LED Christmas lights

[LittleBuford]

I guess I'm in the other camp. I love the brilliant colors of modern LEDs.

I’m genuinely happy for you. I wish I felt the same way!

 

[Alice a]

I wonder of your eye health also effects how you feel about cool/trad LEDs vs warm/soft incandescents?

I have glaucoma and astigmatism and can’t handle some LED Christmas lights, especially the early ‘acorn’ ones or if they blink; they sometimes set off an ocular migraine if I’m around them long enough, like fluorescents.

They do make very nice warm LEDs now, just wondering

 

[LittleBuford]

Following up on last year’s good news, the company selling these now goes by the name of Merry Co. (though the lights themselves are still branded “VintaGlo”), and they’ve increased their colour options, which now include a 5-colour classic combo complete with pink.

Received my set today and they absolutely nailed it. They look just like incandescents.

 

[erasure fan1]

Received my set today and they absolutely nailed it. They look just like incandescents.

Well that's really good to hear. Unfortunately they're way to expensive for me. I have a fairly large tree. I need a minimum of 15 strands if I want to have the entire tree covered at the minimum. That's nearly $400 just for that. My real fear is that they won't have the longevity, especially for the cost. I can get 8 strands of incandescent for the price of one of those LEDs. That means they would need to last approximately 24yrs just to break even. Hopefully they take a quick price drop.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Well that's really good to hear. Unfortunately they're way to expensive for me. I have a fairly large tree. I need a minimum of 15 strands if I want to have the entire tree covered at the minimum. That's nearly $400 just for that. My real fear is that they won't have the longevity, especially for the cost. I can get 8 strands of incandescent for the price of one of those LEDs. That means they would need to last approximately 24yrs just to break even. Hopefully they take a quick price drop.

Again, my DW HATES the “bright” LED lights (I LOVE THEM…we compromise & I use them outside ONLY), she JUST bought these for our indoor tree…

From Target, on sale now regular price 7.99 on sale for 4.99 white AND color you can plug up to 45 strings together…I think that would be enough for your tree…AT YOUR NEAREST TARGET

 

[LittleBuford]

Well that's really good to hear. Unfortunately they're way to expensive for me. I have a fairly large tree. I need a minimum of 15 strands if I want to have the entire tree covered at the minimum. That's nearly $400 just for that. My real fear is that they won't have the longevity, especially for the cost. I can get 8 strands of incandescent for the price of one of those LEDs. That means they would need to last approximately 24yrs just to break even. Hopefully they take a quick price drop.

I totally get that. I have some incandescent sets too, but it never seems to take long for one of the bulbs to stop working, which is in part why I decided to make the switch. I'm hoping that as more and more companies start making these incandescent-style multicolour Christmas lights, the price will come down.

 

[LittleBuford]

Again, my DW HATES the “bright” LED lights (I LOVE THEM…we compromise & I use them outside ONLY), she JUST bought these for our indoor tree…

From Target, on sale now regular price 7.99 on sale for 4.99 white AND color you can plug up to 45 strings together…I think that would be enough for your tree…AT YOUR NEAREST TARGETView attachment 892832View attachment 892833

The Wondershop multicolour LEDs do not replicate the look of incandescents, though, so they wouldn't be a suitable replacement for someone who doesn't want those characteristically cold LED colours:

 

[erasure fan1]

I totally get that. I have some incandescent sets too, but it never seems to take long for one of the bulbs to stop working, which is in part why I decided to make the switch. I'm hoping that as more and more companies start making these incandescent-style multicolour Christmas lights, the price will come down.

On average I get 3 seasons out of incandescent. But at under $3 a set, led just isn't cost effective. I'll be curious how long you get from these. I've had terrible luck with just regular led light bulbs. Incandescent always out lasted them. I've never gotten anywhere close to the hours the box says. So I'd afraid to spend $25 on these. Lol

 

[erasure fan1]

Again, my DW HATES the “bright” LED lights (I LOVE THEM…we compromise & I use them outside ONLY), she JUST bought these for our indoor tree…

From Target, on sale now regular price 7.99 on sale for 4.99 white AND color you can plug up to 45 strings together…I think that would be enough for your tree…AT YOUR NEAREST TARGET

Menards had ones that said the same thing. They're probably the same manufacturer just Menards instead of Target. Same price too when I bought them. While they are better. They aren't even close to the incandescent lights. Hopefully like Buford and I said, they'll get better as they get more popular.

 

[LittleBuford]

On average I get 3 seasons out of incandescent. But at under $3 a set, led just isn't cost effective. I'll be curious how long you get from these. I've had terrible luck with just regular led light bulbs. Incandescent always out lasted them. I've never gotten anywhere close to the hours the box says. So I'd afraid to spend $25 on these. Lol

That’s surprising. I have two LED sets from several years ago (one warmish white, which looks good overall, and another coloured that my partner uses in his office), and they have held up perfectly. They were from CVS, so nothing fancy.

 

[erasure fan1]

That’s surprising. I have two LED sets from several years ago (one warmish white, which looks good overall, and another coloured that my partner uses in his office), and they have held up perfectly. They were from CVS, so nothing fancy.

I have a theory that it's shaky power. We get small blips in the power and that can cause havoc on electronics. And with bulbs you dont have any real protection. Incandescent just dims a little bit, no real harm.

 

[LittleBuford]

I have a theory that it's shaky power. We get small blips in the power and that can cause havoc on electronics. And with bulbs you dont have any real protection. Incandescent just dims a little bit, no real harm.

Interesting! (And yes, that would explain the difference in our experiences.)

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I bought these last year, there ceramic LED C9 and they look amazing. I got some for the roof thinking they’d look the same but they were plastic make sure you get the glass. Plastic looks kind of classic to and won’t scratch or break but I think glass is the way to go. Also the dimmable lights will not get those blood everyone is talking about I noticed.

 

[Ayla]

View attachment 894526I bought these last year, there ceramic LED C9 and they look amazing. I got some for the roof thinking they’d look the same but they were plastic make sure you get the glass. Plastic looks kind of classic to and won’t scratch or break but I think glass is the way to go. Also the dimmable lights will not get those blood everyone is talking about I noticed.

I was looking at your Christmas tree thinking "those don't look like C9 bulbs to me?"

 

[Gringrinngghost]

 

[Tom P.]

We have never used LED Christmas lights at our house and never will. Even ones designed to look like incandescent lights. They still make and sell incandescent lights, so no reason to go for "look alikes." I loathe LED Christmas lights.