Lights prices

[Michael Mcdowell]

I would like to know where you buy your lights. your displays are awesome and I just cannot see how you can have so many led when they cost at least $15 per 25 lights. please point me in the right direction.

[lleibeck]

This year I purchased mine from http://www.ledholidaylighting.com

They were running a sale in Feb. You ordered what you wanted ( no full cases requirements) pay 1/2 down and the balance when they ship.

I paid $6.75 for 70 count multi color.

I had no issue and all lights worked then I received them.

L

[Michael Mcdowell]

thank you do you wait till the end of the season do you find better prices then this is for next year.

[csimmon5]

lleibeck wrote:

This year I purchased mine from http://www.ledholidaylighting.com

They were running a sale in Feb. You ordered what you wanted ( no full cases requirements) pay 1/2 down and the balance when they ship.

I paid $6.75 for 70 count multi color.

I had no issue and all lights worked then I received them.

L

be aware of ledholidaylighting.com ....their light quality is hit or miss and their customer service is horrible. I too ordered in the sale and had 3 bad strings that I had to just take my loss on because of their customer service. Even the lights that do work are horrible with fading so you are going to end up having to make snubbers. Search the forums on ledholidaylighting....nothing but horror stories

[JBullard]

I have over 40,000 LEDs (700 plus strings)

These are not retail store LEDs.

These are Full Wave Rectified (no flicker), sealed (no rust), and dim and fade extremley well (no need to spend extra money building snubbers)

I buy by the full case (usually 12 strings) and have since 2007 from Paul at Creative Displays during his January presale. Delivery is usually in May.

$15 for 25 count lights? No WAY!

I buy 50 count, 70 count and 100 count strings. My average cost per string is $7.23 (averaged over all 5 colors and the 3 different bulb count strings, and 3 different bulb sizes, an advantage by buying by the full case) I have C6, M6 and 5MM size bulbs, depending on where I want to use them.

I've only had one string fail in the field (it was on it's 3rd year)

Creative Display Website Don't pay any attention to the prices you see on the website. Those are his retail prices. Paul will post on the LOR forum when his presale starts in January, and the discounted prices.

Excellent customer service. I highly recommend them.

[George Simmons]

Ditto the LEDHolidayLighting sentiment. Nothing but lies, deceptions, excuses, ignoring calls and emails, and crappy lights not worth it at ANY price. And that's the experience of people who RECEIVED their orders. If that's the kind of company you wish to do business with, all I ask is that you don't come back whining about getting screwed later.

Pre-season sales are the best time to buy, by far. Use the time between now and the end of the year to check with every on-line vendor and see which ones have the pre-season sales and then get on that company's mailing list. You can't go wrong with CDI, and there are others worthy of consideration as well.

DO NOT spend the kind of money you were referring to in your original post ANYWHERE. NO lights are worth that price, no matter what stories the sellers tell. And NO vendor that gouges people like that is deserving of your business.

[rstately]

George Simmons wrote:

Ditto the LEDHolidayLighting sentiment. Nothing but lies, deceptions, excuses, ignoring calls and emails, and crappy lights not worth it at ANY price. And that's the experience of people who RECEIVED their orders. If that's the kind of company you wish to do business with, all I ask is that you don't come back whining about getting screwed later.

That poor guy got that 120 day flu that was going around, could have happened to anyone!

Just because someone takes your money, and you don't get anything in return, doesen't mean you shouldn't do business with them?

You're married right?

[JBullard]

Yeah, but this was the 2nd year in a row that people got major screwed. 2009 and 2010.

I placed a small order (approx $400) in 2008 with him, like to have never received any lights, and when I did, they were not what I ordered. Thank goodness the lights I really needed I had ordered from CDI.

EDIT: No, I'm single, and now I get I own way with everything! lol

[George Simmons]

I got lights from Travis in '08 also. The boxes said CDI on the outside...

[JBullard]

Yeah, he screwed up his own preorder that year also, he bought lights from CDI in 2008 and 2009 as I recall

[George Simmons]

Paul must have sold him his 2007 inventory leftovers in '08 because they're still going strong and none have gone up in smoke. I guess a few of us got lucky in 2008 at least.

[Michael Mcdowell]

Thank you for all your advice I am looking forward to punting up a display in 2011 and will start laying out my yard and house on paper soon. I did not realize how much you could do with lights, I saw it on u tube and I decided to take down my salt water tank and jump in. I wish that you could have a do and don't list of buying lights and
basic build techniques in one place so I and other newbies could read instead of spending hours reading and asking the same questions over and over again.Such as how do you hang lights on gutters roofs, Do you mount your controllers near you mega trees, if so how? why? In know I probably sound like I haven't read but I have and some of these questions I have found the answers but my wife thinks I have lost my mind for the time I have spent reading already and I just started 2 weeks ago.YES I am hooked and will work on everything until I figure it out or go insane trying.

[JBullard]

Michael Mcdowell wrote:

Thank you for all your advice I am looking forward to punting up a display in 2011 and will start laying out my yard and house on paper soon. I did not realize how much you could do with lights, I saw it on u tube and I decided to take down my salt water tank and jump in. I wish that you could have a do and don't list of buying lights and basic build techniques in one place so I and other newbies could read instead of spending hours reading and asking the same questions over and over again.

Every display is different. Each persons budget is different. Individual preferances are different, for example, some like C9 bulbs, others don't.

Such as how do you hang lights on gutters roofs,

Once again, it depends. What kind of gutters, some "leaf proof" gutters are different then a "standard" gutter. A product called "gutter clips" are sold in the stores. Roofs? As many different methods as there are people, also depends on the roof style, angle of slope, and roofing material (Asphalt/Fiberglass singles, metal, terra cotta tile, etc)

Do you mount your controllers near you mega trees, if so how? why?

Some don't, but, Yes, I do. I use 5 controllers for my megatree, all in the same enclosure. Why? Because it makes hooking up the 80 extension cords for the lights so much easier.

In know I probably sound like I haven't read but I have and some of these questions I have found the answers but my wife thinks I have lost my mind for the time I have spent reading already and I just started 2 weeks ago.YES I am hooked and will work on everything until I figure it out or go insane trying.

Each persons house, climate, budget, decorating style are all considerations that have to be considered. Each display is unique and different from the next one. It's good you are starting now and planning. You do not have a location in your profile, so is it cold, warm, snowing, raining where you are in December? All things to consider in planning the display. I suggest if you will be doing lights on roof or gutters to "practice" how you might do it during the "warmer" months for your location. Do you need more or different ladders? How will you run your wiring?

Best to not have the "November" surprise your first year, by not knowing how to do the ladder work, or having the wiring planned and enough wire on hand.

[Michael Mcdowell]

Thank you I just did not know about gutter clips until I found it after reading many pages simple basic notes would help. This is quite a bit of information to absorb.

[Michael Mcdowell]

Just because someone takes your money, and you don't get anything in return, doesen't mean you shouldn't do business with them?

You're married right?


____________________
Ron

lo.

[JBullard]

I see that you added your location now. A "cold" location.

My suggestion would be to see if Walmart or similar still have any left in the stores now, if you are thinking of doing your gutters next year. That way when you do your "practice" install during warm weather, you will be able to see exactly how they work. Same with roof shingle clips if your roof is shingles and you plan to put lights on it.

You mentioned megatree, if you want to do one your first year, a perfect project for a practice setup in warm weather. Make sure you can get it assembled and raised. There are as many different ways to make a megatree as there are people that use megatrees.

Make your display your own, your own style, and have fun planning it!

[wallleyes]

csimmon5 wrote:

lleibeck wrote:

This year I purchased mine from http://www.ledholidaylighting.com

They were running a sale in Feb. You ordered what you wanted ( no full cases requirements) pay 1/2 down and the balance when they ship.

I paid $6.75 for 70 count multi color.

I had no issue and all lights worked then I received them.

L

be aware of ledholidaylighting.com ....their light quality is hit or miss and their customer service is horrible. I too ordered in the sale and had 3 bad strings that I had to just take my loss on because of their customer service. Even the lights that do work are horrible with fading so you are going to end up having to make snubbers. Search the forums on ledholidaylighting....nothing but horror stories

Another one for led holiday lighting.While i did get my order complete i have 5 of the green 100 count that only half the string works.I also have 1 red 100 count that is half out.And 1 green 70 count that it all out.They are all c6 bulbs.I will not be ordering from there next year.

[knyurk]

I agree with all the rest. Ledholidaylighting is horrible. I made an order with plenty of time before I got my display ready, they never shipped. I repeatedly contacted them and finally got a response after I threatened to open a paypal dispute. At that time they said that the order had been cancelled and the money returned. Little good that did for me, by the time it all was reconciled I was left without the supplies I needed and could not find a supplier that had not sold out of what I needed. In the end I had to scale down my display for the year. Will never buy from them again.

[lleibeck]

As said, I had no issues and all lights are still working great, fingers crossed.

But all these comments are enough for me to switch to another supplier for my 2011 order.

Thanks for the feedback.

Lee

[Michael Mcdowell]

So Creative Displays is a good supplier any others you would recommended? Once again thanks.