Question: Hello. I need replacement clear bulbs for flashing/twinkling led mini (M5) Christmas lights. Do you (or can you) sell these? Thank you. Quick Answer: No one makes universal LED bulb replacements Long Answer: I’m sorry, we don’t carry anything like that at this time. LED lights strings vary greatly in electrical specifications and base…
Category: Frequently Asked Questions
What should I use to outline the border of my yard and trees?
We just fielded this question from Ron: Hello – I’m looking to purchase chrismas led lights for my yard and trees. . . The lights for the yard would be on the border of my grass and outline the yard . I would need stakes and need a recommendation of which stakes to purchase. I…
What is the difference between faceted and smooth bulbs
Kristin recently asked the following question and since we hear it quite often, we thought we’d share our answer here: I’m trying to decide between smooth or faceted C9 LED bulbs for the outside of our house. Without seeing them lit, it’s hard to tell which is the better bulb. Is one brighter than the…
Installing 12 volt Christmas Lights in Your Car
We exchanged emails with a customer who installed our 12-volt lights in his car for the Christmas season. The discussion touched on quite a few questions that we hear so we thought sharing the email thread might help other folks as well. Here was the first question: Question The cigarette lighter male end looks to…
Can I mix up LED light strings?
This is a question from a customer who wants to mix strings of LED – both steady and flashing from multiple vendors including Christmas Light Source together on the same tree. (I realized this after we exchanged emails.) Hello, is it possible to link these twinkle lights with other 5mm not twinkling LEDs? thanks…
Get This Look: Installing Lights on Tile Rooflines
A few times every Season, we hear the question, “How do I install Christmas lights on tile roofs?” Here is a customer project that answers that question! Happy New Year! Here are some photos of our application. We have clay shingles with no gutters. The clips worked pretty well. We will order some more lights for…
Last-minute Christmas Lights Q&A
Making last-minute decisions about your Christmas lights? If one person writes to us with a question, we figure more people are probably wondering about the answer as well. These are all real customer questions! Transitioning from incandescent to LED lights QUESTION: For many years, I’ve been looking at LED replacements for my traditional white mini string…
Tips while Hanging Outdoor Christmas Lights
Every day we field calls from customers asking about installing lights. Do I really need a surge protector? How do I hang Christmas lights on my gutters? Will magnetic clips work on my siding? Here are a few of our best suggestions and reminders as you install your Christmas lights. (In all things…
Can I run these spools 1400 feet and add bulbs? (NO!)
Today’s Question: How do I run LED lights along a 1400 foot fence? I’ve heard that I can just run separate bulbs and 18 AWG spools of cords the full distance since they are so low current? The Answer: NO, NO, NO. (Did I mention, “NO”?) Traditional cords and bulbs on 18 AWG wire cannot…
How Many Lights Should I put on my tree?
This is the time of year when you may be looking out your front window or thinking about the perfect Christmas tree and are asking yourself…… How Many Lights Should I Put on My Tree? Every season, this is our #1 question. We find it’s a tricky one to answer. One man or woman’s basic…
Will your cords work with my vintage bulbs?
Question Will this 50-foot C7 cord hold the vintage GE lighted ice bulbs? The lights say C7, but I want to confirm since they’re vintage. Answer: I can’t guarantee it completely but C7 or E12 as a light bulb base specification has been standard for many years. You should be fine. Test your bulbs first…
What is the best cord for C9 LED bulbs?
What is the best cord for LED C9 bulbs? Short Answer: C9 cords with 6 -inch spacing are tailored to work with LED bulbs along rooflines and walkways resulting in maximum impact and intensity. The Long Answer: We kept hearing customer questions like: I want my LED bulbs closer together than 12 inches, have you…
Christmas Lights Troubleshooting Checklist
Where did I store those Christmas Lights? I wonder what shape they’re in…. time to inspect and troubleshoot! It’s only the middle of September but now is the time to start planning for Fall, Halloween and Christmas lighting. Dust off your Christmas storage boxes and begin your assessment now. Almost all of our lights are back in stock….
What is the difference between LED and incandescent lights, really?
If you’ve been opening our newsletters over the last couple of weeks, you tracked down your lights and recorded them in your inventory spreadsheet and you’ve plugged your lights in to see what works and what doesn’t. Now, it’s time to make a decision: LED or Incandescent? For some, the decision involves weeks of hand…
Do LED Twinkle Bulbs Really Twinkle?
I received this question today about LED twinkle bulbs and thought I’d share it since you might have the question as well! I’ve grown up decorating my Christmas tree with C7 twinkle lights. This year, we want to replace our bulbs with LED bulbs. I want a variety of colors and love the twinkle effect…
Lighted bottle parties: What lights do I use?
Here is a question we just received via email: I am hosting a lighted wine bottle party. We are looking for battery operated mini lights white and have looked on your site at battery operated and craft lights. What is your recommendation for this type of project and am looking for around 30 lights. Thanks…
Customer Question: Do you have red lights for my chicken coop?
Here is today’s customer question: I am looking for red LED lights that I can use in my chicken house, they need to run off a battery, any suggestions? Thank you Adding red light to a chicken coop can extend their laying time when the winter days get shorter. You can see more about chickens…
Can I fix these fun lights with covers?
Do you have a fun string of lights that has fantastic little Santas, pumpkins, Winnebagos or flowers installed over the bulbs? After a few seasons, you’ll more than likely start losing bulbs on the strings of lights that are installed at the bases of the covers. Since traditional incandescent mini lights have fairly standard bases,…
Choosing between LED Christmas light strings and LED Bulbs and Cords
We receive questions about the pro and cons of pre-wired LED light strings and individually purchased LED bulbs and cords on a fairly regular basis. This video will help you as you make this decision as you decorated for your next party or for the Christmas season. Do you have a favorite approach? Share your thoughts…
Get This Look: Lighting a solar powered house with 12 Volt lights
My conversation with Melissa started with this question: Hey Shellie, we love our 12 volt lights and are interested in more. It looked like the product we wanted is out of stock. Do you know when it will be available again? In the attachments are two photos of the lights used in our house with our 12…
How can I install Christmas lights on shingles and gutters?
We receive the question regularly about installing Christmas lights under both under shingles and on gutters. Good news, all of the clips in our All-in-One series, multi-application and all-application clips can be used: Along the edges of the shingles On your gutters Here is a photo of our All in One Clip Plus installed at…
What are the best ways to store Christmas lights?
Can you talk a little about why putting lights back in the box they came in is a bad idea? This question makes me smile – I don’t want you to think that there is anything bad about the thought of getting those lights back in their boxes but there is some sort of law of…
Question series #3: Will I need multiple extension cords?
Here is the third question from my interview: For shorter sets of 50 or 100 lights, it’s true that you’ll need more extension cords to plug them all in (unless you’re using LED light strings). Yes, you’ll need to either use the splitter at the end of an extension cord, a separately purchased splitter or…
How many lights for my 30-foot outdoor tree?
Today I answered this customer question and I hear questions like this often enough that I thought I’d share my response. How many feet of cord is ultimately going to depend on how big your tree is at the base and what number of lights you need to consider them “enough” is all a matter…