MPower said:Costco got their Christmas displays set up when I checked today.

LED lights are $7.39 for the larger sized bulbs, 100 bulbs per string.
The smaller bulbs are $8.99 per 100. Both prices include a $2 coupon savings.

This is the cheapest I've seen anywhere so far.

Time to switch from the incandescents for me!
LED Cristmas lights are pretty cool. Unlike conventional lights where the entire piece is the 'bulb' and has a filament inside, on LED lights the 'bulb' is on the string itself and there's just a big plastic piece that gets lit up by it. The advantages besides less power/heat etc. visually is that the entire plastic piece gets lit relatively evenly, as opposed to regular lights where you can see the filament glowing at the bottom of the bulb and the top doesn't get lit really. LED christmas lights look almost 'surreal' when you see them.

I paid 10 each for 65ct 22' C6 Sylvania strings at WalMart that I've been happy with so far. I'm not sure that the 'larger' in OP post refers to in terms of bulb size. with LED lights you usually get the ones that are the size of conventional minilights, then you get ones that are ball shaped and a little bigger, then you step up into the C6/C7 and above sizes. If this is for C6/C7 ones then that is a good price if the lighted length is enough for you.

I've seen a few places like Sams club also selling snowflake shaped lights or large plastic snowflakes that have LED lights that blink in patterns inside them. Usually those are lit with blue and white LEDs.

Ironically Sam's Club and Home Depot didn't have very good prices on LED light sets compared to even WalMart itself.

lzpoof said:vibe said:Does anyone know if led xmas lights can be dimmed with a dimmer?

no LEDs/fluorescents should be used on a dimmer unless they specifically say they can be. I've yet to see any LED xmas lights that said they can be.

Mine dim just fine on an in-line dimmer and X10 dimmer module. I have several different brands mixed, and all work just fine.

LED's are capable of being dimmed, I've dimmed mine with an X10 module as well as on an electronic project bench. LED's can run at any voltage that's at or lower than their specifications without problems.

Fluorescents have problems with dimming because they use electronic circuits that oscillate and boost the output power to the tube to high voltage to make it glow. LED's don't need that.

LED's however do have a different power usage than incandescent bulbs, so they may dim earlier, or later than a string of incandescent bulbs if plugged into the same dimmer.

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.

I find them less bright than normal lights. Normal lights also shine from any angle, LED lights tend to be brightest from the front. Yes, they use less power, and don't get as warm, but for things like a tree regular lights still look better.

Here is a review of some sold @ Costco.
Hopefeully, it helps.

Costco Link

Jes

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.

While the lights can't set things on fire from the heat and there isn't an open socket to short..... the wires themselves and the bottom of the sockets can just as easily become frayed if you pull them along something so they can still be a fire hazard.

the larger ones are billed as C6 equivalents, but they're not quite as big as conventional C6s.

I don't like that LEDs aren't as bright as incandescents either, but then again the paint from the bulb never flakes, and I can use 3x as many bulbs since the cost is 1/9 that of incandescents.

So ... much more lights, much brighter total, much less power total. only problem to date has been cost, and now costco has solved that

MPower said:the larger ones are billed as C6 equivalents, but they're not quite as big as conventional C6s.

I don't like that LEDs aren't as bright as incandescents either, but then again the paint from the bulb never flakes, and I can use 3x as many bulbs since the cost is 1/9 that of incandescents.

So ... much more lights, much brighter total, much less power total. only problem to date has been cost, and now costco has solved that

I'm not sure where the 1/9 comes from but I did notice that C6/C7 LED lights don't seem that much different in cost compared to regular C6/C7 ones. The mini LEd light sets are a lot more expensive than cheapo regular minilight sets though.

I think it comes down to the fact that regular C6 bulbs themselves are more costly than a minibulb, but a lot of LED C6 light sets are probably using the same LED bulbs as miniLED sets with just bigger plastic pieces attached.

If that's the case then the LED ones probably will seem dimmer the bigger you get, although the plastic 'bulb' will be more evenly lit than a conventional bulb.

Sams Club has the same thing for $13.76. They are c7 lights 100 count, 26 feet long. The Costco deal is great. I cant beleive Sams is twice as much.