LED Christmas Lights?

[Canada 02]

Anyone have them?
Are they worth the higher price? ($9/LED string vs $3 incandescent)
Operating 300 lights for 4 hours/day for 30 days, I estimate that I would save about $10-15 in energy costs vs incandescent

I was going to buy some last year, but read they were all made in China, and the quality/durability was crap because water would leak in and corrode the inside

http://www.holidayleds.com/articles/...day_decoration

Is their a brand that is reliable, waterproof, rectified (ie doesn't have a visible flicker)?

[fredr123]

We bought a whole bunch of Noma LED lights from Canadian Tire two years ago: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...=1291219309866

We've got the coloured minis and the white icicles outside. They seem pretty popular in our neighborhood and I have no complaints. The only problem I had was getting enough of the right "whites" since apparently there are three different "whites" produced by Noma.

[Komskies]

Indeed. Go with the Noma brand ones from Canadian Tire. As fredr mentioned they have multiple colors of white, warm white and cool white I know of for sure.

I have some blue indoor/outdoor LEDs outside and white indoor LEDs inside and they both look really great. The quality is there too. You'll notice that they're a hell of a lot brighter than the incandescent ones as well as just looking nicer.

Verdict: worth the price.

[Zevo]

Easier on the hydro bill as well.

[ken0042]

I have a power meter I use to measure how much energy they draw, and a string of 70 doesn't even crack the 2 watt threshold of my device. With about 400-500 lights around my house the total draw is still under 10 watts.

Funny thing- the timer I used to use consumes about 7 watts on its own; so it's less power to leave them on 24/7 than to use the timer.

I also have a string of them that I leave on 365 days per year; tucked into my soffit to give some light to my porch. They have been running for 2 years straight now; so they seem to be durable.

[mrkajz44]

I've found they are much more durable too. You can whack them around putting them up and taking them down and not have to worry about breaking anything.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

I've found they are much more durable too. You can whack them around putting them up and taking them down and not have to worry about breaking anything.

Yeah I found that, too. They're tough.

[DownhillGoat]

We picked some up because we preferred the look of them to the mini incandescent bulbs.

Costco usually has good deals on LEDs if you get there early enough in the season.

[Ashartus]

In addition to what others have said, the lack of heat means less fire danger.

There are a couple of downsides:
- While they are much more durable, individual bulbs can't be replaced.
- The colours are a bit more muted than incandescent bulbs.

I've been using them for 4 years now without any problems (still using my original sets of lights), and think that overall they're the best choice right now.

[Rathji]

We use them because they are more durable and easier to store.

[ken0042]

And I was in Canadian Tire on Southland; they had the 12' strings of blue ones on for something like $6.

[Northendzone]

if you are going to buy some - i'd recommend initially buying more strings than you think you might need and return the excess when you are done hanging them. that way your set will match.

[amorak]

Had my entire house done in LED lights, all the way up to the peaks. looks great, non-existant impact on the Enmax bill. Love'em.

[fredr123]

The Noma lights typically come with a 5 year exchange warranty too. I've never had to use the warranty and I don't know what it covers... but that's something, right?

[Canada 02]

i live south of the border, so Canadian tire isn't an option. Good to know they are reliable, and the energy savings will eventually offset the higher upfront cost

also happy I can get 25 ft C9's for $9 compared to the price up north

[CRXguy]

i bought 3 boxes at costco last year.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

- The colours are a bit more muted than incandescent bulbs.

Do you mean not as vibrant or not as bright?
LED's are much richer in color than their incandescent brethren.

I myself use the ones at Costco. 3 years now outdoors and they still work like new. I have a string above the kitchen cabinets for mood lighting that stay lit 24/7/365. They've been going for 2 years now and I just held a new strand up to them. The are just a tad dimmer now, but it's difficult to see. And all bulbs are still going. So that's over 17,000 hours on them with no defects.