Rope lighting

[HEYDOG]

I am doing a house where the general (carpenter) is wanting rope lighting installed in entry foyer. Carpenter is talking about building a soffit around this area and wants rope lighting installed. Foyer is about 6 feet wide and 15 feet deep. He wants me to put in a switched receptacle. I have not installed any rope light but my thoughts are that I should only use this as accent lighting and still install another fixture on the ceiling. Wonder what your thoughts are and if there are any manufacturers that you would recommend. I plan on using led rope light.
Just wanted to add that I teach at a vocational school that builds a house every year. The carpenter instructor is the General contractor. He is quite a few years younger than me and always has different ideas on what he wants. As the instructors we add in anything extra that we feel would be cool. I don't have anything against using it as accent lighting but don't think that it will be adequate light. He wants this instead of a fixture.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I am doing a house where the general (carpenter) is wanting rope lighting installed in entry foyer. Carpenter is talking about building a soffit around this area and wants rope lighting installed. Foyer is about 6 feet wide and 15 feet deep. He wants me to put in a switched receptacle. I have not installed any rope light but my thoughts are that I should only use this as accent lighting and still install another fixture on the ceiling. Wonder what your thoughts are and if there are any manufacturers that you would recommend. I plan on using led rope light.
Just wanted to add that I teach at a vocational school that builds a house every year. The carpenter instructor is the General contractor. He is quite a few years younger than me and always has different ideas on what he wants. As the instructors we add in anything extra that we feel would be cool. I don't have anything against using it as accent lighting but don't think that it will be adequate light. He wants this instead of a fixture.

i'd use Elite LED peel and stick lighting... 12 volt, dimmable, comes in different color temps.

i'd put a 4sd box where you want the light, and blank it off. for "future"....

about two days in the future, when they see the lighting isn't enough...
i'd put in the led lighting, add two 4" led can lights in the field, and call
it a day.

tell the "general contractor" he was outvoted on the forum, and if he's
gonna tell you how to do your job, you are gonna tell him how to frame
a staircase.

carpenters. hmph.

 

[infinity]

IMO rope lighting is obsolete. I would look into some sort of LED's. Just my 2 cents.

 

[normbac]

I have been asked to do this a few times switched a receptacle and ran led rope around the soffit it was used as an up light and actually looked good but there was a seperate switch for chando in center of ceiling

 

[Sierrasparky]

IMO rope lighting is obsolete. I would look into some sort of LED's. Just my 2 cents.

I agree.
Use LED , it works much better than rope , even rope LED.

 

[broadgage]

Agree LED light tape can give enough light to be the only light source for large areas.
As a very rough guide, LED light tape gives about 5 times the light of incandescent lamps, per watt.
So if you consider that the area would be properly lit with say 4 lamps each of 40 watts, then 30 watts of light tape should be fine.

I would advise that 2 lengths of LED light be used, EACH ON ITS OWN DRIVER, even if a single driver is sufficient. The drivers can fail and pending replacement some lighting would still be available.

 

[PetrosA]

I support the LED tape concept, with a few suggestions. First, go with a 24V system. Most of the 12V systems will have a length limit lower than half of the 42' you need. High output 24V LED tape can often handle about 30'-35' per tape, so you could start in a corner and feed out in two directions from there and actually make it to the opposite corner. Second, if you go that route then remote mount your driver and run some 16 or 14 AWG wiring up to the cove to eliminate the dark spot that would get created by mounting the driver up there. Thirdly, use 2700K LEDs. Anything higher than that and you run the risk of it looking like you installed fluorescent tubes in the cove.

There are a number of brands available that offer 2700K with decent color and high output. Your material costs will be around $1300-$1600 for that much tape, driver(s), dimmer etc. but you will get way more light output than you would from rope lighting, and you will be dealing with a better source of light in the sense that the tape can be directed at the ceiling for maximum bouncing of light (the rope will lose a lot of its output in the cove). If you figure approx. 130 lumens per foot output, minus what you loose from absorption (figure about 35%), you could end up with about 3500 lumens effective output, or the equivalent of two 100W light bulbs, possibly less. Will that be enough light for the space? I would consider (as Fulthrotl suggested) wiring for additional lights just in case.

 

[mgookin]

This is for a vo-tech class. I'm sure their budget is limited.

 

[J.P.]

I have put in a bit of 12 LED lighting. It works great under cabinets to light up countertops.

It is pretty expensive.

I honestly don't thing rope or LED lighting would be enough.

Like others have said put in some cans or make provisions for actual room lighting.

We have put LED 5K cans in out last two large commercial office jobs. They are extremely efficient, very bright and dim-able as well.
They make different ranges if 5k is too white for your taste.
The LED trims will run around $50 each.

 

[cadpoint]

Are LED tape directional say 180 spread in one diirection?
I was going to post a sugestion but didn't know the answer to my own question.

 

[GoldDigger]

Probably more directional than that unless a diffuser layer is used.
Some light off to the side but not as much as comes out perpendicular to the tape.

Tapatalk!