A Brief History of Christmas Lights
Lights are an age-old symbol of Christmas. Candles, bonfires and lanterns, for instance, were integral to winter solstice celebrations and continue to be popular Christmas decorations. By contrast, electric Christmas lights have only been part of our Christmas decor for about a century.
In 1882, Edward H. Johnson created the very first electric string lights and placed them on his Christmas tree. However, only the homes of the wealthy were wired for electricity back then – and Christmas lights were so expensive only the rich could afford them.
Even into the 1920s, when electrification came to cities and rural areas, many people still didn’t trust the newfangled form of energy.
With the first National Christmas Tree, erected by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923, Christmas lights finally grew in popularity.
The practice of hanging lights on homes and businesses really took off in the economically exuberant times following WWII and has continued to expand ever since.
These days, homeowners and business owners alike have an abundance of string lights and lighted decorations from which to choose.
Christmas Central offers this guide to Christmas light styles to help untangle the array of lighting choices available.
Christmas Light Types
Incandescent Lights
What is an incandescent light?
An incandescent light bulb consists of a vacuum-sealed glass or plastic bulb surrounding a very thin wire filament. When electricity flows through the wire, it glows white hot, releasing energy as both heat and light.
What types of incandescent lights do we use at Christmas?
Mini lights are one of the most popular types of incandescent Christmas lights, but you also may be familiar with vintage cone-shaped C-style bulbs, which add a retro look to homes and trees at Christmas.
Berry lights, a style of incandescent globe light, bring a unique touch to trees and outdoor decor.
Large-sized globe lights and Edison lights, especially those with colored bulbs, are sometimes used at Christmas and other holidays. More often, however, transparent and white Edison and globe style bulbs are used for outdoor lighting on porches and patios.
What are the pros and cons of incandescent Christmas lights?
Incandescent lights have been a Christmas standard for decades. They’re bright, colorful and inexpensive, come in many styles and last for years.
However, incandescent lights – especially the larger bulbs – can become extremely hot to the touch. Constant heat from glowing Christmas lights can dry out live Christmas trees and may pose a fire hazard.
Incandescent lights also draw more wattage, so the number of light strands you can safely string together is limited.
LED Lights
In the early 2000’s, Christmas light manufacturers began to make use of newer technology. The dawn of the LED light resulted in some exciting innovations in the types and styles of Christmas lights available.
What are LED lights?
An LED, or Light Emitting Diode, is a tiny semiconductor that produces light when an electrical current passes through it. The energy-efficient process emits a focused, bright light that is long-lasting and comes in a range of whites and vivid colors.
One of the most popular LED light styles are LED mini lights. These look remarkably similar to incandescent mini lights and can be used similarly to decorate homes and decor.
What other types of LED lights do we use at Christmas?
Other types of LED Christmas lights include icicle lights, vintage-style lights, net lights and rope lights.
Wide angle LED lights have a short, convex cylinder that is 25 percent brighter than traditional incandescent lights. These spread light over a broader area than traditional LED bulbs to maximize lighting effects.
Comparison of Incandescent and LED Lights
Where can you use LED Christmas lights?
LED lights are truly all-purpose lights. They shine brightly indoors or outdoors on Christmas trees, mantels and decor, as well accenting your home’s exterior and landscaping. LED lights are used on many types of indoor and outdoor decorations, including pre-lit Christmas trees, wreaths, garland and lanterns.
What are the pros and cons of LED Christmas lights?
Initially, LED string lights can cost more than incandescent lights. However, they use much less energy – so they cost less to run – and they last longer. In addition, they’re super bright and come in a range of colors. They also produce vivid hues incandescent lights can’t duplicate.
Some LED light strands offer flashing, chasing or color-changing options. Remote-controlled and programmable LED lights make extravagant and synchronized light shows possible. On the other hand, some people think LED light is uncomfortably intense and colors may appear distorted.
Micro Fairy Lights
What are Micro Lights?
Tiny LED micro lights, also known as fairy lights, are about the size of a grain of rice. They provide a soft, luminous glow that lends itself to a variety of lighting situations.
Where Can You Use Micro Lights?
Micro fairy lights are often used as part of smaller Christmas decorations and crafts. Lights are mounted to a thin, flexible copper wire that is easily twined around tree branches, garlands, wreaths and other decor.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Micro Lights?
Fairy lights can add a whimsical note to Christmas decorations. They come in warm, pure or cool white and a variety of colors.
Many LED fairy lights are battery operated. While this potentially expands the areas in which they can be used, the possibility of needing to replace batteries mid-season may deter some decorators.
Unfortunately, while they do have an exceptionally long life (up to 12,000 hours), micro lights are not removable or replaceable. The thin wire may be more easily damaged than lights mounted on traditional insulated electrical cords. Also, fairy lights usually can’t be linked with other light strings.
Additional Light Styles
Vintage Lights
What are Examples of Vintage Style Lights?
If you love the nostalgic look of Christmas trees from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, you’ll love our vintage Christmas lights.
Christmas Central carries both traditional incandescent and modern LED globe lights and C-style or cone-style Christmas lights.
You’ll also find nostalgic bubble lights that consist of a liquid-filled vial and an incandescent light bulb. As the bulb heats the liquid, it boils and bubbles for a fun effect that has delighted children and adults for decades.
Christmas Central offers an extensive selection of vintage light sets and replacement bulbs, as well as Edison bulb patio lights. You’ll find a huge range of styles and colors of vintage-style incandescent and LED lights that mimic the classic look you remember.
What size are retro style “big bulb” lights and where can you use them?
Often described as conical, egg-shaped or strawberry-shaped, C6, C7 and C9 vintage-style Christmas light sets and replacement bulbs have a look that is unmistakable.
C6 lights are just over one inch long and work well on Christmas trees, garland, mantels and window frames. Slightly larger C7 bulbs are about 1.5 inches in length. They offer a bold look for interior and exterior lighting. The largest bulbs, C9, are about 2.5 inches long and make a big impact on exterior landscaping, roofs, fences and walkways.
Globe lights also range in size from raspberry-sized bulbs to bulbs about the size of a ping pong ball. Our selection includes 12mm berry (G12), 25mm (G25), 30mm (G30), 40mm (G40) and 50mm (G50) light sets and replacement bulbs. While the smaller globe lights can be used on Christmas trees and decor, the larger bulbs are more appropriate for exterior lighting.
Vintage style lights are a classic way to decorate Christmas trees and homes, but they can also trim mantels and exterior elements like trees, columns and fences. Or, use light stakes to mount them a few inches off the ground to line a driveway or walkway.
Icicle Lights
Icicle lights consist of a series of short light strings set a few inches apart, extending along a main cord. Individual “drops” often vary in length from a few to several inches to achieve the ragged look of icicles hanging from the roof.
While white icicle lights are traditional, Christmas Central also carries single and multicolored icicle light sets in both incandescent, LED and wide angle LED string lights.
Our icicle light category also includes LED icicle tubes, alternately known as dripping icicle lights, snowfall lights and meteor lights, which consist of LED strips enclosed in a plastic tube.
Where Can You Use Icicle Lights?
Icicle lights are most effective when strung along an edge, like a mantel, porch roof or gutter line, where they mimic the look of real icicles. Dripping icicle lights offer a dramatic look hanging from eaves and trees.
Rope Lights & Tape Lights
What are Rope Lights and Tape Lights?
Rope lights consist of LED or incandescent lights encased in pliable clear or colored tubing.
Tape lights incorporate Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) into flexible circuit boards known as “tapes.”
Where Can You Use Rope Lights and Tape Lights?
Their flexibility makes rope lights and tape lights a good choice for spots that are often hard to light, as well as areas with corners and curves, such as under cabinets, along deck railings and garden edging.
Tape lights are more flexible than rope lights. Also, unlike rope lights, they can be cut and spliced together, which makes them a great solution for lighting applications that involve tight areas or sharp angles.
Net Lights & Trunk Lights
What are Net Lights and Trunk Lights?
Net lights, sometimes called bush lights, feature a grid-like web of string lights similar to a fishing net. They provide even bulb coverage over broad or irregularly shaped areas, like shrubbery, enabling decorators to distribute a large number of lights with minimal effort.
A typical size for net lights is four foot by eight foot. Trunk lights often feature a longer and narrower shape to wrap more easily around the trunk of a mature tree.
Battery-Operated Christmas Lights
Since battery-operated Christmas lights are self-powered, they are perfect to hang in places where no electrical outlet is available.
Use battery-powered Christmas lights or micro lights in crafts and decorations, light door wreaths or the garland around your fireplace. Tuck them into an empty firebox for a beautiful glow. You can even add them to your ugly Christmas sweater!
The majority of battery-powered string light sets consist of 10 to 20 lights with a power pack. Batteries are not included. Sets typically accept standard-size batteries and are intended for indoor use only.
Decorative Accent Lighting
Christmas Candles & Candle Lamps
Christmas candles can be a beautiful addition to your holiday decor, but traditional candles are a fire hazard and a danger to children and pets. Luckily, flameless candles and candle lamps provide a safe and attractive alternative.
What are flameless candles?
Flameless candles look remarkably similar to traditional pillar, taper and tea candles. Some are even made of wax. However, LED lights that can flicker realistically and are extremely long-lasting replace candle wicks and open flames.
The majority of flameless candles are battery-operated, meaning they can be used just about anywhere, including places where the open flame of a standard candle would be unsafe.
What are candle lamps and candoliers?
Candle lamps and candoliers are a type of decoration that feature classic taper candles in decorative candle holders. The old-fashioned candle stand used in the days of Ebenezer Scrooge is one example of this traditional lighted decoration.
Where can you use flameless Christmas candles?
Since they don’t burn or get hot, wickless candles are appropriate anywhere you might use a traditional candle – and many places where a lit candle would be a hazard. They can be used individually or in groupings on window sills, mantels, a dining table or as part of your tabletop decor.
Night Lights
Most households have at least one night light to illuminate a hallway or bathroom after dark. During the holidays, why not exchange your regular night light for one with a seasonal theme?
More Christmas Light Questions and Answers
How many light sets can be plugged together end-to-end?
Oftentimes, incandescent and LED light sets can be strung together to create a longer string. The number of light strings you can combine depends on the type of light (incandescent or LED) and the amount of wattage it draws. In most American households, combined light sets should not exceed 210 total watts.
In general, you can link a greater number of LED strands together than incandescent light strings. However, since wattage varies between light sets, there is no “one size fits all” rule on how many light strings can be combined safely.
Make sure to check the package or the product specifications on our website for the wattage on any of the light sets you plan to use.
Can I use my Christmas tree lights outside?
Do I need a transformer for my LED lights?
Why don't my white lights match?
As confusing as it seems, not all white lights are the same shade of white.
“Clear” or white incandescent lights have a warm or yellowish tone similar to candle light. Inconsistencies across manufacturers may lead to variations in the tone of your clear white incandescent lights.
Similarly, manufacturing differences can cause wide tonal variations on LED Christmas lights. While manufacturers try to ensure a consistent look on the same light strand, white values can be noticeably different from string to string.
Light manufacturers use specific terms to identify white color tones. Warm white or clear white LED Christmas lights mimic the warm look of traditional incandescent clear white lights. Polar or cool white lights have a bluish undertone for an icy feel. Pure or natural white lights are considered “neutral” or colorless, with neither a yellow or blue undertone.
If you plan to combine new white lights with existing sets, your best bet is to pay attention to the product description - warm or clear white (yellowish), pure or natural white (colorless) and polar or cool white (bluish) - for the closest possible match.
A Light for Every Occasion
Christmas lights are among the most popular and versatile Christmas decorations, adding sparkle and color to homes and businesses inside and out during the holiday season – and at many other times of the year.
From patio lights extending our ability to entertain outdoors after dark to string lights and novelty lights that add a special glow for weddings, Valentine’s Day, the 4th of July, Halloween and many other holidays, nearly any occasion offers the perfect opportunity to hang up some lights!