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Christmas Lights Guide - Part One

1. What are the main types of Christmas lights?

C-7 or C-9, mini-lights, and LED's. Additionally, there are globe lights, which often use the same size sockets as mini-lights, and micro-mini sets.

2. What are the large, old-fashioned lights called?

C-7 and C-9 lights were once the most common lights and are still used today for outdoor decorating because of their durability.

Typically, each bulb runs at about 5 to 10 watts, meaning your entire strand could be from 125 to 250 watts. This generates a lot of heat, so C-7 and C-9 lights are not recommended for indoor use. One bonus is that, since they were wired together in a parallel formation, one bulb could blow out or be loose, and not effect the rest of the strand.

3. What are the most popular lights for decorating?

Mini-lights were developed in the 1970's as a cheaper alternative to the bigger and brighter C-7 and C-9. Typically, each mini-bulb runs about 2.5 watts. One drawback of the original mini-lights was that they were wired in a series, meaning that if one mini-bulb blew out or was loose, the entire strand would go dark. This opened up some interesting possibilities such as blinking and motion lights, which can be created through the addition of a blinker bulb to a regular mini-strand, which intermittently interrupts the current.

Today, most mini-light's come with an internal shunt, which allows the current to pass through a blown-out bulb, allowing the rest of the strand stay lit. Some sets can even stay lit with loose or missing bulbs, although these are much more expensive than standard mini-lights. There are also sets with multi-function controllers which can initiate blinking, fading, twinkling, or chasing schemes in your Christmas lights.

4. How many varieties are there of mini-lights?

Other variations on the mini-light include icicle lights, which are several small strands of varying lengths that hang from one main strand.

Curtain lights are strands of the same length hanging from a single strand.

Drape lights are similar but are wired together so that they hang down in a series of semi-circles.

Mesh or net lights are bound together in a grid formation, which makes them especially handy for covering large surfaces.

Globe lights are generally like ordinary mini-lights with spherical bulbs.

Most novelty lights are just mini-lights with a covering around them.

Reflector lights have a piece of clear plastic around the bulbs, lending them a little extra shine.

The ultra-small or micro-mini lights come with 3mm bulbs and, until recently, these bulbs were not replaceable.

In recent years, battery operated mini-lights have grown in popularity, but since batteries can generally only power 10 bulbs efficiently, the strands are very short and are not recommended for large decorating jobs such as Christmas trees.

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Christmas Lights Guide: Part Two