LED Christmast Lights: Where to buy CHEAP

[StarsFan4Life]

I was in Home Depot, Lowes, and Target looking at Christmast decorations with my wife and have decided that I want to switch over to the LED Christmas lights for my outdoor lighting (house, bushes, trees, etc). The only thing:

THE PRICE!

Why in the hell are these things up to 20x the cost of a similiar strand of regular lights?

With that said, I am sure some of you are buying them. Where are you buying for outdoor use? Where is the hot spot for the cheap lights?

 

[rudeguy]

Walmart has them pretty cheap. I would have stocked up last week but I am not allowed to purchase Christmas stuff til after turkey day.

 

[Rubycon]

You can get them cheaper but they won't last as long.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Home Depot gives you a $5 credit for donating old Christmas lights towards LED lights.

 

[StarsFan4Life]

I thought that credit deal was over...

 

[rockyct]

LED Christmas lights are not so great. If the bulb is not sealed (removable like the old incandescent lights), there is a good chance the leads of the LEDs will rust through in one or two seasons. The Philips lights at Target are the worst at this but others will do it too.

Don't buy LED Christmas lights for the energy savings as they probably won't last long enough to make up for the energy savings. Now, the colors are richer especially the blue, but the white is typically quite blue because it's a fake white. There's also the 60 Hz flicker that annoys me because they typically don't have a rectifying diode built in.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Anyone who buys Christmas lights/decorations before the 26th of December is a fool.

 

[rudeguy]

Anyone who buys Christmas lights/decorations before the 26th of December is a fool.

so what all did you get today?

 

[spacelord]

I am waiting several years for the price of LED lights to come way down.

 

[waffleironhead]

I bought a whole bunch about 4 years ago from menards. I got them at 75% off after christmas. ended up being about 2.50 per string. So, my advice is to wait and get them for next year.

 

[Red Squirrel]

LED Christmas lights are not so great. If the bulb is not sealed (removable like the old incandescent lights), there is a good chance the leads of the LEDs will rust through in one or two seasons. The Philips lights at Target are the worst at this but others will do it too.

Don't buy LED Christmas lights for the energy savings as they probably won't last long enough to make up for the energy savings. Now, the colors are richer especially the blue, but the white is typically quite blue because it's a fake white. There's also the 60 Hz flicker that annoys me because they typically don't have a rectifying diode built in.

This. I bought some, returned them the same day. First off, the 60hz flash was enough to almost give me a seizure. I would probably "catch" epilepsy on the way too if that's even possible. Then I realized the bulbs were built in and in serries. What if one goes bad, I'm screwed? And lastly the clips were too small to use anywhere. Of course, each set varries some are better then others.

Ended up going with the classic C9's. I've always loved those for some reason. They're kinda expensive to run though. 7w per bulb, 25 bulbs per set, 2 sets, that's 350W in just lights and that's not counting if I decide to put some in the trees (probably next year).

I think you can get C9 LED bulbs though, so think over time I might just replace the burnt bulbs with those. Also think in a few years they'll have matured more and might even be better and brighter.

 

[SunSamurai]

I am waiting several years for the price of LED lights to come way down.

One would think the energy cost difference for several months worth would pay for most of the cost, if not all, unless youre lame and turn them off at night.

 

[sivart]

Looks like I'll be looking on December 26th....I want some all white to put underneath my patio cover to give some mood lighting year round

 

[BoomerD]

While I like the LOOK of many of the LED sets, for no longer than I run xmas lights, I can't justify the costs. They're on for 5-6 weeks tops, and only for 12 or so hours daily max. My wife insists that I set the timer to turn them off when we go to bed, and since I put them up for her, it's fine with me.
I'm the kind of old grumpy bastard who would put a "yellow bug light" in the porch light and call it good.

 

[rockyct]

This. I bought some, returned them the same day. First off, the 60hz flash was enough to almost give me a seizure. I would probably "catch" epilepsy on the way too if that's even possible. Then I realized the bulbs were built in and in serries. What if one goes bad, I'm screwed? And lastly the clips were too small to use anywhere. Of course, each set varries some are better then others.

Ended up going with the classic C9's. I've always loved those for some reason. They're kinda expensive to run though. 7w per bulb, 25 bulbs per set, 2 sets, that's 350W in just lights and that's not counting if I decide to put some in the trees (probably next year).

I think you can get C9 LED bulbs though, so think over time I might just replace the burnt bulbs with those. Also think in a few years they'll have matured more and might even be better and brighter.

You can get special LED C9 bulbs to replace the incandescent C9 bulbs and the good ones will have five or so LEDs in one bulb. Since there is a voltage regulator for the LEDs to step down the 120V, there is also no flicker. However, you pretty much have to replace all of them at once because the colors are extremely different. You'd easily be able to tell the LED and incandescent bulbs apart.