Christmas Lights Advice

Driving home last night from my son’s violin lessons (an hour away from our home) I was struck by the difference in appearance between “normal” headlights and the new halogen lights that are becoming all the new thing in car headlight technology. I reflected that they perfectly illustrate the differences between cool slash pure slash winter LED Christmas Lights and Warm White LED Christmas lights.

Whether they are sets or bulbs, the whites are in the same category - cool or warm. The cool sets - like the Halogens are sharp and crisp with blue overtones. The warm sets are ….. warmer with yellowish overtones.

The cool white sets look good if you have solar lights that also have that sharp icy look. Quite a bit of the landscaping lighting that you see on the market nowadays has this cooler look so to stay complemetary, it’s nice to know that your Christmas lights won’t have to clash. Pure white LED’s seem to be a prominent choice for commercial applications - both in downtown areas and at large facilities.

Warm white is the color most likely to blend in with traditional mini lights and C7/C9 Christmas light bulbs. There is still limited availability of LED lights in every form of Holiday lighting so if you are going to mix incandescents and LED, warm may be the way to go.

On both style of lights, their warmness or coolness is most noticeable when you hold them up to each other. They both tend to look more neutral but if you put them next to each other or next to their counterpart colors, the visual differences become clear.

As far as popularity, the preference for warm and cool seems to be running 50/50 with strong feelings either way. As it is with all Christmas lights, it’s just a matter of taste

So if you are still on the fence about whether you are a cool or a warm led person, take a drive after dark and oncoming traffic may be able to shed some light on your decision.

Shellie Gardner
White LED Christmas Lights

Christmas revelers love the blinking, colored lights that highlight the holiday season, but come January, their utility bill can turn even the zealous Christmas enthusiast into a Scrooge. What’s more, word on the street is that there are many more “would be” Christmas decorators - if only they knew that their holiday lights wouldn’t break their bank. A Fort Worth company, Christmas Light Source, has come to the rescue by offering a nifty little tool on their website that helps those holiday merrymakers determine the approximate cost of their lighting displays. With the rising costs of, well, just about everything, and with consumers becoming more and more aware of their utility bills, this handy dandy little tool is priceless.

Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) October 31, 2008 — Christmas revelers love the blinking, colored lights that highlight the holiday season, but come January, their utility bill can turn even the zealous Christmas enthusiast into a Scrooge. What’s more, word on the street is that there are many more “would be” Christmas decorators - if only they knew that their holiday lights wouldn’t break their bank. A Fort Worth company, Christmas Light Source, has come to the rescue by offering a nifty little tool on their website that helps those holiday merrymakers determine the approximate cost of their lighting displays. With the rising costs of, well, just about everything, and with consumers becoming more and more aware of their utility bills, this handy dandy little tool is priceless.

Visitors to the Christmas Lights Electricity Calculator plug in a few numbers such as the number of bulbs/nets they are using, bulb size and bulb type and this tool instantly calculates how much electricity their Christmas lights will use based on their electricity cost per kW/hr. There are also helpful hints available to help consumers decorate in a more energy efficient manner and save a little on their utility bill. It can also help those who are considering holiday lighting decorations by giving them some insight on various types of lighting. It can help them decide what kind of lights would be best for them to use and how many lights to use to keep their utility bill at a manageable level.

Tool users are also treated to some very timely, money saving tips. For instance, they are advised to put their lights on a timer because, “Few Holiday-goers are out and about at 2 am in the morning.” Other money saving, energy saving advice that the site offers include considering LED lights and revising the time for putting up and taking down lights (up in late November and down in early January).

As consumers throughout the nation are feeling the crunch from lay offs to rising costs of living, not to mention increased energy costs, people are becoming more aware of their utility bills - and how to cut corners without doing without. “We thought that this would be a fun but useful tool,” says Shellie Gardner, co-owner of Christmas Light Source. “It does automatically what many folks are asking us about - and much more efficiently!” And we all know when it comes to saving money on utility bills, efficiency is the key!

Christmas Light Source is a one stop shopping source for Christmas lighting needs. From hardware to lights and everything in between, Christmas Light Source has everything for holiday lighting decor as well as tips, tricks and do it yourself projects. For more information, visit their website at Christmas Light Source.

I just finished my article on Christmas Lights for Camping. We had quite a bit of fun spending the evening putting lights up on our pop up camper. What a great time of year to be camping in TX.

This article features photographs of both incandescent and LED Christmas lights.

Best regards,
Shellie Gardner
Copyright 2008

Since this is a Christmas Lights blog, I thought that it might be nice to kick off the upcoming Christmas season with a quick over view of the history of Christmas lights! (which means we have to look a little at the origins of Christmas as well!)

Christmas is celebrated around the world, with the focus of the day on family and for some, the birth of Jesus Christ. In order to understand the history of Christmas lights, it may be helpful to understand just how Christmas came to be recognized as one of the most popular holidays during the year.

Years ago, the middle of winter was a time of great celebration in many countries around the world. The Norse people of Scandinavia celebrated the winter solstice each year beginning on December 21st through the month of January. Winter was a somewhat dismal time of the year, so they celebrated the solstice in anticipation of the sun returning. To honor the holiday, fathers and their sons brought large logs home and then set them on fire, which of course gave off a lot of light! It is said that sometimes it would take nearly 12 days for the logs to burn out. During that time, the Norse people feasted and enjoyed each other’s company.

In another part of the world, Romans were celebrating the winter solstice with a feast that honored the children of Rome. It was also at this time the birthday of Mithra, a pagan god, the god of the unconquerable sun, was celebrated. Again, we see the theme of light during the winter months.

Some historians say that Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer in the 16th century, was the first person to illuminate an evergreen tree with candles. It is said that he was taking a walk one winter evening and was in awe of the brightly twinkling stars in the sky amidst the evergreen trees. He wanted to share this with his family, so he put an evergreen tree with candles on it in the middle of his home.

The Pilgrims who arrived in America in 1620 actually outlawed Christmas during the years 1659 to 1681 as a result of their puritanical beliefs. However, Captain John Smith and the inhabitants of the Jamestown settlement joyfully celebrated the Christmas holiday. It wasn’t until June 26, 1870 that Christmas was officially declared a holiday in America. Within the next 100 years, the American people embraced the Christmas holiday with traditions of gift giving, card sending and tree decorating.

Small evergreen trees were once brought into cabins and homes and placed in a central room. Small candles were then attached to the branches with melted wax or pins. Ornaments were then hung near the candles so the candlelight would show the homemade ornaments at night. For years, this was the manner in which Christmas trees were decorated and illuminated. However, the candles melted quickly and had to be replaced often. For some families, this was cost-prohibitive, so once the candles burned out, the tree wasn’t lit again that season. Sometime between the years of 1902 and 1914, glass balls and small lanterns were used to decorate Christmas trees.

Electric lamps or incandescent bulbs were then introduced in 1882. A man by the name of Edward Johnson lived in New York and was an inventor of sorts. Incidentally, he was a good friend of Thomas Edison, the man credited with designing the first viable light bulb. In 1882, Mr. Johnson came up with the idea to decorate his Christmas tree with strings of red, white, and blue lights. These were the first incandescent light lamps or bulbs to decorate a Christmas tree. The lights measured 6/8 of an inch in diameter. Mr. Johnson had hand wired each bulb and then wound the incandescent light strings around the tree branches. Everyone who saw the twinkling tree was instantly enamored and by 1890, Mr. Johnson’s Christmas light strands were being mass-produced.

The General Electric Company began to sell Christmas tree lights in the year 1903. At that time, the lights were cost prohibitive for the average consumer to purchase, so the light strands were rented out to large department stores during the Christmas season. Who manufactured the lights? You may recognize the name Eveready as it relates to batteries available on the market today. Back then, the company’s full name was American Eveready Company and they are credited with manufacturing the first prewired string lights available to the American consumer.

With the introduction of incandescent light bulbs to society, Christmas trees could glow for several days at a time. Personal residences and town squares alike enjoyed seeing the incandescent lights of color on the trees each Christmas season. Today, the Rockefeller Center is a popular site for a holiday tree each year. In the year 1931, an evergreen tree (without decorations) was placed in the center of the construction site by workers. In 1933, another tree was erected in the same spot, but this time with incandescent Christmas lights. Now the mammoth Rockefeller Center tree sparkles and glows with the help of over 25,000 Christmas lights.

Fast forwarding to present day, the choices of both incandescent and LED Christmas lights are numerous. Christmas lights today offer a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Light use can be tailored toward a particular type of project or special event. Mini lights are a fantastic way to light up both large areas, such as a garden, or smaller, more intimate celebrations. Incandescent and LED C7 and C9 Christmas lights will light up your home both inside and out with a touch of traditional style. Icicle lights have been a big hit within the last four years or so and can be seen adorning eaves of homes, fence lines, and sidewalks (when supported by light stakes). Net lights are perfect for making a fence twinkle during the holidays or for creating a curtain effect inside on walls.

The history of Christmas lights is long and replete with tradition. Family members and friends feel welcome in your home. Your children will love to sit under the fireplace mantel and play board games by the soft light provided by the Christmas lights on the tree. No matter the reason that you use incandescent and LED Christmas lights each holiday season, the effect is sparkling and beautiful.

Shellie Gardner
Copyright 2008

I’m so glad that we finally found a great source for LED battery operated lights (over here at Christmas Light Source). The sets that came in last year have 5 micro-screws that secured the battery cover to the case and the battery connection was set up for AA batteries but you had to use a 9 volt - ouch - so we sent them all back and had to wait another year for another LED choice.

The 2008 lights are great! We were able to get them in 5mm (conical shaped - that’s the term used to describe them but they look like a tiny cylinder), M5 and SM5 (small M5 shapes).

We’re loading them on the website now and the pictures are coming along nicely and will be loaded up soon as well.

The battery pack has an easy to use slide off cover and each set takes 3 AA batteries. These LED light sets have 20 LEDs spaced about 5 inches apart.

The charge never lasts as long as we would like but after 24 hours of operation, the multi sets are still lit with dimmer blue and green bulbs. Funny thing about battery operated lights is that they don’t just go out all at once but the bulbs fade individually. Whenever folks write in that they have a problem with a mini light set - and it happens every once in a while but not too often - we usually ask them to try another set of fresh batteries and that fixes the problem most of the time.

Some of the places I like to use LED battery mini light sets are:
Wreaths
Centerpieces
Banquet Tables
Parade Hats, floats and horses
On a boat when 12 V Access is inconvenient
Classroom projects
Christmas Villages

I’ll be posting more application photos and a video of these light sets soon!

Shellie Gardner
LED Battery Operated Christmas Lights

I am so glad that just about all of the traditional and LED Christmas lights have arrived for the 2008 Christmas season.

All of the C7 and C9 Bulbs and Cords and LED Christmas lights are stocked and shipping.

We still have just a couple of weeks left before the mini lights arrive. They will be in the first full week of October. I know that folks have really been waiting for the clear on black wire mini lights and the Curtain and tree trunk wrap lights.

Currently orders are only taking a couple of days to get out and we are taking steps to keep a same day next day schedule for orders placed before noon through the entire Holiday Season.

Shellie Gardner
Christmas Lights at
Christmas Light Source

Who would think that something going on around the world could affect your Christmas decorations? That is exactly what is happening as China diverts electricity, resources and man power to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Check out this article in Business Week - As Olympics Open, China’s Economy Slows

Industries are being asked to cease manufacture in rotation throughout the country. As a result, some styles of LED Christmas Lights are coming into the country several weeks later than normal.

So kick back, watch your favorite competitors but remember you may have to wait a little before your favorite Christmas lights arrive for the Holidays.

Go USA!!

Shellie
Christmas Lights
Copyright 2008

It looks like the folks over at Purdue are hard at work improving LED manufacture - hopefully this technology will eventually help decrease the cost of LED Christmas lights!

Advance brings low-cost, bright LED lighting closer to reality from PhysOrg.com
Researchers at Purdue University have overcome a major obstacle in reducing the cost of “solid state lighting,” a technology that could cut electricity consumption by 10 percent if widely adopted.
[...]

July 23rd has become the unofficial Christmas in July day!!  Since alot of Christmas lights gurus start ordering their lights in August and September, it’s time to start thinking ahead.

Some colors and styles of lights are snapped up and go out of stock pretty quickly so if you are interested in curtain mini lights, brown wire lights and some varieties of battery operated lights order online early.

Most of the specialty Christmas lights available on the internet will be coming back in stock in August or September.  Check out your favorite online vendors and sign up for their newsletters and waiting lists to ensure you’ll be one of the first customers in line.

Now is a great time to fish all of last season’s Christmas lights out of the closet or attic and take an honest inventory of what you have that you’ll reuse for the 2008 season.

Plug all of your light sets in - of any variety - to confirm that they all come on.  Sometimes inhospitable attic conditions can affect the lifespan of light sets.

Most incandescent mini lights last less than 1000 hours unless you purchased commercial grade mini lights that last anywhere from 3000 to 10000 hours. 

Popular LED Christmas Light sets are rated by their manufacturers for 50,000 hours of operation.  Consider this a specification related to the LED durablity compared to traditional lights.  Stresses and wear on wiring, power surges (always use a surge protector with LED Christmas lights, harsh weather exposure and use in static vs dynamic displays can decrease LED life or can ruin the sets altogether.

So make sure you check all you lights and start thinking about any additions, substitutions or replacements you’ll need to add to your wish list.

Respecfully submitted,

Shellie Gardner
Christmas Lights

Tags: Christmaslights, Christmas in July, led Christmas lights

Most of the seasoned veterans already know that the current generation of retrofit LED Christmas light bulbs (not the pre-lamped sets) are not suitable for choreographed displays but I thought it merited a mention here.

This is due to engineering differences between the sets and bulbs - primarily related to the way the voltage is stepped down in each scenario - and the bulbs receive an impulse when they are rapidly turned on and off due to a capacitor used in their design. So, flash, flash, fizzle.

So, take advantage of the retrofit C7 and C9 bulbs in your gorgeous static displays but as of now don’t purchase them for dynamic computerized displays.