Festoon alternatives?

[TomHoward]

Afternoon all

 

I'm wondering if anyone has any alternatives to Festoon for small visual outdoor lighting - essentially either an LED or low voltage version?

 

We've got about 40m of 240V 1m spacing ES festoon that we basically use for over outdoor bars / BBQs occasionally but it's getting worn out (damage and the contacts on the ES holders keep bending & snapping) so we're looking to replace it but I wondered if there was anything more reliable than more of the same.

 

The problems we have are:

 

We keep smashing the lamps - I realise this is a handling problem but the stuff is delicate. We don't take the lamps out as the contacts are so fragile.

 

Risks associated with 240V outdoor power - I'd be happier with an LED / low voltage alternative if there is one.

 

Thanks in advance

[J Pearce]

LED ropelight can work well, SELV and generally well waterproofed. The transformer blocks are rarely IP44 though, so an outdoor connection box is often required.

[revbobuk]

There's the Defender stuff: here which I've not used, but looks like what you're after.

[ImagineerTom]

Ropelight looks fine if hung properly and if all the bulbs are working, otherwise it looks cheep and tacky very easily.

The Defender things are cute but are more of a spotlight (it's really designed to be "installed" rather than hung) and are a harsh LEd white.

 

5 years ago we had a similar problem as you, we just commissioned LED bulbs (in warm white) with unbreakable polycarbonate "glass" on them that looked just like the golfballs we normally used and which used the existing festoon harness. This meant that as the old glass bulbs blew we could just replace them organically (rather than chucking out hundreds of perfectly good bulbs) and once a string was all LED it didn't have to be taken apart for transport; leave the bulbs in and chuck in a crate to transport. They look exactly like traditional festoon but at a fraction of the operating cost.

[emsgeorge]

I'm also interested in this - looking at a few hundred metres of festoon, but with led lamps.

 

Finding the festoon was easy, but IP rated led golfballs, was not. The only ip rated ones were, frankly, crap.

 

I haven't looked for a couple of years - is there now a suitable product everyone uses, that's bright and reliable replacement for es lamps ?

[Chris Beesley]

Tom - do you have any links for the LED alternatives you are using?

[niclights]

I've had a bunch of these installed in a venue garden for the last couple of years and they're perfect. They are linkable with options to add extensions wherever you need. Like most of this companies products the cable is professional. I have plenty of other stuff from them, both indoor and outdoor and it's all top quality, solid and reliable. Highly recommended.

[TomHoward]

5 years ago we had a similar problem as you, we just commissioned LED bulbs (in warm white) with unbreakable polycarbonate "glass" on them that looked just like the golfballs we normally used and which used the existing festoon harness. This meant that as the old glass bulbs blew we could just replace them organically (rather than chucking out hundreds of perfectly good bulbs) and once a string was all LED it didn't have to be taken apart for transport; leave the bulbs in and chuck in a crate to transport. They look exactly like traditional festoon but at a fraction of the operating cost.

Thanks Tom

 

Did you use IP rated LED lamps or just any ones?

 

We've still got the problem of the damaged lampholders but I'm wondering if the best thing is better quality festoon and lamp it up with LED.

Other thing with the IP rating is if they are bulbs that don't need changing as often we could tape/silicone them in.

 

I've had a bunch of these installed in a venue garden for the last couple of years and they're perfect. They are linkable with options to add extensions wherever you need. Like most of this companies products the cable is professional. I have plenty of other stuff from them, both indoor and outdoor and it's all top quality, solid and reliable. Highly recommended.

Thanks for these. With the 5m length we might be joining pretty regularly, will the connections take the strain from being joined in the air or will they pull apart?

What's the light output like - are they bright enough to be used for illumination rather than decorative?

 

 

Here's another thought - looking out our current festoon, it has 16A connectors. but there's no earth core on the festoon. If someone were to plug in a 16A device on the far end it would be unearthed, does this worry anyone? Does some festoon have an earth core or is it all without?

 

(We've run a flood off the end before now, because to be honest I hadn't thought about it..)

[musht]

Not cheap but real IP ratings:

 

http://www.lumisphere.co.uk

[niclights]

Thanks for these. With the 5m length we might be joining pretty regularly, will the connections take the strain from being joined in the air or will they pull apart?

What's the light output like - are they bright enough to be used for illumination rather than decorative?

 

All the links screw firmly together. They won't come apart.

 

Obviously how bright is going to be subjective but I am using them as the only source of illumination in the area. This gives a nice warm subtle light. You're welcome to come and have a look any time.

[MarkPAman]

What perfect timing that this topic should turn up on the day I decide I need to light a pathway for an event in a few weeks time!

I've ordered some of the ones Nic recomended, they look just right!

[peza2010]

we own a good chunk of the Glasson Led festoon which is great. Individually addressed festoon lamps can create some stunning stuff!!

[ImagineerTom]

We didn't "buy" them, we commissioned them - we designed a spec (VERY carefully as you get EXACTLY what you spec and absolutely nothing more) and put it out to multiple chinese manufacturer's; spoke with a few, refined the spec and ended up with a product that's lasted us 5 years now and averaged out at around £1.20/bulb. There's no point me recommending our manufactuters as the far-eastern industry is entirely based on what you can do for the best price now, not building consistency and replicability. There's plenty of websites / agents that you can use to submit specifications to hundreds of manufacturers and agents though.

[TomHoward]

Thanks Tom

 

What kind of quantities of lamps are we talking about to make that feasible?

I imagine we'll be looking at buying because we're only talking 40-50m of festoon - so maybe 40 lamps?

(Or if you had 40 of your commissioned lamps I'd be interested in purchasing.)

 

Also did you find ES or BC lampholders to be most robust?

[ImagineerTom]

ah ok, we brought thousands and have replaced everything....

 

We went with BC just because it's the festoon we had already - durability doesn't really matter because they're no-longer being screwed in and out every few hours so the tynes don't get damaged.

 

A quick look on ebay shows there's companies with similar retro-fit bulbs for £3 each who will sell single units