How to Use Patio Rope Lighting
- 1). Lay out the rope lights in the pattern you want them hung to make sure you have enough length. Check the packaging to see how many lengths it is safe to connect together and make sure your male end of the plug (the side with prongs) is closest to your power outlet. Be sure you are using 120-volt self-contained rope lights that do not require a separate control device.
- 2). Attach screw-in hooks under your porch covering eaves for lights overhead, using a ladder for access. Place one hook at the beginning of the lighting patter, one before and after each time the rope changes direction and one at the end of the pattern. Use hooks with inner diameters large enough to hold the rope lights. If you can't screw them into the eaves by hand, pre-drill a small hole for each hook, about 1/2 the depth of the screw part of the hook. Drape the rope lights over the hooks and add another hook at any place the rope sags.
- 3). Wrap rope lights around any porch railings, especially along stairways, spiraling the rope around the hand rail or weaving it through the banisters to keep it in place. Again, make sure the male end is near the outlet.
- 4). Place rope lights along the ground where the porch meets the house and attach it with hooks in the same manner as the roof rope lights.
- 5). Attach an extension cord rated for outdoor use to the male end of each light (excluding ropes that are linked to each other) and use more hooks to guide the cord back to your outlet while remaining out of the way.
- 6). Plug the lights into a power strip and plug the power strip into the outlet. This allows you a one-button switch to turn the rope lights on and off without having to plug and unplug individual ropes. Turn them on at dusk or whenever you want to entertain guests or enjoy their glow. If you use them frequently, consider plugging the power strip into a time that will turn them on and off each night automatically.
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