Low voltage external lights for covered patio

[OldKettle]

Hi,
I am looking to buy some festoon type lights for a 40m2 pergola over a patio.

Even though the patio has a polycarbonate roof, and so should keep the lights and cabling dry, I wanted to find some low voltage lights.

Almost all of the ones I can see on Amazon appear to be mains voltage, with the exception of these, which are 24v but only listed as 15w for 35 lights. There is no mention of lumens, but I suspect that 15w won't translate into much light for the price.

Would like subdued lighting, but enough play cards and read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07SY73NTH/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3SCDBG0T765GY&th=1

Of course I could just buy more and string them closer together.

But, I thought I would ask opinions here on whether low voltage is the way to go, and what is the best place to search for these kinds of light?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[ericmark]

Low voltage = 50 - 1000 volt AC I assume you want extra low voltage, the problem is often the units are powered from Walmart's so you need a 13A socket, so distance from convenient socket to lights matter.

I have two Lidi strip lights which have a high output, seem to remember around 20 watt, but most are not bright enough to read by.

 

[OldKettle]

Thanks. I am OK in terms of sockets, or could also tie into a third party transformer, but I am just wondering if 12-24v is feasible for outdoor lights for that coverage.

Can find lots of articles suggesting 12V lights as an extra safety feature for outdoor, but having trouble actually finding any.

 

[JohnD]

15W of LED lamps gives quite a lot of light.

Roughly equivalent to 150W of old incandescent (filament) bulbs.

Directional reflectors will help.

The kit in your linked advert has been designed primarily for ornamental value, much of the light will go into the sky and your neighbours gardens

 

[big-all]

you are restricted to 5metre strips on 12v due to volt loss

 

[ericmark]

The whole idea of a driver is to control current not voltage, so it compensates for volt drop, however in the main we don't get much of a problem with low voltage (230 volt) lights due to water ingress in the situation you describe, as long as the RCD/RCBO is dedicated to outside lights even if it does get in, it just trips, the problem arises when many circuits are on the same RCBO/RCD.

I have a 10 mA RCD socket I had ear marked for outside lights in this house, however since I have a spare 30 mA RCBO supply unlikely I will use it. The other option is 110 volt, that's what we use at work, and it seems 110 volt bulbs are really available.

Main thing is some way water can escape, it will always find a way in, but as long as also a way out, it does not matter too much.