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Rope Lights | LED & Incandescent


Rope Lights: Perfect for Indoor or Outdoor Displays

Illuminate your home, business, or event with versatile rope lights. Our extensive selection includes incandescent and energy-efficient LED options in line voltage or low voltage. Choose from clear or colored rope lights in over 100 styles to fit any application. Each reel and retail pack comes with useful accessories such as end caps, power cords, and clips to help you complete your lighting project. Whatever your plans are, 1000Bulbs.com has everything you need to make them happen.

Rope lights are an easy, cost-effective lighting solution for accent, task, party, and event lighting. Outline architectural features, illuminate walkways and stairs, wrap trees or columns, or create a festive atmosphere. The cuttable, splash-resistant design allows you to customize lengths as needed.

Wet Location Rated

Uncut rope light is UL listed for wet locations. Popularly used outdoors as part of Christmas light displays, you can leave the rope light in bushes without worrying about snow, rain, or sprinklers. If splicing the spool to change colors, use a shrink wrap water-proof connector and protect the power source from direct contact with moisture. Rope light kits come in a variety of lengths with waterproof connectors and end caps so that you can easily customize a length of rope light without any cutting or splicing.

Even though rope light is UL listed for wet locations, neither incandescent rope light nor LED rope light is submersible. These should not be used in fish tanks, pools, or any other installation where it will be completely covered by water for any length of time.

Rope Lighting Accessories

1000Bulbs.com carries a wide range of rope light accessories. Whether you have 1/2 inch diameter or 3/8 inch diameter, here you can find end caps, mounting clips, shrink tubes, suction cups, connectors, channels, adhesives, and anything else you need to complete your installation. Use mounting clips for straight lines in cove lighting or curves in DIY word art.

LED Strip Light

You may prefer LED strip light to rope lighting if you're looking for a thinner, more flexible, and permanent lighting solution. However, rope light has its advantages too. Check out our blog post, Rope Light vs. Tape Light: A Breakdown, to learn more about which type of lighting is better for what purposes.

Rope Lighting Buyer's Guide

You have several options in terms of color, input voltage, and style of rope light. This quick guide will help you understand the different shades of white rope light and how to tell if the lights blink or not.

  • Warm white is similar in color to standard incandescent bulbs. This is a good color temperature for cove lighting.
  • Pearl white is a very warm white. This rope light gives off a light in a hue between warm white and yellow.
  • Cool white is a bright white (almost blue). The light is around 4000 Kelvin and recommended for under cabinet lighting and other task-oriented installations.
  • Chasing rope light is paired with a chasing controller (sold separately) to make the lights flash or chase. Standard rope light is constant-on and does not blink or chase. Not all colors of rope light come with a chasing option, so look for categories and products that say "Chasing Rope Light" or call customer service for assistance.
  • Rope Light Kits are all-in-one kits designed for easy installation by including installation hardware and a molded power cord. These kits are extendable when interconnected together up to a maximum run. No splicing or extra tools required.

Caring for LED Rope Lighting

Rope light is flexible and can be twisted into all sorts of patterns. The trick to keeping it that way is to not bend it back and forth as that can weaken the connections. Try to keep the rope light curved the same direction when rolling up the Christmas decorations or putting away a custom installation.

Rope Light FAQs

Incandescent and LED rope lights are some of our most popular products. We get a lot of customer questions about them. Let's take a look as some of our most frequently asked questions.

Can rope light be used as the sole source of light in a room?

  • Since rope light is designed for decorative purposes, it does not produce a very bright light. It is not tested for lumens (amount of light delivered) or color temperature (Kelvin color of the light).

Is rope light splash or water resistant?

  • When left uncut, rope light is splash resistant can be safely used outdoors. If you do have to cut your rope lights, connections must be shrink wrapped in order to protect them from water. Keep in mind, however, that cutting the light voids the UL warranty.

Is rope light submersible?

  • No. Though incandescent and LED rope lights are splash resistant when uncut, they are waterproof and should not be submerged in water.

Can rope light be cut anywhere or are there certain spots?

  • Spools of rope light can be cut to your desired length, but you can only cut them at the notated cutting marks. These marks are typically indicated by a white dashed line. Spacing between the marks will vary across products, with some spools having a few inches between marks while others may be several feet. Rope light kits, on the other hand, are not designed to be cut as they are premeasured lengths. If cut, the kit will no longer work and cannot be reconnected again.

Is rope light dimmable?

  • Incandescent rope lights are dimmable, however LED rope light is not.

Do rope lights require a transformer?

  • Line voltage rope lights (120 Volt) can plug into any household outlet and do not require a transformer. All low-voltage rope lights (12 and 24 Volt) do require a transformer.

Can rope light bend at 90-degree angles, or are corner-turn accessories needed?

  • Rope lights are fairly flexible and can bend close to 90 degrees. Bending the rope back and forth repeatedly, however, can damage the wiring and cause sections of the light to fail. If you need to make an exact 90-degree turn, we recommend using connector pieces.

Do purple LED rope lights give off an ultraviolet light for fluorescent colors?

  • No, our purple rope lights do not produce any ultraviolet light. You will need to use black lights.

Can individual bulbs be replaced?

  • Due to the design of rope light, individual bulbs cannot be accessed without damaging other parts of the rope. You will have to help to splice in a new section of rope light to replace any bulbs or sections that go out.

What is the difference between LED tape light and rope light?

  • Rope light is a round, tubular light. If consisting of a rope of interconnected bulbs encased in a PVC tube. LED tape light is flat with an adhesive backing, making it perfect for a wide range of applications including under cabinet lighting, display lighting, bias lighting, and more.

What is the maximum run length of rope lights?

  • Rope light spools have a max run length of 150', or one spool. The max run length for rope light kits will vary depending on the kit.

Do LED rope lights get hot?

  • No, LED rope lights do not get hot.

Can I mix these rope lights and accessories with those from another brand or manufacturer?

  • No. Our rope lights and accessories are not compatible with products from other brands and manufacturers.

Whether you need a single spool or a complete kit, 1000Bulbs has the rope lighting solution for your next residential or commercial project. Shop our full selection today! For help finding the perfect rope lights and accessories for your application, call 1-800-624-4488 to speak with one of our lighting experts.