Help me build relationship capital OR Outdoor christmas lights questions

[HiImSeth]

Alright.. so forever I've been the guy that doesn't care to put up Christmas lights and all that nonsense. We've done some of the stupid metal reindeer things w/ lights on them and crap like that but I usually end up throwing them away after a season when they go all Chinese on me and fall a part. I am also not a fan of the big blow up junk either. I've always been a fan of a clean looking set up with one color (maybe two, if done right), but none of this netting crap that you wrap around a tree and call it 'decorated' or throw on your shrub and move on. That's gay.

However, my son is of the age that I think he would realllllly be thrilled to roll up in the swagger wagon (minivan) and find the house decorated (conservatively) w/ some lights. So I've decided that this year I would like to deliver. I've always said if I can't put up lights correctly (along the entire roof, including the peaks and whatnot) that I am not going to do it. However, I'm also not a fan of being on my roof, ever. So I'm thinking of throwing that bit out the window and settling with installing some lights along the front and sides, but not the peak and all that dangerous monkey isht that I'm not prepared to do.

My question for you is.. what lights are best currently? I used to always like the bigger (C9?) lights that we had at my house growing up. But if those are considerably more expensive to run then I'd be game for something else. If I have to spend $$ to get lights that aren't going to break all the time or have half a strand go out because some bulb got pee'd on by a squirrel then that is fine, I'll spend the $$. Do the LED ones look really weird? I saw some once that did not really impress me, but they were blue and that is mostly a dumb Christmas color anyways. Additionally, what do you use to install them? I have guttering so are the guttering clips the way to go or is there a better way?

P.S. Our lights will be clear/white (is there a difference?) and not multi-colored or some other color.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[peanut]

You gotta pay to play. Either do it yourself or pay the big bucks to have it done.
I just make a loop around the house guttering with a 6ft ladder.
Too tight to pay to have it done, and too old to get on the roof.
Pick your poison.
We bought LED's last year and they are plenty bright.
I use the guttering clips from Lowes and it makes it very easy to hang the lights.

 

[Shootin 4 Fun]

Chris Johnson
918-629-8839
CCM Holiday Lighting

 

[Danny Tanner]

We have Philips brand LEDs for our house (not up yet), in both the smaller/standard size bulbs and the C9 sized equivalent. The whitish-blue lights you're probably talking about are "cool white" in color. Most brands, including Philips, have "warm white", which will be the same color as your white or clear incandescent bulbs.

Another thing I would like to add is to pay attention to the light strands in the store. Most stores have a strand plugged in so you can see the color. Typically, the cheaper LEDs will have, for lack of a better term, LED flicker. Some people are more sensitive to it than others. I can spot it from a mile away. Each LED will flicker very quickly. The better quality will usually not display this flicker.

 

[rings]

I personally picked up some LEDs at Atwoods last week and got them installed, they were cheap 22.99 for 99 lighted feet in C9. Yes they have some flicker, but Im a cheap ass college student and wanted to upgrade my lights to LEDs. I also picked up some clips from Walmart last year half price and they worked for shingles and gutters.

 

[kroberts2131]

We finally did lights this year. I bought 6 boxes=2 red, 2 white, 2 blue. I took the time to set them in a red white blue pattern and it looks super nice. Not over kill and not dumb like the multi colored ones. We did the whole house front side of the house, including the peak, net lights on the bushes, candy cane lights up the driveway and an inflatible. Spent <$250 total and it doesn't look over kill at all.

 

[dieseltech09]

My wife doenst like anything other than the plain white C9 lights. 3 boxes did the front of my house. They are around 7 bucks a box at home depot. LEDs have a funny color to me, which if your going for the multi color look would be just fine but all the white LEDs look funky to me. I use the clips from home depot that will clip to the gutter or slide under the shingles

 

[HiImSeth]

Thanks for all of the protips. I may go out and buy some today. Hopefully I can find a place that has them plugged in for me to easily determine which ones look like crap and which ones don't. Digging the idea of white C9's.

 

[rlongnt]

We went with C9 size LED strings from Atwood’s. They are $29 per string but are 100 foot long strands so it makes them cheaper than the standard old school 25 foot strings of incandescent bulbs. Today I think they are 25% off. I don’t even bother to unplug them since they are so cheap to run. Atwood’s also sells 100 count boxes of clips for $3.99 to hang them on the gutter or shingles. The clips are believe it or not made in the USA.

LED really is the future of lighting and I really like not having to constantly replace C9 bulbs anymore. Also, the plastic bulbs don’t have any paint to scratch off like the old school bulbs. After a few years of pulling the old C9 strings across the shingles they were white and whatever the base color was.

Lastly, the ability to string damn near as many light strings together without blowing any fuses in is cool too.

 

[bulbboy]

Seth,

I misunderstood your text. I do have replacement C7 and C9's. Let me know what you need for extras and I'll get some to you next week