1. Like snowflakes, no two sets of Christmas light bulbs will ever be exactly the same shade. Each manufacturer strives to present a uniform, consistent color but slight variations of light color occur and are not considered a manufacturer's defect.
2. The traditional clear mini holiday lights are generally lit by incandescent lamps. These lamps produce a broad-spectrum white Christmas light and are colored by coating the glass envelope with a transparent or translucent paint that acts as a color filter.
3. LED Christmas tree lights emit diodes rather than traditional mini lights. Christmas LED lights do not have a filament inside that can burn out and take the entire strand of bulbs with it. Christmas LED C7 lights are a great choice because they do not emit excessive heat like incandescent bulbs can and they use less electricity.
4. As a rule of thumb, plan on using 75 to 100 mini lights per foot of tree. So for a 6 foot Christmas tree: 450-600 lights, 7 foot tree: 525-700 lights, 8 foot tree: 600-800 lights, 9 foot tree: 675-900 lights. For the "twinkle" factor, some decorators will use 150 mini lights per foot.
5. The recommended maximum number of outdoor Christmas lights to interconnect or plug into each other is three sets. If you need to connect more string lights together, choose a commercial LED light set using a power adapter. The commercial Christmas LED string lights can allow up to 125 mini light sets to be connected.
6. Do not mix and match outdoor Christmas light counts by connecting a 25 ct. string light into a 100 ct. or even 50 ct. outdoor Christmas light. If you plug in different count outdoor Christmas lights, the power draw is uneven and the higher wattage or power needed for a 100 ct. strong outdoor Christmas light could short out or cause a malfunction on the 25 ct. or 50 ct. string lights as it would flow excessive power.
7. Determine the location of your exterior outlet or run a heavy-duty extension cord from inside the house. Tape the cord down to avoid anyone tripping on it. We recommend you test your white lights on a reliable inside outlet before hanging them on the house.
8. We recommend preparing your icicle lights for storage by labeling them with tags indicating the length and type of light. This will save you from having to unravel the entire strand and will make it easier to see what you already have for next year.
9. Net lights and tree wraps are becoming popular choices because they make for quick and easy holiday decorating. Net lights are generally tangle-free and offer uniformly spaced lighting that can quickly be placed on shrubs and bushes.
10. Holiday lights originated in Germany in the 17th century. They were in homes of only the very wealthy and the lights were actually candles. Electricity did not enter the picture until 1882 when Edward Johnson lit up a Christmas tree in New York City with 80 small electric bulbs.
