Mood-Setting Outdoor String Lights Above Our Deck
In our second post related to our outdoor living, we will go over the Globe String Lights that we selected. Adding these along with the Outdoor Speakers (a post from last week) really has upped the game with our crew hanging outside in the evening. As I discussed last time, we spend time outside during the evening as much as we can. Our girls are always drawing, reading or surfing the web on their tablets if the weather permits. With the addition of the speakers and String Lighting – we are well on our way to really having something special.
Overhead Deck Lighting
We searched and searched for the right type of lights to get for the deck. We were going for the warm glowing type, not harsh bright LED bulbs. Even though LED’s are more energy efficient, in this type of situation you are not exactly concerned with the amount of electricity. I don’t know about you but I find the warm glow of regular incandescent bulbs relaxing. Also, many LED bulbs don’t do so well in the cold. We found a couple of good examples for the type of light we wanted.
I ordered one set from Amazon that was pure junk… I could not believe how bad they were. I didn’t even get them out of the package and sent them back. The second set I purchased locally at Lowes home improvement. Before even getting them up all the way, we saw that 4 of the 25 lights were not working. It was not the bulbs but the sockets/wire itself. So back to the store they went.
Finally, I went back to Amazon to find a quality set. Sorting on customer feedback I looked for 5 stars. Our goal was to target the next coming weekend. Shipping due to COVID, delayed the order. Even so, I ordered them and really glad that I did as the quality level was very high. We decided on the Lampat brand 25ft Globe String lights.
Outdoor Deck Products
Running Power
We also wanted to have a switch vs. plugging and un-plugging into the wall outlet all the time. Initially I thought I would just get a simple manual inline wall switch with the extension cord. However, when I saw the price tag for some of them, I thought to look elsewhere. I mean $40 at Lowes for an extension cord and a switch? Really that made zero sense.
It was not in the cards to wire in a wall switch connected to the outlet so the next best thing would be if we could get a wireless remote. This way we could mount it inside the house and toggle the light anytime we wanted without going outside.
I ended up ordering this wireless unit on Amazon along with our lights. The reviews were good enough and it had a couple of nice features. The quality feels much more expensive than what it cost and it works perfectly.
- It was a compact unit and could fit UNDER the outlet outside. With the clear weather protection cover this would work perfectly.
- The plug faced down to the deck. I could be rest assured that no water would easily get into the plug itself and cause a problem.
- Manual on/off switch if needed
Install your String Light DIY Steps
Time to Install 25 minutes
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Tools Needed for this install
1. A ladder or stepping stool
2. Cordless drill (if you want to secure the wire with brackets.
3. Staple gun (wide staples)
4. Hooks if needed
5. A post or a destination tree nearby -
Laying out the plan
This process, depending on your setup can be really easy to do. Identify “Where” do you want to mount the lights. It can be a tree, a deck post or another part of the roof. In our case, we used the roof as it was just the right angle. If you need to add posts to the decking, make sure you secure the target board with long screws or lag bolts.
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Running the wire from your outlet
From the outlet, take your extension cord and run it up the side of the wall. My walls are gray and so is the extension cord so it was really easy to hide. You may or may not want to get a wire conduit that can be painted to hide the wire on the wall. Take your hand staple gun (make sure you can cover the entire wire and don’t put a staple through the cord). Get as close to the starting location as possible to plugin your string lights.
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Pattern to run the String lights
Now that you are ready to run your string lights to the destination post and back. Keep this in mind: A. Spacing: you want the lights to be separated to expand the light coverage. Don’t bunch them together you can always go back to adjust later. B. Get a helper to spot check as you are hanging them up. Your perception on a ladder of how nice they will look is not the same as someone on your deck or patio.
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Test and Secure the String Lights
Once you get an idea of where you want to run the lights, use the staple gun to secure the lights. Be sure not to run a staple through the wiring. That could add to an early failure. Once you have them secured, plug them up to ensure everything is working as expected. If needed make adjustments to get the look just right. Don’t worry, you can always come back to get the spacing just right. If you are happy, go ahead and put a couple extra staples in place to further secure the lights in place.
I started with hooks, but I honestly felt like I could not secure them enough. We get some pretty strong winds and also have branches falling from trees. I don’t want to find these on the deck with broken wires or bulbs.
With that, we are really happy with both the Woods remote On/Off switch and the Lampat 25ft G40 Globe String Lights. Both seem to be high quality products at a decent affordable price.
I hope you get a chance to enjoy the outdoors sometime soon. Add some lighting to your patio or deck and it WILL make it even more special!
Until next time!
