Strip Lights Vs Rope Lights: Similarities and Differences

The boating industry's rapid technological advancements have resulted in new and convenient lighting methods for marine vessels.

Rope lights and LED strip lights—two of the most commonly debated light sources—are among the popular boat lights used by sailors to provide creative lighting solutions in the waters.

They're the same if you take these two lights at face value.

Despite their similarities, rope lights and LED strip lights differ in several ways, beginning with their definition:

• Rope lights are a string of tiny light bulbs tucked away in a heat-resistant clear cylindrical plastic or epoxy tube. They are primarily used for decoration due to their low light output.
• LED strip lights are flat, flexible circuit boards that have LED lights mounted on them. They have adhesives on the backside, allowing them to stick to surfaces easily.

If you need help deciding between the two, here's a breakdown of their similarities and differences to help you make a more informed boat lighting decision.

The Similarities Between Strip Lights Vs Rope Lights

Similarity 1 - They’re Flexible

The flexibility of rope and LED strip lights is a great feature they share.

Unlike traditional bulbs, they can be placed anywhere in your boat, from curved surfaces to bends and corners. Your imagination is the only limit.

This makes them superior to traditional bulbs in difficult-to-reach areas, such as along your boat's sharp corners, where they will bend and contort to the desired shape.

Rope and LED strip lights can also be used on the exterior and interior of your boat. Because of their versatility, they are a convenient and cost-effective way to light your boat because you will not need to purchase separate outdoor and indoor lighting sources.

Note: While both light sources are adaptable, an LED strip light is attached to a malleable circuit board ribbon that can be bent to a 90-degree angle and shaped to fit any surface using a shifting gradient. This increases its flexibility and makes it ideal for sharp edges.

>>> Read more: What’s The Difference Between Strip And Rope Lights?

Similarity 2 - They’re Remote Controlled

Another intriguing similarity between the rope and LED strip lights is that they can be turned on and off with remote control.

Having such control provides numerous advantages:

• It saves energy by ensuring that your boat only gets the right amount of light when needed.
• It enables you to select pre-configured lighting settings such as dimming or brightening, changing colors, and adjusting light mode in the blink of an eye.
• It's extremely convenient because you can control your lighting from a distance or schedule it to adjust at specific times of the day.

Some rope and LED strip lights can be linked to your Wi-Fi or mobile apps. This allows you to make lighting changes anytime and from any location, even if you are thousands of miles away.

Similarity 3 - They Come in Multiple Colors

Consider investing in rope and LED strip lights to add soft accents to brighten your boat or get cool lighting effects in your gunwales, behind your panels, or under the console.

Both lights provide a wider range of colors than conventional lighting and remain brighter for longer periods without losing color until they run their course.

This is especially true for LED lighting. For example, rope lights with incandescent bulbs lose color over time because the painted bulbs fade, peel, or chip.

On the other hand, LED rope and strip lights use light-emitting diodes, which retain their brightness as long as the lights are turned on.

The Differences between strip lights vs rope lights

Difference 1 - Light Source

One of the most significant differences between the rope and LED strip lights is their light source.

Individual light bulbs are enclosed in a clear plastic tube to form a long strip powered from end to end.

Because of this end-to-end power output, they can be cut every few inches without affecting the overall performance of the light.

They are available with incandescent or LED bulbs and a power input of 120/220vAC or 12/24vDC. On the other hand, LED bulbs are more energy efficient and have a longer lifespan (up to 25,000 operating hours).

On the other hand, LED strip lights are made up of surface-mounted LED chips that come in various sizes and are adhered to flat tape. They typically have a single power input—12/24 VDC.

LED strip lights, instead of rope lights, offer greater color configuration flexibility.

They have color-changing capabilities and multiple single colors, resulting in brighter and more diffuse lighting.

Difference 2 - Brightness

Brightness is an important consideration when selecting a light source for your boat, where visibility and illumination are essential.

While rope lights provide consistent illumination along their length, they are less bright than strip lights.

Instead of a single chip, they use a string of small chips linked to a single source, resulting in even brightness but lower intensity along the length of the strip.

Nonetheless, their brightness is sufficient for soft illumination around your deck or for creating various moods, such as relaxation and festivity.

On the other hand, LED strip lights can produce extremely high, more defined lighting, depending on the amount of light output.

They provide varying levels of brightness depending on the LED chip configuration; the larger the chips, the higher the levels of brightness, and vice versa.

LED strip lights are thus an excellent choice for task and display lighting. In addition, their brightness allows them to be seen from long distances, even at night or in poor visibility conditions such as mist and fog.

Difference 3 - Size

While rope lights have small tubes, they are still thicker in diameter than LED strip lights. This is because their tubes are 1/2-3/8" in diameter, and their mounting clips (which hold the tubes in place) occasionally add to their width.

Despite this size increase, rope lights are still compact enough for use in small spaces within your boat.

However, Strip lights cannot exceed 3/8" in width and 1/16" in length, even with mounted LED bulbs.

They are much smaller than rope lights and can be installed where other types of lighting cannot, making them ideal for small spaces.

Conclusion

Rope lights are a simple and efficient way to add style, illumination, and ambiance to any indoor or outdoor space. They can be utilized to create a stylish perimeter or to highlight a particular architectural element. We hope you found this review enlightening and that it gave you the information you needed to purchase the ideal product for your needs the first time around.