Light Options 
Energy Efficient Solar Powered Christmas Lights Save Money
Brighten the Season With Christmas Decorating
Bright and colorful lighting in Christmas decorating can ignite the holiday spirit and make the season merry. Energy efficient solar powered Christmas lights can be a smart choice for any Christmas Decorating. There are options to make Christmas decorating less expensive and more ecologically friendly than traditional electric Christmas lights. Solar powered Christmas lights are the answer to smart Christmas decorating. Solar powered Christmas lights work by absorbing energy from the sun during the day to charge rechargeable batteries that power illumination during the night. There are no electric bills to pay for Christmas decorating when using solar powered Christmas lights. An added benefit to Christmas decorating with solar powered Christmas lights are the more ecologically friendly LED light bulbs that use less energy to shine and last much longer than traditional Christmas light bulbs. Christmas decorating can be fun and easy with solar powered Christmas lights. Since no power cords are needed, solar powered Christmas lights can be hung easily wherever the sun shines making Christmas decorating flexible. Christmas decorating can be fun by hanging solar powered Christmas lights in non-traditional ways. One Christmas decorating idea is to spell out “Merry Christmas” in the middle of a lawn. It is simple to place the solar panel in the middle of a lawn and decorate around it without worrying about people or animals tripping over long electrical cords. Radiate your outdoor Christmas decorating with solar powered Christmas lights.
Make the Season Sparkle With Christmas Tree Lights
Light up your outdoor Christmas trees with solar powered Christmas tree lights. It’s become a tradition for people to decorate a Christmas tree with Christmas tree lights to celebrate the holiday season and make their lives merrier. It’s so exciting to see Christmas tree lights progress from bottom to top in anticipation of a beautiful radiant tree and the blessed holiday season. Christmas tree lights are so important in creating a festive cheerful spirit. Many people can watch Christmas tree lights for hours memorized by their beauty. Solar powered Christmas tree lights are a smart choice for people who are concerned with energy efficiency and with “being green.” Solar powered Christmas tree lights cost less to use and last longer than traditional Christmas lights. Make your holiday decorations glow this year and invest in solar powered Christmas tree lights.
Decorating With Patio Lights Can Extend Beyond The Holidays
Solar powered patio lights can bring cheer and celebration to any outdoor living space. Patio lights can make spending holiday time outdoors more festive. Patio lights can create a sense of peace and calm during the hectic holiday season. After a busy day of shopping and holiday preparation, relaxing outdoors with patio lights and other decorations can encourage a sense of harmony and balance by proper illumination. Solar powered patio lights can be hung for the holidays and then left to brighten one’s spirit all year long. Solar powered patio lights with LED light bulbs and rechargeable batteries will last many years. Enjoy the luminary effects solar powered patio lights provide all year long. Patio lights are not just for Christmas.
Solar Powered Christmas Lights Shine Bright
Energy Efficient Solar Outdoor String Lights Help Keep Your Electric Bill Low
Brighten your Christmas display this year with ecologically friendly solar outdoor string lights. Solar outdoor string lights look the same as traditional wired Christmas string lights except they use no electricity to operate and they use LED light bulbs, all of which are energy efficient and will save you money. Solar outdoor string lights can be used indoors if the solar panel is located outside to collect energy from the sun. Solar outdoor string lights are best used outdoors where the sun shines most, like southern exposures. Solar outdoor string lights work by absorbing energy from the sun to charge rechargeable batteries during the day. Solar outdoor string lights automatically turn on from a built-in photo cell that automates operation from dusk to dawn. If the outdoor string lights solar panel doesn’t receive enough energy during the day, the batteries will not charge well and the lights will be dim. Decorating with solar outdoor string lights is easier than decorating with traditional Christmas string lights because no electrical outlet is needed. They are available in mini lights, net lighting and shapes such as Christmas trees, stars, snowmen, snowflakes, flowers, and humming birds. Make your holiday decorations glow this year and invest in solar outdoor string lights.
Versatile Rope Lights Allow Many Creative Uses In Holiday Decorating
Solar rope lights are gaining in popularity due to their flexibility in decorating. Solar rope lights contain a long row of LED bulbs wired together and encased in clear plastic tubing. The solar rope lights are great for outdoor uses because the clear plastic tubing keeps the bulbs protected and free from moisture. Solar rope lights are quite flexible and easy to bend around corners or tight areas but have enough structure to keep their shape. They work wonderfully in outlining walkways or buildings. The solar rope lights can also be wrapped around trees or shrubbery. A fun use of solar rope lights is the opportunity to create special patterns, shapes, or custom designs. Solar rope lights offer many advantages including energy efficiency, no electric bills, long lasting, and automatic turn-on due to the built-in photo cell. A disadvantage of solar rope lights is the fact that they need sunlight to operate and the sun doesn’t shine each and every day. Much of the time, the rechargeable batteries are powered enough by the sun to keep the solar rope lights lit all night long. They do perform better in more southern climates that are closer to the equator and that get more powerful and longer sun exposure. Solar rope lights are energy efficient and provide great flexibility in decorating. Radiate your home this holiday season with smart and flexible solar rope lights.
Holiday Decorating Is A Breeze With Solar Christmas Lights Installation
Solar Christmas lights installation is the easiest and safest Christmas lighting to install. Solar Christmas lights installation requires no wiring or extension cords. Solar Christmas lights installation requires a solar panel to be mounted in the ground facing in the southern direction to absorb as much sunlight as possible. After the solar Christmas lights installation is complete, nothing more is needed except to enjoy many years of fabulous lighting. The next solar Christmas lights installation won’t be needed for many years because the rechargeable batteries are designed to recharge at least 1,000 times. Then the rechargeable batteries are easy to replace. LED lights are not replaceable but have a 25 year life expectancy based on ten hours of output each night. Solar Christmas lights installation is a smart choice for your holiday decorating.
Battery Christmas Lights are a Hot Commodity
Battery LED Christmas Lights Help You Save Green While Being Green
Of the many ways to make the holidays more cheerful, there are two that particularly stand out: decorating with many environmentally friendly radiant lights and saving money while doing so. Choosing energy efficient battery powered LED Christmas lights is the perfect choice for being kind to planet Earth and saving money. Thinking about ways to be energy efficient and saving money in everything we do is necessary, even when we are thinking about buying LED Christmas lights. When purchasing new energy efficient LED Christmas lights, make it even more beneficial to the environment and consider recycling your old incandescent Christmas light sets. Contact your local recycling facility first to see if they recycle old lights. If not, look on the internet to find companies who sell LED Christmas lights and who offer recycling. To take the energy efficiency concept even further, try using rechargeable batteries in your battery operated LED Christmas lights products. To be even “greener” use solar powered battery chargers. There are many obvious advantages to battery powered LED Christmas lights. Choose battery powered LED Christmas lights for your holiday decorating this year and ignite the spirit to protect our beautiful planet.
Make Those Holiday Wreaths Shine With Battery Powered Wreath Lights 
Welcome your guests with a Christmas wreath, well lit with wreath lights. Wreaths are a symbol of welcome and hospitality. What better way is there to show your guests that you are happy to see them than illuminating your welcoming wreath with wreath lights. Battery operated wreath lights are the perfect choice to use on wreaths. The battery pack can be hidden within the wreath with no worries of wreath lights cords hanging in plain site. Wreaths can be hung anywhere since the location of nearby electrical outlets is not a concern to light the wreath lights. Wreaths decorated with wreath lights can be displayed on doors, hung on outdoor lights, draped over fireplace mantles, or even displayed on walls. There are many creative opportunities for decorating with wreath lights. Make your guests feel at home with the cheerful glow of wreaths decorated with wreath lights hung for welcoming.
Light Up Your Christmas Trees With Battery Powered Christmas Tree Lights
For many decades, people have been decorating a Christmas tree with Christmas tree lights to celebrate the holiday and make their lives more cheerful. With the increased popularity of battery powered Christmas tree lights, this tradition can be more affordable and easier to use to an increased number of people. Battery powered Christmas tree lights can save money in not having to use electricity to power them. The Christmas tree lights will radiate light for an entire season on one set of batteries. Year after year the cost savings will add up, creating even more joy during the holiday season. A second major benefit to battery operated Christmas tree lights is the convenience of no hanging cords. Without worrying about managing many wires, locating the nearest electrical outlet, or over loading the electrical current in your home, battery powered Christmas tree lights become a joy to use. Brighten your holidays this year with battery powered Christmas tree lights and make your Christmas sparkle with festivity.
Solar Christmas Lights
Solar Christmas lights are one of a number of money saving ideas that could help you decorate your home in the strained economic times of this holiday season. Unlike many money saving ideas, this one is cost effective and allows you the added benefit of doing something green to benefit our environment.
Why Should I Go Solar?
Investing in solar Christmas lights can eliminate one of the highest ticket items on your holiday decorating list– electricity for your display. In place of the power draining strings that can use up to 100 watts a piece, solar Christmas lights work 100% by using the no-cost energy of the sun. These power-saving light sets work in exactly the same way as the solar lights commonly used in landscape lighting.
A solar Christmas light set consists of a string of lights attached to a controller board. The board is made up of a battery, solar cells and a light sensor. The light sensor gathers the light, activating the solar cells (photovoltaic cells) convert the sunlight into electricity. The produced electricity is then used to charge the battery that powers the Christmas lights. On a bright, sunny day, the cells can take in enough sunlight to totally recharge the battery that powers the outdoor string lights. Should the wintry days be cloudy, the cells will still recharge but may not totally recharge the battery. If this is the case, the lights will not stay lit as long as they would if totally recharged.
Solar Christmas light sets use the industry’s new darling, LED lights. These LED (light emitting diode) bulbs a
re more efficient to operate than traditional electric Christmas lights, making them the ideal choice for use with sunlight-dependent solar cells. You’ll find solar Christmas lights to be particularly bright and clear and available in a variety of bulb colors and string lengths. In addition some manufacturers are offering inflatable solar light covers that drape over your lights and create images like this snowman available from Amazon.com
Alternative Looks in Outdoor Christmas Lights
Icicle lights and little white lights have been all the rage in recent years, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try something just a bit different when you put up your outdoor Christmas lights this year.
Novel Products for Outdoor Xmas Light
A variety of alternative ideas can be found at www.christmaslightsetc.com. One novel idea is the Starlight Sphere. Sphere can be hung from trees for a unique celestial effect. We found them in a variety of colors and sizes starting at just $17.95 a piece. One design is even available in this multi-colored style.
Flake Out With Snowflake Lights
If it’s snowflake lights that tickle your fancy, Christmas Lights Etc. won’t disappoint here either. With snowflake holiday lights in a wide variety of styles up to 4 feet in size, you’re sure to find one that’s just right to grace your home or yard.
Not Lions or Tigers….But Fawns Oh My!
Charming grapevine, pre-lit topiary animals are also featured on this site. You’ll find them in sizes ranging from 24″ to 8 ft. One of our favorites is a sitting fawn offered at $ 99.95. Placed in groups, a variety of topiary animals can serve to create a woodland setting. Add to this a sleigh and your woodlands become a fantasyland just waiting for Santa to arrive.
Christmas Rope Lights to Shape Up Your Décor
Outdoor silhouettes, motifs and yard art are yet another category of product to consider as you plan how to decorate your yard for the upcoming season. Designs are formed by molding Christmas Rope light into various shapes and designs. Themes are as varied as Disney characters, Santa and religious themes. These motifs work equally well for homes and businesses that are looking for commercial Christmas lighting.
Christmas is the Season and the Season is the Reason. Now’s the time to select some new products for your collection of outdoor Christmas lights.
Holiday Lighting Installation–Know Your Lights
When it comes to holiday lighting installation, it makes sense to know the proper terminology for the lighting you have in mind. Knowing what you want and how to ask for it is important, regardless of whether you’re shopping for Christmas lighting ideas or hiring someone who offers commercial Christmas lighting.
For just this reason we have created a glossary of some common terms you’re likely to run across as you plan and shop for your Christmas lites. Get a handle on these terms and you can easily communicate your desires to shop-keepers and the professionals who do Christmas decorating.
C7--C7 Christmas lights are the smaller of two sizes of traditional Christmas lights
C9--C9 Christmas lights are the larger of the two sizes of traditional Christmas lights, measuring about 2-1/2″ in length.
Bubble lights–these are historical Christmas lights that were in common use from the 1940′s to the 1960′s. Although now quite rare, there are a few companies offering a contemporary version of this old classic.
Icicle lights–These light strands offer cascading droplets of light meant to simulate the look of icicles hanging from a roof. In recent years the variety of styles has increased to include icicles in various colors as well as a myriad of shapes including stars and other novelty designs.
Rope lights–Rope lights are holiday lights encased in a plastic sleeve making them look like a rope. They are flexible enough to be formed into various shapes and to be installed around curves.
LED lights–These lights are a more energy efficient type of light. They typically cost a bit more, save energy and should last longer than conventional Christmas lights. Most styles of lights are available in an LED version as well as a traditional one. Look for C7, C9, icicle lights and other styles to be offered in an LED version as well.
C7 Holiday Lights–A Christmas Tradition
What’s a C7 light?
If you’re starting to plan your holiday decorations you may come across the term C7 when referring to Christmas lights. I know because I came across this term when doing research for a story on Christmas decorations and initially had no clue as to what it referred to. With some digging I found a wealth of information about this little light bulb that I now share with you.
A C7 Christmas bulb is the smaller of the two sizes of traditional Christmas lights; the larger one being a C9. Larger than the popular little white holiday lights, but smaller than C9′s, these lights are often seen in bright candy colors. However, you may occasionally find them offered in other colors and decorative styles.
A Little History on C7
Originally manufactured by GE, these bulbs were introduced in 1934 and gradually gained popularity until in the 1950′s they were the most commonly used bulb for Christmas lighting. What set these GE holiday lights apart from their predecessors was their parallel circuits. Parallel circuits allowed a string of these bulbs to stay lit even if one of the bulbs burned out. Prior to the release of this type of product, when one Christmas bulb went bad the entire string went dim. The resulting challenge was the frustrating and time consuming task of replacing and testing each bulb individually until the offending bulb could be found. I know what a challenge this can be because as a child in the 60′s hunting down the burned out bulbs in old light strings was often assigned to me. Many years I had the misfortune of being the Christmas light tester.
Anyway, when shopping for holiday lights, you’re likely to find C7 bulbs available in both solid and see-through styles. The solid colored bulbs are referred to as ceramic bulbs, while the transparent type, where you can see the filament inside, are termed transparent bulbs.
Which you choose is really a matter of taste, but I would suggest not mixing the two types of Christmas bulbs in your display or on your tree for maximum effect.
A set of C7 bulbs should last you a good, long time. A life expectancy of 10 or more years is not uncommon for a set of these lights. The fact that they are intended to be used indoors goes a long way in helping these lights last a long time. If you need a string of lights for outside decorating, choose a string of the larger C9 type lights instead. These larger bulbs make a better outdoor show and are insulated to stand up to cold and wet conditions.
C7 lights are also fairly low consumers of energy. They use about 5 watts per bulb which is more than mini lights, but you get far more illumination from C7 type lights. Anyway you look at it, chances are you won’t go wrong if you purchase some C7 for you holiday decorating projects.
Solar–A Novel Approach to Christmas Lighting Installation
Solar Outdoor Lights
Looking for a novel, convenient and energy efficient way to achieve manage your Christmas light displays? This year consider doing your holiday decorating with solar outdoor lights.
Solar Outdoor lights use a small solar panel that is mounted on a support and pushed into the snow or grass in your yard. By day, the panel gathers energy, that in the evening hours is used to power your holiday light display. Using this system will save you plenty on utility bills–enough to boost your budget for additional holiday gift buying.
The only possible disadvantage you need to be aware of is at times when there are multiple days where little sun is offered. On such days, the lights will usually still come on but you might need to be prepared for them to be a little less bright than on days offering full sun. You should also be aware that some sets may appear to have burned out bulbs at times of low sunlight. Often the problem is simply that they need to recharge in the sun. Be patient before you give up or think your LED light string set has a problem.
Back on the plus side, using solar lights will allow you to add Christmas light to parkways without laying and taping power cords to the sidewalk. Eliminating this hassle is one of the best reasons there is to go with solar lights. If you’re like me you find the stringing of light cords over sidewalks to be dangerous for potential tripping and a hazard during snow blowing or snow shoveling.
Unlike traditional Christmas lights, solar Christmas lights use LED bulbs, which although a bit more expensive than conventional bulbs, are more energy efficient. For just this reason the bulbs make a good choice for use with solar power.
LED Solar
LED Solar Garden Sticks
Bright and clear, the solar light strings also come in a variety of styles, colors and lengths. As an option you might consider these solar garden sticks–yet another unusual way to decorate for the holidays with solar. For added excitement, consider purchasing strings that are equipped with a remote control. Using a remote allows you to put on your own flashing holiday light show.
Check out the solar garden sticks at: www.mainlandmart.com
Large C9 Christmas Lights Create Bold Patches of Holiday Color
Decorate For the Holidays Using C9 String Lights
Large C9 Christmas string lights create brilliant colorful displays that can be used indoors and outdoors. String lights are a quick and easy way to illuminate the season and set a mood for festivity. C9 light bulbs typically screw into string lights making it easy to replace a burnt out or broken bulb. C9 Christmas string lights can be used indoors on Christmas trees, garland, wreaths, other displayed greenery, or even around table-top displays. C9 Christmas string lights are a popular favorite for the outdoors with their vivid, bold splashes of color that can be seen a great distance away. Use C9 string lights to create a fabulous holiday display for all to enjoy.
Be Environmentally Friendly With C9 LED Lighting Sets
Being “green” is all the rage today. It’s important to be responsible and consider reducing, reusing, and recycling. C9 LED lighting sets can help you accomplish that. Light-Emitting Diode, or LED, lighting is a popular choice in today’s light source market. C9 LED lights have advantages over traditional string lighting sets. They are more energy efficient, brightly colored, longer-lasting, cool to the touch, more shock resistant, and slowly fades out over time compared to abruptly burning out. C9 LED lighting sets are initially more expensive but cost less over their longer life span. C9 LED light bulbs can be used in a traditional C9 cord making it easy to swap out old C9 incandescent bulbs with the newer model. Saving money and being kinder to the environment make C9 LED lighting a smart choice for your holiday illuminations.
Brighten the Season Using C9 Christmas Bulbs For Your Holiday Decorating
Bright and colorful lighting can jazz up the season and make your holiday decorating sparkle with festive illumination. C9 Christmas bulbs can help create an even more grandeur holiday decorating with their 3” long brilliant mark of color splashed on top of greenery. Due to their larger size, not as many C9 Christmas lights are needed to cover the same area as popular mini-lights. C9 Christmas lights are perfect for your holiday decorating of large, overly dense and full trees. Perfect for outdoor holiday decorating, C9 bulbs are also beautiful on large indoor Christmas trees. Use C9 Christmas bulbs in your holiday decorating to share the Christmas cheer with family, friends, and neighbors.
Christmas Tree Lighting
Light Your Tree with LED
With the US paying more attention to energy usage, it was only a matter of time before this greening trend affected Christmas tree lighting. This year we expect to continue to see a rise in sales of the more efficient LED light strings. In fact when queried about Christmas tree lighting, Costco buyer Lester Cox responded, “It’s obvious that LED is the wave of the lighting future”.
Consuming 75% less energy than their incandescent counter parts, these light emitting diode (LED) bulbs are an efficient way to handle holiday lighting. In fact according to a source at GE, a total market shift to LED holiday lights could save the electrical equivalent of the power used by almost 500,000 households.
Of course, energy efficiency is not the only reason the market is moving to these new bulbs. Since the new LED bulbs generate less heat than conventional bulbs, they are not only less costly to operate but safer to use. In addition, LED bulbs are reported to last up to 10 times longer than regular incandescent Christmas bulbs.
Costco to Feature LED for the Holidays
At a recent trip to Costco we spotted the early arrival of two sku’s of GE’ holiday lights. strings. We noted these styles, the larger C9 bulbs and the smaller, more unusual C6 “strawberry bulbs.”
C9 Bulbs
C6 Bulbs
Which LED Xmas Lights to Choose
C9 LED Bulbs are the bulb of choice for outdoor Christmas tree lighting projects. These bulbs are larger and thus more visible from a distance. They’re also insulated and can stand up to the extremes of outdoor weather.
For indoor Christmas tree lighting, consider the sweet, little nostalgic looking C6 LED bulbs. Reminiscent of the little lights used in the 1940′s, these LED’s now feature diamond etching. Unlike the bulbs of yesteryear, these bulbs stay lit–even when one burns out.
Currently, these are the selections available, but as Christmas nears more styles of LED Christmas lights are sure to arrive at your local retailer.
