posicat said:It all depends on how the strand is wired.

You could have a strand of 100, but in actuality it's 4 strands of 25 put together. That keeps the brightness the same.

I wasn't thinking about the drain/dimming but rather that each LED light in a C6 strand might be the same brightness rating (watts) as the ones used in an LED mini light set. Same brightness LED but a bigger plastic 'bulb' to light might make them look dimmer even though each bulb gives off the same amount of light really.

twas a good point about looking for offwhite LEDs earlier btw. IF someone doesn't like a color they should look for a different color.

I will be checking this out this weekend I need to buy x-mas lights for my new house and LED is the geekiest way to go.

in for 20,

clark grizwold

It pays to check LED Christmas lights fairly closely to make sure you're getting what you want. LED technology has evolved by Leaps and Bounds in the past year or two, and the reason prices are be dropping so much may be because some manufacturers are using old (read: not so bright) LED technology in light strings. LED light strings should be a lot more durable than incandescent bulb strings.

State-of-the-art LEDs are now so bright in some cases that they're replacing strobe lights in police car roof lights and replacing bulbs in traffic signals. It won't be long before regular household light bulbs start becoming available with LEDs in them instead of wire filaments (which will be great provided the color temperature is OK because they'll last an insanely long time and will use a fraction of the energy of an incandescent bulb).

TellyTubby said:JonesBeach said:It pays to check LED Christmas lights fairly closely to make sure you're getting what you want. LED technology has evolved by Leaps and Bounds in the past year or two, and the reason prices are be dropping so much may be because some manufacturers are using old (read: not so bright) LED technology in light strings. LED light strings should be a lot more durable than incandescent bulb strings.

State-of-the-art LEDs are now so bright in some cases that they're replacing strobe lights in police car roof lights and replacing bulbs in traffic signals. It won't be long before regular household light bulbs start becoming available with LEDs in them instead of wire filaments (which will be great provided the color temperature is OK because they'll last an insanely long time and will use a fraction of the energy of an incandescent bulb).Forgive me, but you sound a little bullshitty.

well yes and no... There are higher wattage output LEDs now than there were a few years ago but that's kinda irrelevant since these aren't 5watt LEDs like you'd find in a tactical flashlight. There have however also been improvements in efficiency of LEDs also but again I doubt anyone's using anything particularly highend in 10-20 buck strands of small LED christmas lights.

Bottomline, look at a display and if you like them buy them. If you're in a nice store , ask them if they'll let you plug them in (politely say you won't take them out of the box, just plug the cord in). I'm confused why anyone would be buying christmas lights to light up a yard or something anyways.... to me Christmas lights should LOOK GOOD. As long as they have good colors and are easily visible themselves that works for me. If you want to light up your yard buy a spotlight.

TellyTubby said:JonesBeach said:State-of-the-art LEDs are now so bright in some cases that they're replacing strobe lights in police car roof lights and replacing bulbs in traffic signals.

It won't be long before regular household light bulbs start becoming available with LEDs in them instead of wire filaments .Forgive me, but you sound a little bullshitty.

Not bullshitty, just stuck back in 1999. LEDs have been used in traffic signals since the early 2000's. And regular household light bulbs are already widely available with LEDs in them.
Welcome to the 21st century, JonesBeach.

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ThankYou wrote:
Not bullshitty, just stuck back in 1999. LEDs have been used in traffic signals since the early 2000's. And regular household light bulbs are already widely available with LEDs in them. Welcome to the 21st century, JonesBeach.
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I noticed, on a traffic signal about two miles from my house, that one green has not been working for three days! I guess Lowe's is out of stock!
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CuriousGeorge said:This makes that firemans invention on that show obsolete, since these LED xmas lights will never be a fire hazard due to hot bulbs igniting dry tree leaves/needles/branches.

Haha, i betcha he didn't see this coming! By next xmas, i have a feeling these will be the only type of xmas lights WalMart/target sells.

There's also the very serious issue of shorting and sparking which is maybe just as likely with LED christmas lights. As they get placed and removed over and over things get loose. I've seen more than a lot of exposed wire when looking at lights. Personally I've never seen any heat issues or sparking from christmas lights, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Didn't mythbusters address both these issues?

gizmotoy said:Was this part of a price mistake? Has anyone been able to get these prices recently?

I just got back from my Costco and the prices were $13.99 and $14.99. About $4 more expensive than the OP. Perhaps I'll try another one.

This is DEFINITELY YMMV - OP please add that to the title. Local costco has LED mini lights for $10.99 (100 bulb) (colored) and LED clears for $13.l9 (100 bulb)

I bought a bunch of these (multi-colored LED's) in 2005 after Christmas at COSTCO for $3.97 a set. If you don't need them.... it pays to check, last year they marked them down on Christmas eve, I think they only has red though.....