Christmas Lights

[artcurus]

@ firedome,

I know. I've "bit the bullet" per say, and built up a moderate supply of the pink bulbs. What was worse was the 15 that I picked up that the color was completely off, almost a dark red when lit, and two of those packets were Noma.

This year, we did not do the 50's tree, but some of the outdoor lights are still burning the pink bulbs (orginal 50's red/green strands) that are lining the windows, porch and eaves. Along with the lights lining the fireplace mantle.

I've had to buy alot of the red/green strands for other projects (Halloween, etc) because the spacing of the lights (18 inches) is awesome, and gives me more freedom. The orginal bulbs on these usually get thrown into a box.

 

[artcurus]

keep forgetting it wont let me edit, but I'm not a real big fan of the big bulbs. Mostly because they constantly blow fuses (modern sets) it's difficult to get the load right. They do look good though, and in fact, I have some 1950's red and green yard stakes shaped like candy canes lining a small part of the sidewalk. They are made by Royalite and I really like them. Believe it or not, they are also burning pink bulbs.

 

[firedome]

Our C-9 outdoor lights...

are all "vintage" strings bought by us in the early 70s, still working and looking fine, with many still using original bulbs! I just love their natural color saturation and intensity of illumination!

 

[danemodsandy]

LED Fan Here:

My lights are LED, the C-6 size in multicolor. They remind me a great deal of the old C-6 incandescents that were the standard when I was a wee one. I have not experienced any flicker, and brightness is just where I want it to be - the tree is a softly glowing presence instead of a harsh bright one.

The one thing I'm not crazy about is the faceting of the LED covers, which makes each light sparkle just a bit more. I would prefer a plain "bulb" surface like lights of old, but these are what they are.

What I really like about them is that they run 100% cool, with no worries about heat buildup that could damage the tree or start a fire.

Again, the retro C-6 look makes these a good choice for me. I never did like the larger C-7s when those came in in the early '60s. I did like the mini-lights that came in in the '70s, but those lost their appeal after a few years. I especially tired of the twinkling ones, for some reason.

 

[ovrphil]

I have a set of X10 devices to control light output to dimmable lamps. I have used this with my IBM Director remote control for years, adjusting the light output to a more comfortable lumen level. Whatever one likes in intensity is easily achieved. But, I haven't tried it on LED lights yet - don't see why it wouldn't work.

Anyone: have you or do you use dimming on the LED lights(current versions)? It reduces cost,but I'm after the mood …just prefer a slightly toned-down brilliance. I'd like to know if anyone uses other dimmer controls for their Christmas lights, as well. I just use the IBM Director and manually program each module. It's PC based, with a graphic interface, so I can set levels, but since moving to an iMac, controls are manual only from the remote.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[artcurus]

@ovrphil,

To be blunt, dimming LED's doesn't a damn thing about saving money or reducing *overall* load, the power supply on LED is solid state and constant. Actually it's incandescents than can benefit from dimming.

I have used dimmers on my 1950's incandescent xmas bulbs to preserve bulb life, and those 35 double flasher sets to help prevent meltdowns.

LED replacements for 40w, 60w, et al, are advertised as dimmable, but I can't confirm it one way or the other whether it actually works.

I'm probably one of the few here that actually knows what an X10 system is, many houses in the 60's and 70's were built with this system. I know that homeowners were raising hell because CFLs hated these systems and with the phaseout of incandescent bulbs, the situation was made worse. The only solution was to rewire the entire house.

 

[polkanut]

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">There's something to be said for buying and hoarding old strings of C-7's from estate sales.  When we came home last night from our polka club's annual holiday dance I noticed that 1 blue C-7 GE® Mazda bulb in the star I have hanging in between the front door & storm door was out, and 1 red C-7 GE® Mazda bulb was out in one of the single bulb candoliers I have in the front windows.  Both were replaced immediately with replacement vintage GE®'s.</span>

 

[polkanut]

To possibly eliminate bulb failure this year I invested in a lamp dimmer which will be used to decrease the amount of current to the vintage GE® C-7 Mazda™ lamps in use.  I'm hoping for no burnt out bulbs this year.  Fingers crossed.

 

[norgeway]

We dim

All our old lights, Except the Sylvania flourescents.

 

[cuffs054]

What ever happened to those little discs that you put in the socket that made the bulbs "last forever"?

 

[tolivac]

And thought of this-those older lights were made in the days when we only had 110-115V instead of 120 that we have today.

 

[polkanut]

[COLOR=#141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15.456px]Put our front Christmas lights up this afternoon. They're all vintage and we're using vintage GE C-7 bulbs too. A homemade plywood star painted silver and trimmed with silver garland around the outside edge for the front door. The star will be lit with green & white bulbs. Two vintage electric candoliers in the two front windows with red bulbs in them. I'm using a lamp dimmer this year to cut down on the amount of electricity used, and to prolong the life of all of the vintage bulbs as well. Also using a vintage Intermatic Time-All timer from the early 1960's. Will post pics on Friday evening when the lights go on for the first time.  I'm including a pic of the Intermatic timer.[/COLOR]

 

[COLOR=#141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15.456px]Hans (Norgeway) gifted me quite an assortment of C-7 bulbs several years ago.  Since then I've been buying old light sets at estate sales for the bulbs.  [/COLOR][COLOR=#141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 12.864px; background-color: #f6f7f8]The star was made by a deceased member of my parish, Trinity Lutheran Church-Wausau, WI. His name was Marlyn Bartsch. I purchased it when they had the estate sale after his wife, Evelyn, had moved to an assisted living facility.  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=#141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 12.864px; background-color: #f6f7f8]All items were found at estate sales over the last couple of years, and I probably only have about $20 invested in all of it. I definitely don't get crazy like Clark Griswold though. lol[/COLOR]

 

[ladyearth]

lots of gold bulbs kind of funny story

several years ago after Christmas clearance table... I bought quite a bit of those C7.. My husband had made some real nice multi candles that go in window... His Dad had did so years before...He made I believe 6 or seven sets...
he got hold of some rough lumber and drill pressed it all....and wired it all up and I believe used pvc for the bases..He did a fine job
So I stood in a drug store and took out all the gold bulbs from all the packages.....No one said anything, LOL
it took a while to do so. course I made sure that what was left had four bulbs in each cardboard package.
I still have most of them. But I gave away the candle set.. cause I got tired of Christmas decorating. I dont even own a Christmas tree now.. Bah humbug...LOL

 

[polkanut]

Here's a couple of pics of our star and single bulb candoliers.  Pic was taken last night, but they don't show up very well.  All of the bulbs are vintage GE's, and the green & red ones come from Hans (Norgeway) and his partner Donald.  Thanks bunches guys!

 

[washingpowder]

Call me modest I like LEDs. Call me modest again for not being a fan of multi-color LOL.
Love white or red wrapped around curtain rods while sipping on espresso martinis, a bit of kitsch hasn't killed me yet.