Did anyone buy LEDs from Costco or Home Depot last year?

[thebaronn]

I was just wondering is anyone purchased LEDs from stores other than some of the uber-LED light stores online? If you did, where did you buy them, how much were they per strand and lastly what did you think of them?



Costco:

I purchased 100 boxes of 100 White LED strands M5 style for $12.99 each. I was happy with the quantity for the price, that was pretty much it. The white color of each set varied quite a bit to some of them really looking yellow. I have not lost a set yet (except for my own stupidity) and I have had these on my house since Nov 20th. They were perfect for the mini trees. I have used them in a valentine's display and st patricks day display and they work great, they dim well (as long as you aren't connecting too many together).

I purchased 32 boxes of 100 Multi LED strands M5 style for $10.99each. These fade great and have had no problems. But I did realize that the multi colored strands are only so useful and after a while become boring.

I purchased 51 boxes of 100 multi LED strands C6 style for $9.89 each. Same as above. I have waaaaaaay too many multi lights.

Only one interesting problem with the costco lights. When it rains, the light light up???? I posed this question in an earlier post and there were many possible reasons. But I just used these in my St patricks day display and they were just fine until the rain on friday night and then the are faintly lit again.





Home Depot:

I purchased 125 boxes of 50ct home depot brand M5 style LEDs (red, white, blue and green) for $6.99 to $7.99 (some were on sale). These are good. I would buy these again just for the quantity and I have hooked up 24 50lights strands together with no problems. The only problem is that the light POPS of??? and you are just left with a nub. It is still the same color without the cap and when I find them i just crazy glue them back on. I only had one bad strand and that may have been because of the way I unwrapped them but oh well.



Creative displays: I purchased one case of purple M5 50ct LED from here. OMG!!! it was $170 for a case of 12!! and like $20 shipping???? no tax (i think) but woppidy doo!!!! They work great but they have this resister in the line that is huge!



As for pure looks, I love the way the Home Depot LEDs look at night. It may not be fair to the creative LEDs because i don't have same color side by side comparison. But that is my opinion. When the come into home depot this year I will be buying them out.



That is my spiel. What are your opinions?

[Dale W]

I have been very happy with the lights I get at Home Depot and Lowes (especially when they are on clearance sale).

Their red and green are awesome and the blue is too. White could be a bit better but they are well enough.

Prices were 50% off or more (regular $6.99 - $7.99 a box of 50 ($3.99 each or less)

[thebaronn]

I read that on most of the wesites the prices of LEDs are going up??? I'm no genius economist, but doesnt it seem that usually what an "new" item becomes more prevailant in the market and widely used the prices usually goes down?? I mean computers didnt go up in price the more people bought them?? I know gas is so expensive, yada yada. But I just get the feeling that us light enthusiasts are getting taken advantage of because the LED companies know we will pay whatever they charge because we are sick in the head when it comes to decorating our house.

I dont know. I am rethinking using 100% LEDs in my display this year Last year i spent +$5K on LEDs and yeah it was sweet running my whole display off one outlet but there is no way that LEDs come out to be cheaper than using minis with the huge price difference. At peak xmas prices you can get 100ct minis from walmart for $2??? Same amount of LEDs might cost from $16 to $30 depending on where you purchase them. The LEDs do have that whole "green" thing going for them; less energy, less coal burning etc.... But we will probably find out that producing LEDs is more harmful to the environment than any number of mini used to drink the power.

Eric

[Dale W]

LEDs and other corded lighting are all going up because the price of copper is increasing.

Me? I am going to convert to LEDs because I think they look better than traditional incandescents.

But, if you like the incandescents, stock up on them now because I am not sure if they will be sold in the USA after the energy bill takes effect in about 5-10 years.

[iresq]

thebaronn wrote:

I read that on most of the wesites the prices of LEDs are going up??? I'm no genius economist, but doesnt it seem that usually what an "new" item becomes more prevailant in the market and widely used the prices usually goes down?? I mean computers didnt go up in price the more people bought them??

Eric

Its a simple matter of supply and demand. Currently, the demand is increasing. That coupled with higher raw material prices, manufacturing and shipping costs leads to price increases.

As other companies see the demand increase and a profit to be made, more suppliers will come into play. Companies manufacturing the product will come up with new technologies to lower production costs (profit is a good motivator). These factors will bring the price down.

Most products go through a life cycle. Introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Computers are probably in the decline cycle (fewer companies currently producing). LED lighting is probably in the transition from introduction to growth. Energy costs and conservation will be around probably forever. LED's are a potential solution (until something better comes along). Prices tend to level off and decrease during the maturity cycle. As a product matures and competition has really set in, profits will start to fall to the point were companies are no longer interested. This is the decline stage.

[JimCanfield]

I am of the opinion that I would rather spend my $$$ in LED's that to pay the electric company more $$$ and pay to have a new service put in.

[George Simmons]

I agree completely, Jim. But it's going to take quite a few more people than just us here in looney-land before the retail demand pushes LED's into the maturity phase. I've been waiting since they've hit the market for the price to come down to what I consider reasonable - which I feel would be comparable to regular-price mini's - but it's slow going. Even internet prices for LED's are a joke, at least to those of us who aren't independently wealthy.

Okay, time to get off the soapbox and enjoy the sunshine today. Snow tomorrow, they say. Later...

George Simmons

[JeffF]

Wow, almost spit coffee out my nose after reading how expensive LEDs are. :shock: Glad the wifey and I agree that we both don't like the way LEDs look. Maybe it's a product of growing up on incandescents or maybe it's just our eyes but we both don't like the way the color looks.

I don't understand how LEDs can possibly be cost-effective. I mean, I buy 100ct strands for $0.50-$1.00 each. Seems like I can get 26 strands while the OP can only get one LED strand for ~$13.00.

Just quickly figuring out, OP spent ~$3,300 on LEDs... I'd need about 50yrs of using those to have them pay for themselves and I'm in the state with the 2nd highest electric rates in the USA. :shock:

Now if you're buying them just because you like the way they look, that's a different story. But to use lower electrical costs as a plus? I just don't see it, imho of course.

Sorry for being on the soapbox, but I was just floored seeing how expensive LEDs are.

[JimCanfield]

I want to let people know where I am coming from. I like the look of minis as well. So to get what I want mini wise I would have to get a 200 amp service put in. That would run me in the neighborhood of $1,000 to $1,500, which I do not have. So instead, if I spend my $300 a year budget for lights on LED's then I can effectively build my inventory of LEDs which will remove the need for the bigger electrical service. I am not preaching LEDs or anything, this is just how I am going about it.

[Dale W]

I like the look of the LEDs. But, I also have a personal beef with my power company and would gladly pay $$$ to keep them from getting $ from me.

And, in light of the enviro-nazism being what it is, LEDs allow me to refute critics that accuse me of wasting energy (not that is a reason for LEDs but is is a nice perk).

[thebaronn]

I completely agree with you Jeffrey!

I went with LEDs for one reason. I am renting in san jose CA and the house is 60+ years old. It has NO outside outlet and the electrical is a joke. I had an electrician come out around halloween and explain what I wanted to do. He started on about the elctrical was in bad shape....yada yada yada....$8K????? If it was my own house i would have done it, but some one elses....no way.

So i started with the LEDs. I used all LEDs for christmas and ran the whole display off of one 15 circuit, which was pretty cool. I was as monstreous as others but I had 12K LEDs.

I do like the way colored LEDs look as compared to regular minis

Thats about it.



Eric

[JeffF]

thebaronn wrote:

I went with LEDs for one reason. I am renting in san jose CA and the house is 60+ years old. It has NO outside outlet and the electrical is a joke. I had an electrician come out around Halloween and explain what I wanted to do. He started on about the electrical was in bad shape....yada yada yada....$8K?????

Ok, haven't thought about electrical capacity restrictions so I can also see that as being a positive selling point.

I guess I'm a little spoiled because I can do most of the electrical work around here... I'm not an electrician but I have a buddy who is and I also run non-electrical wiring for a living so I'm comfortable getting around the guts of a house. Yesterday I was going between the attic/crawl space and the basement for about 3hrs pulling wire for the two 15A roof circuits(and a bathroom outlet but that has *nothing* to do with Christmas lights).

I forgot how expensive electricians are(and by every right the should be considering the extent of their job).

-Jeff

[Mark h2o]

Not sure if anyone uses lights from the village lighting co or not but I just saw a couple sets of their LED's in person today and they look really good.

I agree with Jeffrey about the look of LEDs. Until today I just really haven't found a clear that I like all that much because of using and seeing the incandescents for so long, I guess.

The Village lighting LEDS have more of a warmer yellow tint like the incandescents and not so much of the white ice blue that you usually see with LED's. Just a matter of personal preference.

I think for '09 I will start moving towards LED's bit by bit and maybe even buy a few of the village lighting LED's just to see how they look in the display this year.

Mark