Short answer: 10 ft. It is the height that still clears head height after the lights droop in the middle, and it puts the bulbs above eye level so you are not looking straight into them while you eat.
The mistake people make with shorter poles
Pole height is not the same as light height. A run of lights hangs in a curve, and the middle sits well below the top of the pole. On an 8 ft pole over a normal span, the lowest bulbs can end up close enough to brush a tall guest, and certainly close enough to be in the eyeline of anyone standing.
At 10 ft you have room for the droop to be deliberate rather than something you have to engineer around.
When a lower height is genuinely fine
- Nobody walks under it. Lights along a fence line or over a flowerbed can hang lower without anyone noticing.
- Very short spans. Over 8 or 10 ft there is barely any droop to allow for.
- Seated areas only. If the run sits entirely over a bench or a fire pit, eye level is lower.
When you want more than 10 ft
Large open spaces and long spans are the cases where extra height helps, because a longer run droops further. If you are lighting an area wide enough to need 25 ft spans, add poles rather than reaching for height.
What matters as much as height
How the pole is anchored. A tall pole in loose ground leans, and a leaning pole makes the whole run look wrong. Our poles use a 4 prong ground fork, 20.6 cm deep and 29 cm wide, which spreads the load rather than relying on one spike. On hard ground, clamp the pole to a fence, post or wall with the clips and anchors supplied instead.