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Christmas Lights - What You Need For a Great Display

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 3 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

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Rated G. (Control what you see)

Are you like Clark W. Griswold?

 

Whether or not you deck your house with thousands of lights you will find everything you need to do the job here.  You'll find deals on Christmas lights, outdoor extension cords, light clips, LED lights and video instructions on making your Christmas light display the envy (or bane) of the neighborhood.

No matter how much effort you put into your Christmas light display it all starts with some basics:

Christmas Lights

Extension Cords

Christmas Light Clips

And add in a dash of time and patience. 

Don't Let This Happen to You 

Have a plan and be prepared when you set up your Christmas light display this year. You don't want to be embarrassed in front of your friends or in-laws.

national lampoons christmas vacation - 250 strands of lights

national lampoons christmas vacation - 250 strands of lights

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Outdoor Christmas Lights 

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The Many Benefits of LED Christmas Lights 

Okay, the main benefit to yourself is the money you will save on lower electric bills. Yes, LED Christmas Lights cost more initially than traditional lights, but you will recoup those higher costs the first couple of years you run LED lights.

Quick Calculation for Cost Savings of LED Christmas Lights:
(Watts * hours * price/kwh)/1000 = $COST
Run the numbers for LED lights against traditional Christmas lights. You will usually save around 80% by switching to LED Christmas lights.

LED Christmas lights are safer due to the fact that they are cool to the touch. This eliminates the possibility of a hot light starting a fire.

Once you purchase a string of LED lights it is most likely going to last you the rest of your life. The lifespan of LED Christmas lights is 100,000 hours.

We run our lights an average of 4 hours per night. That is 28 hours per week and we run them for roughly 6 weeks. That is 168 hours per year. Yeah, we won't be buying any replacement sets of lights.

One more thing, I think they just look cool.

LED Christmas Lights 

These lights will pay for themselves in just a couple of years. Well worth the investment.

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C9 LED Christmas Lights 

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The Crazy Christmas Lights Display 

This houses lights are synced with music and judging by the 1.4 million views this video has had I would say it has inspired many others to beef up their outdoor Christmas light displays.

Christmas Lights Gone Wild

Wow, this thing has really gone crazy with the viewers. Let me first start by saying that this is not my house. Regardless of what any of the comments read, this house really does exist, I have seen it with my own eyes and nothing you see in the video is trickery, it's all real. This display was the work of Carson Williams, a Mason, Ohio, electrical engineer who spent about three hours sequencing the 88 Light-O-Rama channels that controlled the 16,000 Christmas lights in his annual holiday lighting spectacular (from Christmas 2004). His 2005 display includes over 25,000 lights that he spent nearly two months and $10,000 to hook up. So that the Williams' neighbors aren't disturbed by constant noise, viewers driving by the house are informed by signs to tune in to a signal broadcast over a low-power FM radio station to hear the musical accompaniment. The rough quality of the video has led some viewers to believe it was put together in stop-action form from still photographs, but that is an artifact of the high compression used in the clip circulated via e-mail. Mr. Williams has posted instructions for recreating his "Wizard in Winter" sequencing, and another of his choreographed Christmas light music shows can be viewed here. Carson's Christmas display proved so popular that it was featured in a Miller Lite beer commercial in December 2005.

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Christmas Light Clips 

I use light clips to attach lights to our gutters around our roof line and boy does it make hanging lights a breeze.

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DIY Computerized Christmas Lights 

Zedomax DIY119 - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights

Make Computer Controlled Christmas Lights in 5 minutes! http://zedomax.com/wiki/index.php/Zedomax_DIYs

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Christmas Rope Lights 

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Christmas Lights - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 

BS339 Christmas Lights by listentoreason

Christmas lights at Shady Brook Farm, Yardley PA. Christmas 2006.

Christmas Lights by jonathanpenney11

Christmas lights on my christmas tree.

Wrights Christmas Lights by Mushy's Captures

One of the largest displays of Christmas lights and displays around. The family...

Christmas Lights by GarrettG

This is one of our neighbors fantastic set of Christmas Lights.

Christmas Lights by Awesome Photography

One of the local homes decorated with beautiful Christmas lights here in Henders...

Christmas Lights at the Leg 1 by Edward Willett

Some of the outdor Christmas lights on the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in ...

Christmas lights - house by blue ridge laughing

a house on the Richmond Tacky Light Tour (in the West End)

Christmas lighting on the Met Life Tower by Jim in Times Square

(034) Occasionally, the Met Life Tower is festooned at Christmas with this light...

Christmas Lights in Lawson Way, Sheringham by adambowie

Every year, the residents of Lawson Way in Sheringham, Norfolk, put ever more el...

Christmas Lights 1 by The Killer Biscuit

I'd really hate to see their electric bill. Christmas lights in Pennsylvania (9t...

Christmas Lights by pjkimg

An experiment in out-of-focus photography: lights on a Christmas tree.

Christmas Lights by newsphotog6801

An elaborate display of christmas lights in Murray, Utah

Leeds Christmas Lights Switch-On 2006 by Strawbleu™

As Leeds Christmas Lights were switched on by Mcfly, Gaynor Faye and local hero ...

UK - London - Piccadilly: Regent Street Christmas Lights by wallyg

Regent Street is a major shopping street and thoroughfare in London's West End. ...

Mesa Temple Christmas lights 1 by gwilmore

Christmas lights on the grounds of the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple.

Outdoor Extension Cords 

Don't risk an electrical fire by using extension cords that are not rated for outdoor use.

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Use Magic Neon for your Christmas light display 

Magic Neon Wire MNW Lighting

www.kpt.net.cn The product is the full set of continuous colorful electroluminescent wire (EL wire), no heat radiation, energy-saving, environmentally friendly and safe. To be made into any solid shape or flat design by hand without using any fixity, glue or fixed surface, the finished shape will not recover with flexibility, and can be bent repeatedly. Application Fields: DIY light toy; Christmas lighting decoration; Intelligence lighting toy; Arts and crafts decoration; Outdoor safety sign; Flash words and pictures; Vehicle decoration; Flash adverti

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Christmas Bubble Lights 

We have a few sets of these on our tree and the kids just love them!

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Share your stories and memories of putting up Christmas lights 

We all have those stories of helping put up Christmas lights. Whether it is the gigantic ball of lights that were not put away properly the previous year or finding that one light that is burned out and keeping the rest of the string of lights from operating.

Yes, I know, I am dating myself with the whole "when one light burns out they all go out" I do realize that they make them better these days :).

Christmas Light Links 

Christmas Light Finder
Do you drive around aimlessly looking for Christmas lights every year? We are here to help make that tradition better by allowing you to search for displays in your area and get directions to them.
Light-O-Rama
Light-O-Rama is a leading manufacturer of user programmable light controllers. Our powerful controllers and easy to use software put you completely in control of your lights.
Animated Lighting
Software and hardware for controlling lighting effects. Include music, sounds, moving animatronics, and interactive elements in your lighting display.
D-Light Designs, LLC
D-Light Designs, LLC - Light your home. Light your business. D-Light the world.
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