We’ve gotten some of the Christmas lights up around here, I was a bit slow in initiating it and the holidays are sneaking up on us quickly. These are the lights we’ve put up this year so far, all of the Christmas Lights installed this year were LED, they have a nice cold glow that goes well with the ice and snow.
It’s kind of weird around here, few of the immediate neighbors have put up lights. I’ve always been a big Christmas light fan. They’re fairly easy to put up and take down and add a festive look to things. Still to go are the 600 or so blue/white light string, plus the big RGB LED bulbs which color shift and do different things. Those will go on a tree in the left side yard this year.
LEDs are of course a wonderful option if you wish to be environmentally conscious with your holiday and Christmas lighting. LEDs are much more energy efficient than a normal lamp light bulb. Incandescent lamps provide a warmer glow, one of the reasons for this is that they use a small piece of tungsten wire for a filament. As electricity runs through the filament it heats up to the point that it glows and puts off light, but in order to create that light they also create a lot of heat. As much as 80% of their power consumption can be waste heat. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that we don’t need to be heating the great outdoors in the middle of the Winter.
It used to be that LED Christmas Lights were much more expensive than the standard glass bulb type, but over the last few years the prices have rapidly decreased and become much more competitive. While you may still pay a bit more for LED lights, you also get the benefits of long life, high brightness and reliability. Most LEDs manufactured have a lifespan of 11 years, if they’re run at full brightness non-stop. Assuming they do not get damaged in storage or while being put up, they should last a long. Occasionally an LED lamp does fail before the 11 years, but replacements are usually included with the strings when you buy them. Just make sure to put them in a safe location should you need them later.
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Tags: Christmas, led, Light Art, Snow, Winter
6 responses to The LED Christmas Lights Have Been Put Up
The lights are beautiful – I took Grandma and Paco driving around Maple Valley two nights to look at Christmas lights. I can’t wait to see the rest once you have them up. I know it can be a lot of climbing and work so I am really glad you can leave them up for a few weeks to enjoy. Love you honey. Mom
I never got the rest of the lights up, Christmas came and went too fast, but I did start late. I’ll remember to prepare early for next year.
What no sync to FM transmitted music with DMX control over each string with at least 256 levels of fading? Are you slipping? hehehehehe
While I think those are kind of cool, they’ve been a bit overdone. Maybe a high power laser Christmas display with high end galvos and stuff for next year. ok ok, not likely. Hey at least all the lights put up this year were LED. I like the look of the LEDs vs the glowing filaments, but I’m a bit partial to semiconductors! Hope you had a good Christmas.
Hey Jon,
Yes, I had a great Christmas, got a nice little 0.10 size outrunner/ESC/LiPO that will go nice in a yak 54 from electrifly. Additionally, I got a cap 580 foamy, which was a ton of fun, until I got it up and running pretty well. Then flew it into a ice/snow bank and it rekitted itself.
Man that little heli looks like fun! I bet you didn’t struggle with that impulse buy at all!
As for the light show, I’ve seen respectable galvos (20k) on ebay for $200 get a nice DPSS laser and you could be making graphics in no time, with some of the free software available.
I do disagree on your preference for semiconductor over filament. The flow of the filament is always warm and inviting, those blue LED’s can be harsh at points. Though, based on energy usage i’d still go for the LED’s.
Glad you had a good Christmas! Get some pics of the Yak 54 flying when you get it in the air! It’s a shame about the 580, I would perhaps file a complaint to the manufacturer about your plane re-kitting itself, usually it requires the skilled hand a of a pilot to pull that off!
The Novus is a fun/aggravating little heli. It flew alright with the stock motor, though I hear the brushed motor runs for about 30 flights before it gives out. Apparently they use fingered brushes and they melt down. I did get the brushless upgrade kit for it, but had some problems with the brushless motor for the tail. I finally got the tail motor working, but haven’t had a chance to fly it yet.
As for LEDs vs Filament. I guess it’s a matter of classical vs. modern. In another 20 years I bet the only filament lights left will be stuff old codgers collect to remind them of the ‘olden days’ of soft lighting. In fact, you just raised the ‘tube amplifier’ vs ‘transistor amplifier’ argument over Christmas lights. Shame on you!
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