LED Christmas Lights

[WDWorBUST]

We bought some icicle LED lights on the after Christmas clearance last year and are wanting to add some C9 LED lights to go with them. We've looked at Walmart and Lowes and the reviews are horrible for the less expensive lights. I don't want to spend a fortune, but the amount of work that goes into putting them up I would rather spend a little more and get quality lights. Any brands you would recommend??

 

[LJSquishy]

The lower quality LED lights have an irritating flickering effect like a strobe light so I think it's wise to go with GE or Philips sets. Each brand (no matter high quality or low quality) has different whites and colors...meaning a colored strand from GE may have different colors than Philips and so on. Some colored strands have purple in them, some don't.

I bought my LED lights at Costco 3 years ago...they are GE. I love them. I have faceted C9 bulbs and faceted "normal mini size" that I can't remember the size name of. LOL I prefer warm white LEDs (like old fashioned white lights, not the bright white or cool white).

If you want the type that change colors like fade in & out you'll want to get all of that brand/type. I think they're called Lightshow?

Commercial quality is the best, but they're not cheap. I do plan on buying commercial quality ones when we finally find & purchase our forever home. I didn't want to spend the money on them for the house we just sold since you custom make some of the lengths.

 

[sksjasams]

We bought this kind two years ago. They were the only ones I could find that got pretty good reviews. LED lights are not as pretty as the standard ones, but I got used to them. They are nice lights and have held up very well. It's very windy where we live and we would end up replacing some strands of icicle lights every year. It's one less thing to worry about each fall now!

4.3 stars out of 5
http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-50-Light-LED-Multi-Color-C9-Light-Set-703155/202212489

 

[WDWorBUST]

I would love to be able to have commercial lights that are custom lengths, but that is definitely not in the budget. We have looked at Sams but they don't have any reviews yet. The EcoSmart from Home Depot were ones we were considering....glad to hear you have been happy with them. It looks like we have narrowed it down to GE or the EcoSmart at this point. The lightshow I think are out of the budget as wel. Thank you for pointing out the different colors between brands....I had noticed the differences, but hadn't really thought about how important it might be to make sure we have more than enough when we buy....nothing worse than trying to find them again when you put them up and realize you're short. I'd rather have extra and return them. I definitely prefer the warm white - but the house is currently divided - one child wants multi-color and the other wants white.....what to do, what to do - LOL!!!

 

[tina.tina]

We bought a Walmart strand of C9 lights (not LED) several years ago and it lasted several years. We did have to replace bulbs but it lasted until I got tired of that display. Some of the lights burned out but others I accidentally broke by hitting them together when I was carrying them. So, I would also buy extra bulbs, just in case, because of the color issue.

 

[tvguy]

LED lights are not as pretty as the standard ones, but I got used to them.

Interesting. I find the light they give off, especially for icicles, to be soo much prettier.......maybe much more brilliant is a better dsecription....than standard lights.

 

[elgerber]

Interesting. I find the light they give off, especially for icicles, to be soo much prettier.......maybe much more brilliant is a better dsecription....than standard lights.

I find this on my tree inside, with the mini LEDs. They are very bright and gorgeous. The large lights outside the house, I do not think this. I wish we would have just kept our older lights, instead of the LEDs. Maybe if they were much closer together they would look brighter.

 

[1buckeyegirl]

I just saw that target will have all their Christmas lights 40% off the sat after thanksgiving and i believe they have ge.I just bought some at lowes, I didn't realize the difference between cool white and warm white because we've never had them before. Now that there up and there more of a cool white I'm worried it won't match the rest of our lights that are traditional lights. Also having a hard time finding warm led icicle lights with out spending a fortune! My husband is going to kill me if I make him take them down!

 

[puffkin]

I am holding out as long as possible to switch to LED. I can usually get about 5 years out of a standard set and I have it staggered so each year I only need to replace 1 or 2 strands. I used about 12 strands outside (icicles on the house and red/white lights on the shrubs). Even the warm led whites I can't stand (absolutely detest the cool white), so I keep buying the good old standard lights. I usually get them after christmas so I spend about $5/year on buying lights. To me, the lack of saving on electricity is more than made up by buying the cheaper strands on clearance which is why I stick with the old ones since I prefer the look as well.

I have two friends that go all out with lights (one does one of those computer sycnhed light shows) and they are lucky to get 5 years out of their way more expensive LED lights. They complain about it all the time.

 

[Debbie7452]

5 years ago we moved and bought all new LED warm white faceted lights(GE). The color is fine but they are super DIM. I hate them. With my luck they will now last forever!

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Just FYI, if you are thinking of Home Depot...through Nov. 16 you can get up to $5 off different brands if you bring in an old string of non-LED lights...limit 5.

Every year I bring in 5 old sets and upgrade...am running out of the old strings.

http://www.homedepot.com/hdus/en_US...stmas_Decor/doc/Christmas_Light_Trade_In_.pdf

 

[EMAW_KSU]

I would love to be able to have commercial lights that are custom lengths, but that is definitely not in the budget. We have looked at Sams but they don't have any reviews yet. The EcoSmart from Home Depot were ones we were considering....glad to hear you have been happy with them. It looks like we have narrowed it down to GE or the EcoSmart at this point. The lightshow I think are out of the budget as wel. Thank you for pointing out the different colors between brands....I had noticed the differences, but hadn't really thought about how important it might be to make sure we have more than enough when we buy....nothing worse than trying to find them again when you put them up and realize you're short. I'd rather have extra and return them. I definitely prefer the warm white - but the house is currently divided - one child wants multi-color and the other wants white.....what to do, what to do - LOL!!!

A number of the Christmas lights companies have pre sales in January. I purchased all of my C9 replacement bulbs from CDI four years ago and have not had one fail yet.