We put eleven different types of outdoor garden lights, such as icicle lights and fairy lights, through our rigorous durability testing to determine which of these types of lights are the most long-lasting.

Outdoor Lights for Home

Outdoor Lights for Home

We put 11 outdoor lights through a battery of rigorous durability tests over the course of several weeks in order to determine which of them are the most reliable to use throughout the whole year and for many years into the future. The prices of the lights that we examined varied from ten pounds to more than sixty pounds (depending on how many metres you buy). Whatever your needs may be, we have evaluated battery-powered lights, lights powered by the mains, icicle lights, and fairy lights to determine which ones are the most reliable and can be recommended to you. Surprisingly, less than half of the outdoor lights we tested for durability made it through the entire process unscathed. The majority of early failures may be traced back to obvious symptoms of corrosion as well as inadequate soldering. Determine which lights have been damaged in this manner.

The very best lighting for outside.

LED String Lights from ConnectPro for Outdoor Use

LED String Lights

LED String Lights

Festive lights offers the best deal, with prices starting at £26.98 for five metres (with starter cable) and being readily accessible. You may purchase these lights in lengths ranging from five metres to one hundred metres in length, in five-meter increments. Even though they are on the pricier side for outdoor lighting, the manufacturer claims that they are able to withstand “prolonged outdoor use.”

Icicle Lights for the Outdoors in Corst

Icicle Lights

Icicle Lightstle

Cheapest price: £21.99 offered at Amazon These icicle lights for the outdoors come with 10 metres of cord and 400 individual lights for the price. In addition, the lights may be turned on and off using a remote control and can cycle through a total of eight different modes. Sign in to Which? or become a member to find out if these lights can withstand rough treatment and extremely damp circumstances.

Christmas Tree Lights with 300 LEDs on a String from Homebase

Christmas Tree Lights

Christmas Tree Lights

Homebase offers the best deal, charging only 12 pounds for three hundred lights. If you choose the version with 300 lights, you will receive a huge 30 metres of cable for a price that is relatively low. They also come with a timer that is built in, which keeps the lights on for a total of six hours before turning them off for 18 hours.

Fairy lights that are battery operated by Koopower.

Fairy lights

Fairy lights

Cheapest price: £7.99 available at Amazon These lights run on batteries and are one of the best-selling varieties of outdoor lighting available on Amazon. They are 10 metres long and there are 100 lights on the string, but will they be able to withstand being exposed to the elements outside?

Fairy Lights with 200 LEDs for Outdoor Use by Lights4Fun, Powered by a Battery

Fairy Lights with 200 LEDs

Fairy Lights with 200 LEDs

Lights4fun offers the lowest pricing of £21.99 for their products. This string of 200 lights measures just under 20 metres in length and is lit by the energy provided by three D cell batteries. In addition to that, it features a timer function.

Ollny Fairy Lights 200 Light Emitting Diodes

Ollny Fairy Lights 200 Light Emitting Diodes

Ollny Fairy Lights 200 Light Emitting Diodes

Cheapest price: £21.99 offered at Amazon The string of these mains-powered fairy lights measures twenty metres in length and contains two hundred individual lights. They also include a remote control, allowing you to turn the lights on and off without having to leave the convenience of your couch.

With a Timer, the Premier 200 LED Supabrights are available.

Premier 200 LED Supabrights

Premier 200 LED Supabrights

The retailer for Christmas decorations offers the best deal, with prices starting at just $12.99. (out of stock) There are a lot of lights included for the price of £12.99, and they are distributed over 24 metres of cable. In addition, a timer is included with the lights as part of the package. But has Premier compromised the quality of these lights in terms of how long they will last and how strong they are?

Connectable Icicle Lights in Traditional Warm White Color with the Pro Connect 200 Series

LED Lights for the Light Chains of the Range 400

LED Lights for the Light Chains of the Range 400

Christmas direct has the lowest price, at £23.99 for five metres, and you may buy it there. These outdoor lights, which come in a total of eight different hues and can be purchased with either green or white cabling, can be just what you need to make your home or yard seem fantastic throughout the whole year. During the course of our experiments, we subjected them to extremely harsh conditions, including exposing them to temperatures below zero for a whole day, submerging them in buckets of water, and otherwise mistreating them. You can find out how they performed by logging in or becoming a member of Which?

LED Lights for the Light Chains of the Range 400

The Range offers the best deal, with prices starting at just £19.99. When you consider the cost, the fact that this set includes more than 30 metres of lights and 400 LEDs as part of its entirety is remarkable. But what about after a regular winter in Britain? Will they still be sparkling then? Log in to Which? or sign up for free to find out if they impressed or let you down.

WerChristmas 200 LED Christmas Tree Lights with Warm White Light

WerChristmas 200 LED Christmas Tree Lights

WerChristmas 200 LED Christmas Tree Lights

WerChristmas offers the lowest price, which is currently £12.99. (out of stock) These lights are approximately twenty metres long, brilliant white, and feature eight different light modes and a total of two hundred lights.

Setting up lights

Setting up lights

How to properly store your lights when they are no longer in use If you want your lights to survive for a long time, it is crucial to store them properly during the months when you will not be using them. When storing them, it is important to make sure that they are not kept in a big tangled heap.

Make use of an extra coat hanger: If you have an extra coat hanger, you may use it to wind your lights around. This prevents them from getting twisted up, and it also reduces the amount of room you need to keep them, so it’s a win-win situation.

Wrapping paper tubes: Instead of throwing away wrapping paper tubes, you can recycle them and use them to encase your lights in.

First, make a slit in one of the tube’s ends so that you can grasp one of the light strings, and then just wrap the light strings around the tube.

Box made of old cardboard In the event that you do not have access to a tube of wrapping paper or a coat hanger, you may substitute a sheet of cardboard for these items and use the same procedure. To attach the lights, you need only cut a notch in one end of the cable, and then wrap it around the board.

Light reels: If none of these do-it-yourself choices sound appealing, you can always purchase light storage reels to assist with keeping the lights organised and stowed away in the appropriate manner. We have seen them at a number of different stores, including Amazon, as well as retailers such as UKChristmasWorld or Festive-Lights, and they will assist with keeping the lights organised and ensure that they are stored in the appropriate manner.