Christmas is one of the most beloved holidays of the year. For some reason, people just seem to be a lot nicer during that time. When it comes to getting into the spirit of Christmas, nothing is better than decorating your home with outdoor Christmas lights. Neighborhoods all over the world run annual contests to see which home can create the best light display. It’s really about creating a mood and a joyful and fun experience for the kids. This article will talk a bit about what to look for when getting Christmas outdoor lights.
There are basically 2 steps when it comes to buying these lights.
Measuring
The first thing you will want to do is figure out how much of these lights you need. You can do this simply by getting a tape measure and measure the area you will be putting the Christmas lights on. You will want to add a few feet just in case. From your measurements, you will now decide that length of strings of lights you will need and how many of them you will need. In general, you will be able to find these outdoor Christmas lights in lengths of 25 to 200 lights. Again, you will probably want to add a bit to the length just in case you come up short. You will also want to buy some extra bulbs just in case some of the burn out and you need to replace them.
Choosing the Type
There are several different types of lights you can choose from so let’s take a look at several of them.
Outdoor LED Christmas lights:
These lights are a lot more cost efficient than any of the other types of lights since you don’t have to use as much electricity. However, the downside is that they will cost a bit more to buy but in the long run, you will be saving money. Another downside to these types of lights is that they aren’t as bright. The good thing is that they also don’t get as hot. This means there is a much smaller chance of any fires being started.
Incandescent Light
These are the ones most people get. They can come in those icicle shapes and can vary in many different colors. You can choose from the min bulbs or the bigger ones depending on how you want your house to look. With the mini ones, it will make your home look a bit fuller while the bigger ones will make your home look cleaner and less messy. If you want a cleaner and brighter look, you will want to go with the C7 or C9 lights. The C9′s are slight bigger than the C7′s and produce more power. You can buy them in 120V or 130V which will last 2,000 hours and 3,000 hour respectively. These are the easiest to replace when they burn out but do require the most power and can get quite warm.
You will also want to choose decide whether you want outdoor Christmas lights that blink or ones that are solid. The blinking ones can give you a livelier effect. You can make the lights practically dance.
Miniature Christmas Lights
These are a more cost efficient way to light up your home since they can light up more bulbs with the same amount of power it would take with the larger C7 and C9 bulbs. The problem with these bulbs is that because they are normally connected in a series and each bulb connected back to back, one single light failing on you will cause the rest of the lights in that series to fail as well. They normally come in 50 or 100 bulb strings. They will typically last anywhere from 300-2000 hours. The difference is in the quality of the bulb. These will have a shorter life span compared with the C7′s and C9′s.
Outdoor Christmas Rope Lights
Theses lights are similar to the miniature lights but the difference is that they are enclosed in a plastic jacket and will have a straight line look to it. They typically come in 50-150 feet and can be cut in lengths of 3-6 feet. When a light goes out, you’ll have to replace the entire 3-6 feet section where that light is. These are good for custom designs when making certain shapes.
You can find any of these types of outdoor Christmas light online. You can also get outdoor Christmas tree lights as well.
Here is a video for your Christmas lighting enjoyment!
Related posts: