It’s time to choose your Christmas lights. Before you can choose the right Christmas lights, you need to know what you will need for the plan you have.
What, you don’t have a plan? You will need one!
Making the plan of what you want to do with your lights and decorations is going to give you the basis for what you need. If you do not have that base, you will find that you’ll be taking two steps back, rather than making two steps forward.
Types of Lights
To begin with, lets take a look at the different types of Christmas lights that are out there. There are basic LED lights and incandescent lights. There are indoor and outdoor lights. Finally there are lights that are shaped differently or set up with some other type of decor to get a specific layout.
LED or Incandescent
When you are talking about the two different types of lights that are designed, you are looking at the LED lights and incandescent lights in most cases. The LED lights are the newer of the two available technologies. They are commonly used because of their safety benefits, along with the variety of sizes, shapes and colors they come in.
The standard incandescent lights are a little higher on their electrical needs. This also means they run a little hotter overall. This is where there has been some concern for fire safety. They are, however, much brighter than the standard LED lights and are also coming in a wider variety than the previous years. You will find that with either choice, the lights tend to work within most people’s expectations.
Indoor and Outdoor lights
Other than the type of bulb that the light strings have, you will want to also look at whether they are indoor or outdoor lights. The reason is that you do not want to hang indoor lights outside. They are not designed with the necessary insulation that it will take to keep the electrical parts of the wires out and away from the moisture.
Thus, if you have indoor lights they can be used indoors. It you have outdoor lights, then you can use them indoors and out. But, it is a bad idea to use the indoor lights outside.
Different Shapes, Sizes and Colors
Choosing between the different sizes, shapes and colors can be a bigger challenge than it would appear at first glance. When you actually get to the aisle where the lights are, you will see there are many more sizes, shapes and colors than ever before. You will want to make light choices that will blend together.
The key is that plan we mentioned earlier. Your plan in hand of what you want the theme of your yard to be will help. The reason is that if you know what it should look like, how much space you need to cover, and the flow, you will have a much easier time putting the light choices together.
When you are mixing colors, make sure to create an even look. This can be the flow of two colors all consistently lined up to go one then the other. This can also be blinking lights of several colors, as long as there is some uniformity. If you do not have this, you may end up with a thrown on look. This may be fine for some, but an eyesore for others.
These are some good tips to help you choose the right Christmas lights for you. See what you find when you browse your local store and get your own ideas.