# Ware's Christmas Lights



## Ware

I finished up my Christmas light display today...



















I got serious about the lights last year and ordered some C9 empty socket light line (12" spacing) for the perimeter lighting. It's the real deal - the same stuff the pros use for commercial displays. I made custom runs to fit each side of the house by cutting it to length and installing vampire plugs on each end. I also made up custom length extension cords as needed using the vampire plugs on some zip cord. They make an inline female vampire plug that is pretty handy - it allows you to install a socket anywhere along the length of a run.

https://youtu.be/4efjUEcLJC4​
Having custom length light strings makes installation a breeze because you never have to worry about coming up short or having leftover lights at the end of a run. Everything is cut perfectly to fit your house. I used a label maker to identify the location of each end of every string when I took them down last year, so reinstallation was a snap.

For the lights, I used C9 LED retrofit bulbs. The 12" spacing mentioned above sounds like a long distance between bulbs, but these screw-in retrofit bulbs are much brighter than the light strands you can buy in the box stores. I think the ones I'm using have like 5 LED's in each base. I went with warm white bulbs.








For clips, they offer one for just about every common application you could think of. For gutters, the All in One Clip works great.








For the gables, I used the Original Shingle Tabs. Note how each clip style points the tip of the bulb toward the viewer - they say this orientation is optimal.








A "pro tip" for attaching perimeter lighting or cords to brick is to use dollops of hot glue. It will hold the cord in place, and removes easily when it's time to take the lights down.

To line the driveway, sidewalks and shrub beds, I used the 4.6" Universal Light Stakes, and spaced them 6" off the edges. To get the lines as straight as wardconnor's PRG stripes, I cut a 6" piece of wire from a campaign sign frame, and used it as a jig against the concrete and landscape edging to get my offsets just right.

















For the shrubs, I used 5mm Wide Angle Conical LED's - also in warm white. I don't get too OCD in how I string these, as they all sort of blur together when viewed from the street.








For controls, I have a couple iDevices outdoor switches. I also have a couple of their indoor switches for things like the Christmas tree. They work with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, etc. There may be better/cheaper options, but I bought into the iDevices platform a few years ago to control some string lights on my patio. They are relatively intuitive, and easy to set a schedule and operate from my iPhone.








iDevices will also give you the current draw connected to each switch. In typing this up, I was curious how much power this all LED display is using, and it looks like the total is right at 400W for everything you see in the photos here. For comparison, our 9ft slim pencil tree with 500 incandescent bulbs is using about 206W. :shock:

Here is a shot of the back of the house. You can see it from the street, so I went ahead and circled the whole perimeter of the house with lights. The last step will be to have my neighbor who works for the electric cooperative unscrew the street light that hangs outside my house for the month of December.


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## wardconnor

This is absolutely incredible.


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## dfw_pilot

Nice work and great write up!


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## J_nick

Looks great Ware. If my lights looked that good I'd keep them up till April.


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## g-man

I'm wondering how would you mow a prg with the string of lights in the lawn? Is it easy to take off and replace?


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## Colonel K0rn

**begins taking notes at what supplies he'll need next year*


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## JohnP

Great post, awesome job! This is my first year doing lights. Love seeing how others did it so I can borrow ideas! :thumbup:


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## Ware

g-man said:


> I'm wondering how would you mow a prg with the string of lights in the lawn? Is it easy to take off and replace?


I thought about that while installing those around the the driveway, etc. They would not be feasible if the grass wasn't dormant.

Thanks guys!


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## TulsaFan

I really like your design. Very simple and classy with the white lights! (I think everybody has a neighbor who must be related to Clark Griswold. Their design and layout is a complete hodgepodge of color, lights, and inflatable objects.)

Thanks for sharing the info. You have inspired me for next year.

This year, I am playing it lazy...


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## ken-n-nancy

Ware said:


> I finished up my Christmas light display today...


Very nice and tastefully done! Thanks so much for the detailed write-up enabling others to learn from what you've accomplished!


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## ABC123

Awesome Ware, looks great. OCD and Christmas lights always work well together.


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## JohnP

How long do you think it took you to do the setup this year?

I bought lights at Home Depot because I didn't think to do research ahead of time. Next year I'm going to order a C9 spool and make the custom runs. I lucked out and didn't have any weirdness but I LOVE that the wire has ONE cord instead of 3.

Is there a reason you did 12" spacing over any of the other options? The lights I put up are 4" spaced. So. Many. Clips.

The strands I have can run 480' on one outlet.
Looks like this only makes it 300'. Little less but I don't think it should be an issue.


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## Ware

JohnP said:


> How long do you think it took you to do the setup this year?
> 
> I bought lights at Home Depot because I didn't think to do research ahead of time. Next year I'm going to order a C9 spool and make the custom runs. I lucked out and didn't have any weirdness but I LOVE that the wire has ONE cord instead of 3.
> 
> Is there a reason you did 12" spacing over any of the other options? The lights I put up are 4" spaced. So. Many. Clips.
> 
> The strands I have can run 480' on one outlet.
> Looks like this only makes it 300'. Little less but I don't think it should be an issue.


It probably took 6-8 hours total this year, but I wasn't 100% into it - I was checking college football scores, etc. during that time.

The empty socket light line is nice - like lamp cord.

As I recall, I talked to them on the phone and they said 12" spacing is pretty standard. I also have a buddy that had some professionally installed (12" spacing) on his house, and I liked the look. It seems like a long distance between bulbs, but keep in mind they are brighter than box store lights.

So on the 300 bulb/feet max, that's due to the resistance/load capacity of the 18/2 cord over that length. The LED C9 bulbs are only like 2W each, so 300 bulbs would theoretically only draw about 5 Amps. All that to say I'm pretty sure you could run more than 300 bulbs on one receptacle if you split them off in two different runs/directions. For example, all the perimeter lighting on my roof is fed from a single receptacle on my back porch, but it is made up of two runs that wrap around the house in opposite directions and end in the corner between my front porch and garage. Does that make sense?


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## csbutler

:thumbup:

I was planning on waiting until next year to put up any lights but this thread is killing me. I must stay strong.


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## FlyMike

Wow, that looks great. I enjoy putting up Christmas lights, but I've always just used the lights from big box stores to fit my needs. I never knew about the professional side of lights and the empty light strings, thanks for sharing and the great write up.

Looks like I've found my next obsession/project for next year. I think this will be one I can get the wife behind since she loves Christmas lights.


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## Ware

TulsaFan said:


> This year, I am playing it lazy...


Nothing wrong with that. :thumbup:


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## gatormac2112

Why do your posts always compel me to spend money? :lol:


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## g-man

They are like Amazon lighting deals. Today I totally ended buying stuff I don't need.


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## JohnP

gatormac2112 said:


> Why do your posts always compel me to spend money? :lol:


I bought $175 (min for free shipping and easy to hit on that site) worth of test strands and bulbs yesterday. Good salesman and he's not even trying.


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## Colonel K0rn

Anyone interested for a group buy? Bigger discount in bulk


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## kds

This is an awesome write-up! I never would have thought those vampire plugs are used like this. Reminds me of the old add-a-tap stuff.


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## Ecks from Tex

Hey @Ware I was curious about your 12 in spacing on the lights - I am planning on doing something similar next year and wanted to know if you were pleased with the 12 in spacing on the lights as opposed to perhaps 9 in or 6 in? The 12 in spacing is typically significantly cheaper, and I own from street-to-street so will need to wrap all the way around on a pretty large house, 3 car carport, and attached shop, so I could use the cheaper costs, but I was curious as to your reasoning and whether you regretted not going with smaller spacing


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## Ware

Ecks from Tex said:


> Hey Ware I was curious about your 12 in spacing on the lights - I am planning on doing something similar next year and wanted to know if you were pleased with the 12 in spacing on the lights as opposed to perhaps 9 in or 6 in? The 12 in spacing is typically significantly cheaper, and I own from street-to-street so will need to wrap all the way around on a pretty large house, 3 car carport, and attached shop, so I could use the cheaper costs, but I was curious as to your reasoning and whether you regretted not going with smaller spacing.


I know exactly what you're saying - 12" spacing just sounds a little too far apart (I struggled with this too), but I don't think you will be disappointed. These lights are much brighter than the box store strands, so you can get away with the 12" spacing. I think it's the "standard" for perimeter lighting with empty socket light line. :thumbup:


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## Ecks from Tex

Ware said:


> Ecks from Tex said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Ware I was curious about your 12 in spacing on the lights - I am planning on doing something similar next year and wanted to know if you were pleased with the 12 in spacing on the lights as opposed to perhaps 9 in or 6 in? The 12 in spacing is typically significantly cheaper, and I own from street-to-street so will need to wrap all the way around on a pretty large house, 3 car carport, and attached shop, so I could use the cheaper costs, but I was curious as to your reasoning and whether you regretted not going with smaller spacing.
> 
> 
> 
> I know exactly what you're saying - 12" spacing just sounds a little too far apart (I struggled with this too), but I don't think you will be disappointed. These lights are much brighter than the box store strands, so you can get away with the 12" spacing. I think it's the "standard" for perimeter lighting with empty socket light line. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks dude I appreciate your input. I'm going to pull the trigger on 1,000 ft.

To anyone planning to make purchases from the website Ware used, christmasdesigners.com, they have sales and 10% off running intermittently right now, so you could save some $$


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## Ecks from Tex

@Ware I had one other question - did you use the coaxial RY plug/commercial grade 5 mm wide angle LED lights for your ornamentals or did you use the standard professional/premium grade 5mm wide angle LED light sets?


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## Ware

Ecks from Tex said:


> Ware I had one other question - did you use the coaxial RY plug/commercial grade 5 mm wide angle LED lights for your ornamentals or did you use the standard professional/premium grade 5mm wide angle LED light sets?


For the shrubs I ordered the 5mm conicals with standard plugs and strung them together. I don't recall seeing the other option (coaxial plug) when I ordered. It looks like the standard ones are significantly cheaper right now.


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## Ecks from Tex

Ware said:


> Ecks from Tex said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ware I had one other question - did you use the coaxial RY plug/commercial grade 5 mm wide angle LED lights for your ornamentals or did you use the standard professional/premium grade 5mm wide angle LED light sets?
> 
> 
> 
> For the shrubs I ordered the 5mm conicals with standard plugs and strung them together. I don't recall seeing the other option (coaxial plug) when I ordered. It looks like the standard ones are significantly cheaper right now.
Click to expand...

Yep I'm thinking standard since I can get the 70 light string for less than $10. They're not air/water tight but should be fine.

I had been working on a plan. A wrap around of C9 along the visible parts of the house from the street but not the back yard "L". Then 5mm conicals around the windows and in the trees along the shrubs. There are a bunch of waist high azaleas I was going to lay net lighting in on the left side of the diagram.


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## Ware

10-4, so if I was leaving them up year round the coaxial plugs might make more sense. The standard plugs are basically the same ones as you'll be installing on the empty socket light line (which I would argue are slightly less water tight).


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## Ecks from Tex

Thanks dude. I hate putting up Christmas lights so my wife better enjoy this


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## ABC123

Thanks @Ware for this amazing thread. They sent out a sale email today and used this guide for reference. :thumbup:

10% off non sale items too.


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## Ware

ABC123 said:


> Thanks Ware for this amazing thread. They sent out a sale email today and used this guide for reference. :thumbup:
> 
> 10% off non sale items too.


That's awesome! Glad it was helpful! Post pics when you get them up! :thumbup:


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## ABC123

Ware said:


> That's awesome! Glad it was helpful! Post pics when you get them up! :thumbup:


Here you go! :thumbup: The gutter clips were a bit difficult to clip on the housing but so worth how even they look.


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## Colonel K0rn

I'm getting my order together now, got the 10% off coupon as well just by visiting the site and signing up for an email.


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## LowCountryCharleston

Looks fantastic. 
Is there an easy way to take the measurements of your roof line, peaks etc in order to get the correct length of lights or do I need to get on the roof with a tape measure and do it that way. I definitely want to do this next season and get the measurements done now so I can take advantage of the post Christmas sales.

Thanks!


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## JollyGreen

Go to https://www.eagleview.com/

It's normally used for residential roofing and takes a satellite measure of your house. I did it when I reroofed my house and used the measurements when ordering my lights. Ended up being perfect.


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## LowCountryCharleston

Awesome. Thanks for the info. Do you remember which report you did? Was is the Gutter Report?
Thanks


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## JollyGreen

I did the premium. It gives all information and if I remember, it wasn't much more. Page 4 and Page 8 on the report below is what I used.

https://www.eagleview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sample-Premium-Roof-Report-Med.pdf


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## LowCountryCharleston

JollyGreen said:


> I did the premium. It gives all information and if I remember, it wasn't much more. Page 4 and Page 8 on the report below is what I used.
> 
> https://www.eagleview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sample-Premium-Roof-Report-Med.pdf


That's a perfect report. I'll have to have one done for next years light display.
Thanks!


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## walk1355

@Ware or anyone else that has done this, I am putting together an order and was getting excited until I added the bulbs. They are over $1 each. Does that sound correct? My $450 project just skyrocketed to $1500 when I added the 1,000 bulbs.


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## Ware

walk1355 said:


> Ware or anyone else that has done this, I am putting together an order and was getting excited until I added the bulbs. They are over $1 each. Does that sound correct? My $450 project just skyrocketed to $1500 when I added the 1,000 bulbs.


The LED bulbs aren't cheap. You may be able to shop around.

Code NOV10 is good for 10% off at Christmas Designers.


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## jimbeckel

I just placed my order for led Christmas lights from the website Ware mentioned. I went with the c9 12" spacing in soft white. I plan on making my own extensions between the runs on the gutters and the upper gables. Dropped $680.00 on enough bulbs to do 325' of length. I've been married for almost twenty years and have never tried to decorate the outside(wife has always done the inside). Saved 10% with the NOV10 coupon code thanks to @Ware looking forward to putting them up in a couple of weeks.


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## Ware

jimbeckel said:


> I just placed my order for led Christmas lights from the website Ware mentioned. I went with the c9 12" spacing in soft white. I plan on making my own extensions between the runs on the gutters and the upper gables. Dropped $680.00 on enough bulbs to do 325' of length. I've been married for almost twenty years and have never tried to decorate the outside(wife has always done the inside). Saved 10% with the NOV10 coupon code thanks to Ware looking forward to putting them up in a couple of weeks.


Nice! :thumbup:


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## uts

That looks great. I'm just thinking how will I prevent the snow plow from destroying if I do something similar. Might be able to do this on the house itself though.


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## jimbeckel

Finished my lighting install based on @Ware recommendations. Turned out well and only had one bad led bulb out of 300+


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## Ware

jimbeckel said:


> Finished my lighting install based on @Ware recommendations. Turned out well and only had one bad led bulb out of 300+


Nice! Looks classy! :thumbup:


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## Ware

Perimeter lights went up today...



Since I'm mowing ryegrass I'm not messing with any of sidewalk/driveway/landscape lighting this year. I did wrap my Oakland Holly 'reel' good with the 5mm wide angle conical LEDs...


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## ThickLawnThickWife

Be gentle guys...this is my first year really giving it a try. I have already learned somethings for next year and I have more ideas too. 8ft Snowman, 9ft Santa, couple of Christmas trees, a reindeer, about 25 candy canes and icicle lights.


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## ThomasPI

Bringing this back up, tis the season.


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## WhiteSubi

Ware said:


> Perimeter lights went up today...
> 
> 
> 
> Since I'm mowing ryegrass I'm not messing with any of sidewalk/driveway/landscape lighting this year. I did wrap my Oakland Holly 'reel' good with the 5mm wide angle conical LEDs...


I am planning on pulling the trigger on the C9 LED bulbs thanks to your awesome setup and info. I am planning on the 12" spacing like you but was just curious if you are still happy with that or wish you went with different spacing.

Thanks!


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## Ware

WhiteSubi said:


> I am planning on pulling the trigger on the C9 LED bulbs thanks to your awesome setup and info. I am planning on the 12" spacing like you but was just curious if you are still happy with that or wish you went with different spacing.
> 
> Thanks!


No, the 12" looks great. I will be using the same spacing at my new house. :thumbsup:


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## WhiteSubi

Ware said:


> WhiteSubi said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am planning on pulling the trigger on the C9 LED bulbs thanks to your awesome setup and info. I am planning on the 12" spacing like you but was just curious if you are still happy with that or wish you went with different spacing.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> No, the 12" looks great. I will be using the same spacing at my new house. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Awesome, 12" it is. Thank you!


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## Jacks_Designs

WhiteSubi said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WhiteSubi said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am planning on pulling the trigger on the C9 LED bulbs thanks to your awesome setup and info. I am planning on the 12" spacing like you but was just curious if you are still happy with that or wish you went with different spacing.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> No, the 12" looks great. I will be using the same spacing at my new house. :thumbsup:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Awesome, 12" it is. Thank you!
Click to expand...

I purchased the 12" and could not be more pleased. I know, I was questioning it to but they look great! Make sure you find a 10% off code. They have them all the time.


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## rotolow

I just built a shopping list. Hoping to find a discount code before pulling the trigger.


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## Jacks_Designs

rotolow said:


> I just built a shopping list. Hoping to find a discount code before pulling the trigger.


You can sign up for mobile text messages and get 10% off right now.


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## WhiteSubi

Jacks_Designs said:


> WhiteSubi said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> No, the 12" looks great. I will be using the same spacing at my new house. :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome, 12" it is. Thank you!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I purchased the 12" and could not be more pleased. I know, I was questioning it to but they look great! Make sure you find a 10% off code. They have them all the time.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, I will keep my eyes peeled!


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## cnet24

Has anyone purchased a prelit wreath from this site? I have some wreath so want to replace and wondering about the quality.


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## CoopyHarry

I got mine up from Christmas designers although I had to order tuff clips else where as they were out of stock.

Came out exactly how I wanted. Quality is great. Probably string trees at some point as well as I'm likely going to order the 5mm strings today for that part

Thanks ware for the thread and links it was exactly what I needed


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## Ware

Glad it was helpful @CoopyHarry.

@cnet24 I bought my wreaths locally and wrapped them with the conical light strings. I think the prelit ones would work fine though.


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## Thejarrod

Today I discovered that all five of my c7 strings are dead. Time to get something better than big box quality.

For the C9 style cords like these, how does the string react when a single bulb burns out or gets broken? Do the all go out??
I was looking at these: 
https://www.christmasdesigners.com/c9-cord-12-spacing-green-wire-spt-1-100.html


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## jimbeckel

The lights are wired in parallel, one bulb fails the rest stay lit. I tried to order additional c9 led bulbs from Christmas designers but most of them are out of stock


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## Thejarrod

Once again, bourbon and TLF combine for a great night of online shopping. 
used coupon 20LED for 20% off at https://www.christmasdesigners.com

i went with the C9s at 12" spacing. They had just one choice for warm white bulbs, but that is what i would have chosen anyway. SOOOOO many items are out of stock. I had to get 1,000 ft, which is probably 3x what i need.


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## dfw_pilot

Thejarrod said:


> For the C9 style cords like these, how does the string react when a single bulb burns out or gets broken? Do the all go out??


You have to check every bulb . . .


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## testwerke

Thejarrod said:


> Once again, bourbon and TLF combine for a great night of online shopping.
> used coupon 20LED for 20% off at https://www.christmasdesigners.com
> 
> i went with the C9s at 12" spacing. They had just one choice for warm white bulbs, but that is what i would have chosen anyway. SOOOOO many items are out of stock. I had to get 1,000 ft, which is probably 3x what i need.


Let me know if you want to sell your left overs


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## Ware

Thejarrod said:


> Once again, bourbon and TLF combine for a great night of online shopping.
> used coupon 20LED for 20% off at https://www.christmasdesigners.com
> 
> i went with the C9s at 12" spacing. They had just one choice for warm white bulbs, but that is what i would have chosen anyway. SOOOOO many items are out of stock. I had to get 1,000 ft, which is probably 3x what i need.


 :lol: Been there.

Anxious to see pics!


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## JayGo

Christmas Designers is out of stock on vampire clips and zip cord. Unfortunately, I'm not finding any locally.
Is Christmas Designers pretty good about restocking? I knew I shouldn't have been a dumb *** and waited until now, but here I am.
Anything on Amazon that's quality?


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## jimbeckel

JayGo said:


> Christmas Designers is out of stock on vampire clips and zip cord. Unfortunately, I'm not finding any locally.
> Is Christmas Designers pretty good about restocking? I knew I shouldn't have been a dumb @ss and waited until now, but here I am.
> Anything on Amazon that's quality?


The Christmas Light Emporium has most of the items in stock you are looking for.


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## JayGo

> The Christmas Light Emporium has most of the items in stock you are looking for.


I wish. Colors and lengths I want are not.

Edit: sorry, @jimbeckel, just now saw that you wrote Christmas Light Emporium. Didn't know about that one. I'll check them out now. Thanks!


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## Thejarrod

I got the lights about a week ago but it took some time to screw in all the bulbs and attach clips. Also had a small delay from snow showers. 
Finished the roofline tonight. The C9 led really put out a lot of light. It needs more if I want to dominate the neighbors. I'll add more next year.


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## Ware

Thejarrod said:


> I got the lights about a week ago but it took some time to screw in all the bulbs and attach clips. Also had a small delay from snow showers.
> Finished the roofline tonight. The C9 lcd really put out a lot of light. It needs more if I want to dominate the neighbors. I'll add more next year.


Looks great! Nice work!


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## turtle

Is before the season the best time to buy strands of lights? I was hoping to find specials after the season but it seems like everywhere is all out of stock.


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## JayGo

@turtle, in a quick chat I had with the owner of one of the big Christmas light sellers, it seems that everyone gets the bulk of their stock in June and July. So I'm guessing at this point, the only thing available is what's left over from that.


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## Ware

turtle said:


> Is before the season the best time to buy strands of lights? I was hoping to find specials after the season but it seems like everywhere is all out of stock.


I'm not sure when the best prices happen, but I know some folks had trouble finding stuff when it was time to put lights up in 2020 - so it's likely that their stock has not been replenished yet. Knowing the bulk of their business won't happen until later in 2021, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't re-stock until summer.


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## Thejarrod

Yep nothing left to put on sale this year. And I'm expecting prices to go up next year too. I mean, if I were selling them I would raise prices a lot!

Separate note, when does everyone take down the lights? My wife insists they are "winter season" lights and should stay up well past Christmas. ...I turned them off today. But they still on the roofline.


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## turtle

Thejarrod said:


> Yep nothing left to put on sale this year. And I'm expecting prices to go up next year too. I mean, if I were selling them I would raise prices a lot!
> 
> Separate note, when does everyone take down the lights? My wife insists they are "winter season" lights and should stay up well past Christmas. ...I turned them off today. But they still on the roofline.





Ware said:


> turtle said:
> 
> 
> 
> Is before the season the best time to buy strands of lights? I was hoping to find specials after the season but it seems like everywhere is all out of stock.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure when the best prices happen, but I know some folks had trouble finding stuff when it was time to put lights up in 2020 - so it's likely that their stock has not been replenished yet. Knowing the bulk of their business won't happen until later in 2021, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't re-stock until summer.
Click to expand...




JayGo said:


> @turtle, in a quick chat I had with the owner of one of the big Christmas light sellers, it seems that everyone gets the bulk of their stock in June and July. So I'm guessing at this point, the only thing available is what's left over from that.


I appreciate it guys. I was late to the game on getting onboard with this. I'll have to put a reminder to check stock around June or July to see what I can find. Maybe i'll see if I can find any deals on bulbs/plugs with the intention on buying a strand next year around june/july.


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## nwga_lawn

20% off site wide at Christmas Designers https://www.christmasdesigners.com/ Code: ELVESRULE

I ordered what I needed for this Christmas. Some of the Vampire plugs and 100' C9 line was out of stock.


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## Ware

nwga_lawn said:


> 20% off site wide at Christmas Designers https://www.christmasdesigners.com/ Code: ELVESRULE
> 
> I ordered what I needed for this Christmas. Some of the Vampire plugs and 100' C9 line was out of stock.


Thanks for sharing! Not the time of year a lot of us are thinking about Christmas lights, but probably the best time to buy! :thumbup:


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## Thejarrod

Yeah, I'm gonna have to get some. thanks for the link @nwga_lawn


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## cavince79

Ware said:


> nwga_lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 20% off site wide at Christmas Designers https://www.christmasdesigners.com/ Code: ELVESRULE
> 
> I ordered what I needed for this Christmas. Some of the Vampire plugs and 100' C9 line was out of stock.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing! Not the time of year a lot of us are thinking about Christmas lights, but probably the best time to buy! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I bought mine last July. Seems to be the best time of year to ensure they have what you want in stock.


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## MasterMech

Ware said:


> nwga_lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 20% off site wide at Christmas Designers https://www.christmasdesigners.com/ Code: ELVESRULE
> 
> I ordered what I needed for this Christmas. Some of the Vampire plugs and 100' C9 line was out of stock.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing! Not the time of year a lot of us are thinking about Christmas lights, but probably the best time to buy! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

We know you're a busy feller but are you planning any epic Christmas displays this year on the new house?


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## Ware

MasterMech said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> nwga_lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 20% off site wide at Christmas Designers https://www.christmasdesigners.com/ Code: ELVESRULE
> 
> I ordered what I needed for this Christmas. Some of the Vampire plugs and 100' C9 line was out of stock.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing! Not the time of year a lot of us are thinking about Christmas lights, but probably the best time to buy! :thumbup:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> We know you're a busy feller but are you planning any epic Christmas displays this year on the new house?
Click to expand...

I put some soffit receptacles switched through a photo cell on the new house, but not sure when I'll get to it.


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## Thejarrod

which clips do y'all like best? some are still out of stock... many varieties of vampire clips also out of stock.


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## nwga_lawn

I purchased the all in one clips. Im interested in the shingle clips for the gable ends. I've found them on Amazon.

For the vampire plugs, I'm not going to need any in the middle of a run. I went with the females they had in stock.

This will be my first go of this so I won't know how I like any of this until Thanksgiving-ish.


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## turtle

nwga_lawn said:


> 20% off site wide at Christmas Designers https://www.christmasdesigners.com/ Code: ELVESRULE
> 
> I ordered what I needed for this Christmas. Some of the Vampire plugs and 100' C9 line was out of stock.


Thanks for the heads up :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


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## wiread

Anybody else do an Early bird buy from christmas designers? I ordered about 2K in products with that program in February. a few days ago I got an email stating I have to pay 10% more to get my stuff because of shipping increases. I've already paid 30% down to secure the order.

I get that stuff is more expensive, but did it really cost 200 more to get my product over here in a container? I shipped a bike from the UK for a quarter that price.

I'm a bit miffed at the whole thing. Thinking of canceling the order


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## Ware

Not sure what all the details are, but that does sound kind of dirty. I would definitely be tempted to cancel, but I guess it would ultimately depend on how bad I wanted the stuff and if I could get it somewhere else for close to the same price. Supply chain disruptions have been crazy, and I have been let down a few times since this mess started. More so on lead times than price changes (not counting building materials), but frustrating nonetheless. Let us know what you decide.


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## wiread

I'm sure I wouldn't get the same stuff for the same price, but I did without it before. But that's the point in buying that much that early, you save quite a bit. The bonus to them, we order more than we normally would. It's like all sales, they know where they make money. I'd never spend 1900 bucks on Christmas lights at one time, unless I was getting 4K worth of lights  They don't have to order product to fill and unknown demand, they already have that sale. It's not like Kohls ordering a shipping container of shirts and then having to move that product. This product is already moved and sold at a point they knew they were making money on to start with.

I get lead time changes, been dealing with that all over. But another 200 bucks? Seriously, I could have someone drop a bunch of lights in a few boxes and ship it UPS for less from overseas.

This is the email.



> As you probably are aware, it's been a crazy year for anyone trying to bring products in from overseas. We've seen the cost of shipping jump by 500% over the 18 months, which has added significant cost to anything being imported. Unfortunately, this also does include the items you ordered from us earlier this year.
> 
> I'm attaching a letter from our Director of Sales and Marketing that outlines the steps we're taking to make sure we get the product you ordered in and ready to ship out to you as quickly as possible.
> 
> As the attached letter outlines, we are having to add 10% to the subtotal of any order placed with us prior to June 1st. The actual inbound shipping cost is a lot higher than that, but we are supplementing as much as we can on our end so we don't burden our early buy customers with the full increase in costs.
> 
> In the next couple of days we'll follow up with the updated invoice reflecting the 10% increase.
> 
> The good news is that by ordering early, you were able to avoid much larger price increases that began during the summer. Even with the extra 10% added, the price for what you purchased is still significantly less than what you would pay if you ordered that product right now.


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## JayGo

I'm of two minds on this. As a small business owner myself, a small part of me can empathize with the business end. There is a better way to do this.
But a slightly bigger part of me says: "We already agreed on a price."
Just on that principle alone, I'd cancel my order.

Besides, I had a few email exchanges with those folks. They're not the most custumer-oriented people in terms of customer service. Not terrible, but not great either. (And I'm not unreasonable.)


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## Ware

I get it - it sucks, but the email sounds like they are absorbing as much as they are willing to. Their margins were probably pretty tight on the early bird sale for the same reasons you listed. If something changed outside their control they were probably faced with two options - either ask for the additional 10% or cancel the orders. Both of which I'm sure they were fully aware would result in this type of negative publicity.

I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt and not lose too much sleep over $200 on a $2,000 purchase. The look on my daughters' faces when they see our Christmas lights is worth more than $200 to me - especially when amortized over the life of the display.

That said, I would completely understand if you decide to say 'bah humbug' and cancel the order. If prices truly have gone up, I wouldn't be surprised if they would rather you do that.


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## JayGo

Dang it...that's my soft spot. You bring the kids into this, just take my money. How dare you, John. Ha ha


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## wiread

we have plenty of lights and my kids are spoiled. I'd use that 200 to upgrade a subwoofer I want on our boat instead 

I get that things change and as small business it affects things. But they don't mention product going up, they mention shipping. and I know what it's like, but I didn't order it 18 months ago for the 500% hike in shipping. I ordered it in Feb when the world was deep in this already. I'd feel some of that should have been accounted for.

I just feel like they got me with the promise of savings and have my 30% and instead of saving 40% for ordering over 1500 bucks worth. I'm going to be saving the 30% I could get by just ordering smaller amounts when they have sales.

I guess i've always been happy with their stuff before. I don't want to disparage them too much. Just wondering if anyone else got the same thing from them.


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## Ware

Again, I totally get it - but their statement about the cost of international freight skyrocketing is not wrong, and a lot of that increase has occured since you placed your pre-order in February.

This article is long, but it's a good read about what is happening with container shipping and how different companies will have different levels of pain tolerance to the increases:

Are you shipping me?!? $32,000 container move from China to LA










So the moral of the story here is if that subwoofer you're looking at is made in China, you probably better go ahead and buy it too. :lol:

In all seriousness, I was looking for another Sonos Sub a few weeks ago and there were none to buy.


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## Thejarrod

Like Jaygo said, they already agreed to the price. And it's more than agreement, you paid a deposit! This is an enforceable contract. They might have terms and conditions in the website that would allow them to change the price, but that would be unusual. They are the ones who set the terms of this long term, fixed price contract and they should have known the risk. 
You could sue to enforce the contract, but it's not worth the trouble. 
Did you actually speak to someone who has the authority to make a decision? If you push back on this they may stick with the original price.


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## Ware

What did you decide to do @wiread?


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## wiread

Nothing yet


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## Thejarrod

the youtube bots may be reading our posts! anyway, this one made me think of this conversation. pretty much covers the thoughts here.

https://youtu.be/l6JNWpvJqjk


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## Thejarrod

I'm excited to get started on the christmas lights this year.

has anyone used large bulbs, like C9 to wrap trees? looks like i can only find examples using lots of smaller bulbs.


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## Boy_meets_lawn

So has anyone installed a permanent programable LED system here? Im considering attempting the DIY route and mounting channels under my soffits so I don't have to deal with putting lights up every year. I know there are a few companies that offer solutions but they are about $20 a foot DIY or $25 installed.


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## killacam

Which mounting solution would work best for gutters with gutter guards installed? I see they offer the line with the magnet bases which is pretty sweet but its 4x the price of the normal line. Ouch


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## Thejarrod

killacam said:


> Which mounting solution would work best for gutters with gutter guards installed? I see they offer the line with the magnet bases which is pretty sweet but its 4x the price of the normal line. Ouch


I have not found any that I liked. Instead of attaching to gutter, I attach to the shingles. The quality of these clips are crap. After being used for a few seasons they get brittle and start breaking, but they are inexpensive.


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## Bombers

Can't expect clips to last forever being in the elements. The wear life starts as soon as the prongs are opened up to be attached. A few seasons is pretty great.

I see some lights along your roof ridge. Did you buy special ridge clips for them? Now those are considerably more expensive.


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## Ware

Bombers said:


> Can't expect clips to last forever being in the elements…


Yeah, I've also noticed the clips tend to get sprung when I leave them attached to the lights in the attic. It's a little more work, but I now prefer to remove the clips between seasons.


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## killacam

Thejarrod said:


> killacam said:
> 
> 
> 
> Which mounting solution would work best for gutters with gutter guards installed? I see they offer the line with the magnet bases which is pretty sweet but its 4x the price of the normal line. Ouch
> 
> 
> 
> I have not found any that I liked. Instead of attaching to gutter, I attach to the shingles. The quality of these clips are crap. After being used for a few seasons they get brittle and start breaking, but they are inexpensive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pic. I guess this is how I'll have to mount them as well even though I like the look on the gutters a little more since you can see them a little better.


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## LawnMavrik

Ware said:


> For the lights, I used C9 LED retrofit bulbs. The 12" spacing mentioned above sounds like a long distance between bulbs, but these screw-in retrofit bulbs are much brighter than the light strands you can buy in the box stores. I think the ones I'm using have like 5 LED's in each base. I went with warm white bulbs.


@Ware I may have missed where you mentioned but did you go with the Minileon or Pro Christmas bulbs?


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## Ware

@LawnMavrik they are the Minleon.


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## LawnMavrik

Ware said:


> @LawnMavrik they are the Minleon.


That's what I bought too. Should be here tmrw! Happy holidays!


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## Herring

This is our first year putting lights on the house so I referred back to this thread. I bought 100ft of C9 Cord with 12” spacing, Pro Christmas C9 bulbs in warm white, and 5mm Wide Angle Conical LEDs for the shrubs. These are all running to a Kasa smart plug. I’m planning to add more next year. There’s lots of lights on Christmas Designers that are around 50% off at the moment. Is this sale always running?


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## Thejarrod

I got a bunch more net lights because I saw they were on sale. Over the last couple years, they have run sales over the summer but the pricing looks much more like normal now.
Here is setup for the year .


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