to hang outdoor string lights?
- Room Essentials 20ct Outdoor String Lights G40 Clear Bulbs
- Newhouse Lighting 48 ft. 11-Watt Outdoor Weatherproof String Light
- Best Outdoor String Lights for 2022
- How to Hang Outdoor String Lights (and Make Them Look Good)
- Best value for outdoor string lights
To be fair, Magitec offers two strands for the price of one, so one individual strand would actually be about 2,500 lumens -- about 500 less than a single Brightech strand. Looking at the chart above, you can see the brightness of both one individual bulb from each strand, as well as the total brightness of the entire strand from the solar and battery powered options. Hampton Bay has the brightest individual bulb, while Coleman says the brightest strand in this series overall because of a higher bulb count. For this category, I was specifically interested in brightness.
Shop your favorite products and we’ll find the best deal with a single click. These lights by Coleman, which are aimed at campers, are unlike all the other lights I tested.
What is the best way to hang outdoor string lights?
I measured these bulbs at about 80 lumens each, and with 18 total lights, that makes for nearly 1,500 lumens per strand, and you can link up to four sets for a total of nearly 6,000 lumens. Doubling down on my earlier sentiments, I didn't love any of the solar light options. But as far as the options I had to work with, this Hampton Bay set seriously outperformed the competitors. These lights were the most expensive per-bulb option on my list -- nearly doubling the runner up at $6 a bulb. This set has the most attractive bulb of the bunch, in my opinion.
You shouldn't do that since there will be live voltage flowing through that cable, so instead, this kit offers coated wire to attach to the buildings or trees where you want to hang the lights. The lights themselves have hanging hooks or eyes where you can thread the hanging wire through, taking all the tension off the powered wire. These bulbs come out to $2.33 a bulb, which puts them in the lower half of the list overall as far as price goes. Now, based solely on the cost per bulb, Feit Electric comes through as cheapest in this category at $1.86 a bulb for this 15-bulb strand. The light output on this unit is about 40 lumens per bulb for a total output of approximately 600 lumens -- the second lowest for our AC powered options.
Room Essentials 20ct Outdoor String Lights G40 Clear Bulbs
Unfortunately, these string lights can't be tested in our integrating sphere, but with some fancy math wizardry, I changed the calculations we needed from a sphere to a linear path and came up with a workable solution. Using a standard digital light meter, I was able to get an approximation of each bulb's light output in lumens. Outdoor lighting is a common topic for anyone who does anything outside their home once the sun starts to set. These Edison-bulb style lighting options are widely used -- not only for general outdoor lighting, but also accent and mood lighting or just for decoration. You'll find them at your neighbor's home, but also at restaurants and other public venues.
For Rachel, stringing lights underneath her deck added a welcoming feel to a previously not so cozy space. Doug, ever the handyperson, gathered up some 10-foot branches, buried them in the ground around his patio, and used them as light posts for a cool, rustic look. You can read more about my testing process below, but the main thing you need to know is that these Brightech lights are the brightest of the bunch. This sturdy, lengthy string of Edison-style glass bulbs is the best we’ve found to illuminate any outdoor space. I personally am not a fan of colored lights peeking out from every corner, but for those who are, you'll be hard pressed to find a better option. We’ve picked the best gear you need for a great outdoor movie night.
Newhouse Lighting 48 ft. 11-Watt Outdoor Weatherproof String Light
Magitec sports all the standard options -- hanging hooks, IP65 rated water resistant seals, shatterproof, dimmable, LED bulbs. We measured these bulbs with a lumen output of about 165 per bulb. Buying 30 total sockets means you're getting close to 5,000 lumens total. If you don’t want to use hardware, zip ties and fishing line can also discreetly handle the job.
These are also one of the only incandescent options we tested. That means more energy used to run these than the comparable LED options. But, if you're looking for light coverage on the cheap, this is a good option. In the AC powered options shown below, Brightech carries the brightest individual bulb at about 196 lumens. Magitec wins brightest overall with 30 bulbs at 165 lumens, for a total of almost 5,000 lumens.
Best Outdoor String Lights for 2022
These bulbs topped out at nearly 200 lumens each, about 15% and 30% more light output than the second and third place bulbs, respectively. At 15 bulbs, you're looking at close to 3,000 lumens for one strand of lights. Instead of hanging downward like the traditional Edison-bulb style options, the light capsules are in-line with the nylon braided power cord, which is outfitted with the occasional plastic hook to hang from. This helps keep the intrusion into your limited tent space to a minimum. Spruce up your outdoor patio or party spaces with these string lights. We recommend these smart versions of bulbs, path lights, and fixtures.
I'll break down the best and the worst for different use cases here, so let's get started. You can think of outdoor string lights the same as the bulbs you'd use inside your house. The incandescent bulbs will normally run much hotter than LED bulbs. Incandescent bulbs also have a significantly shorter lifespan, so while you can leave them on for weeks at a time, you'll need to replace the bulbs much sooner.
A portable and convenient set to put up and take down, these string lights are a good alternative if you’re looking for something to hang in a smaller area. The lights are dimmable, and aren't super bright, but there's enough light, especially in an enclosed tent space, to keep you from tripping over every single thing, or person, inside the tent with you. They'd offer some nice ambiance in an outdoor space, but again, not enough light to be super helpful for seeing much out in the open. Whether you’re looking to illuminate a backyard or balcony, or a picnic table or tent, we have recommendations for 8 delightful and weather-safe options. Outdoor string lights add instant ambiance to any porch, deck, or yard, allowing you to stretch summer evenings late into the night.
If you're truly looking for "value" and not just the cheapest option, I would recommend checking out Magitec. These lights tested as the second brightest bulbs overall, and this particular offering is for a two pack of these light strands. So double the linear coverage at 96 feet versus the next longest single strand at 48 feet. Generally speaking, you can think of the bulbs in an outdoor string light set the same way you'd think of the bulbs you'd use inside your house. The incandescent bulbs should have a significantly shorter lifespan than their LED counterparts.
The included packaging for these should include an estimated lifespan, but LED bulbs are regularly rated at 20 years. In some special cases where advanced features are involved, replacing bulbs may not be an option. To start, they aren't solar powered, but they do run off a rechargeable 4.8 amp-hour lithium ion battery. Onesource is Coleman's single battery to charge a host of camping equipment -- including the likes of lights, fans and air mattress pumps. One nifty perk is that the batteries include a USB-A charging port for your portable phones and the like.
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