LED vs 100ct mini lights

[caniac]

plan on doing 20 mini trees this christmas and originally thought i would use LED's on them. got tomato baskets (33inch) and wire tied the point together. took a 70ct m5 type LED's and wrapped it around them and have the LED equivalent of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree (ok maybe not that bad but close). would i make the power company too happy if i went mini lights and maybe two strands per tree?

[Ron Amedee]

Read the tags on the strings by the plugs, There should be an amp draw on them.

Time that number by number of strings to get total amps you would be using.

Helped a friend wrap his 16" tomato cages with 250 count on each one and they were acceptable.

[Ron Amedee]

How to Calculate Amperage Draw




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G.K. Bayne

G.K. Bayne is a freelance writer for various websites, specializing in back-to-basics instructional articles on computers and electrical equipment. Bayne began her writing career in 1975 and studied history at the University of Tennessee.




By G.K. Bayne, eHow Contributor







All electrical devices use voltage and current for the operation of that device. The product of these two distinctly different electrical characteristics is watts. The mathematical formula for this product is volts (v) times amperes (i) is equal to watts (w) or (v * i = w). Applying algebra to this formula for finding amperage is equal to watts divided by voltage or ( i = w / v). Another characteristic of an electrical circuit is resistance. The resistance of a circuit has a direct relationship on the amount of current or amperage draw that circuit will have. Another electrical formula called Ohm's law was developed to describe that relationship. A basic formula of Ohm's law that represents resistance to amperage is given as voltage is equal to current times resistance ® or (v = i * r). Applying algebra to this formula, amperage is equal to voltage divided by resistance or ( i = v /r).


Difficulty:
Moderately Challenging
Instructions

1. 
   
2. • 
     
   • 1
     
     
     Find the amperage draw of a 100-watt light bulb supplied by a household voltage of 120 volts. Use the formula above of i = w /v, where 100 watts / 120 volts is equal to .83 amperes.
     
     
   • 2
     
     
     Use the same formula, but this time use the specifications from a kitchen stove. The oven and stove when all the elements are on will use 12,000 watts of power with 220 volts supplied from the circuit breaker panel. The formula will read i = 12.000 / 220. The amperage draw for the stove will be 54.5 amperes.
     
     
   • 3
     
     
     Calculate the amperage draw for a car stereo speaker that is supplied with 12 volts of power and has an internal resistance of 30 ohms. Using the resistance formula, "i" is equal to 12 volts divided by 30 ohms or 12 / 30. The amperage is 0.4 amperes.
     
     
   • 4
     
     
     Estimate the current draw from a single stove element that has a listed resistance of 10 ohms. Use a supply voltage of 220 volts. The formula will read 220 / 10 is equal to 22 amperes.
     
     
   • 5
     
     
     Find the amperage using the same element but at a lower voltage of 110 volts. The formula with the numbers will be 110 / 10. The amperage is equal to 11 amperes. Note that with the voltage supplied is half the value from Step 4, so is the theoretical current draw of the same element.
     

[caniac]

Ron Amedee wrote:

Read the tags on the strings by the plugs, There should be an amp draw on them.

Time that number by number of strings to get total amps you would be using.

Helped a friend wrap his 16" tomato cages with 250 count on each one and they were acceptable.

of LED's?

[Ron Amedee]

Yea he is 100% LED..We used the 5mm minis ..3 Colors of 100 count so I made a mistake above we wrapped 300 each tree. We were below 5 amps for all the trees

[caniac]

Ron Amedee wrote:

Yea he is 100% LED..We used the 5mm minis ..3 Colors of 100 count so I made a mistake above we wrapped 300 each tree. We were below 5 amps for all the trees

so worth the cost? my big problem is too much front yard hence 20 evenly spaced around the front and side. where did you get the mini's? were they the wide angle ones?

[Ron Amedee]

They are extremely expensive being pro grade..$19.00us a hundred

we installed 9600 leds on 32 trees..amp draw was 3.84 amps total

So about 1,800.00 us for the LEDS

Crawl then walk then run!!

[caniac]

Ron Amedee wrote:

They are extremely expensive being pro grade..$19.00us a hundred

we installed 9600 leds on 32 trees..amp draw was 3.84 amps total

So about 1,800.00 us for the LEDS

Crawl then walk then run!!

would cutting the height of my trees from 33 inches to say 18 inches be a better option or just stupid?

[Ron Amedee]

It's YOUR display !!! I bought 33" cages an cut off the first loop to shorten mine.

I will only run 16 mini trees this year. First year myself yet have budget set at $9000

Hope I Dont go too far over that !!

[PaulXmas]

Ron Amedee wrote:

It's YOUR display !!! I bought 33" cages an cut off the first loop to shorten mine.

I will only run 16 mini trees this year. First year myself yet have budget set at $9000

Hope I Dont go too far over that !!

OMG $9000!

I thought I was spending a lot of money!

Not really a budget.

Hard to stick to a budget when it is something that is wanted errr I mean needed...no wait required! Ya it is required.

[caniac]

PaulXmas wrote:

Ron Amedee wrote:

It's YOUR display !!! I bought 33" cages an cut off the first loop to shorten mine.

I will only run 16 mini trees this year. First year myself yet have budget set at $9000

Hope I Dont go too far over that !!

OMG $9000!

I thought I was spending a lot of money!

Not really a budget.

Hard to stick to a budget when it is something that is wanted errr I mean needed...no wait required! Ya it is required.

Definitely, we need Dan to write some of this into LOR Controller requirements for those of us that need to show it to someone and say "see dear it is a requirement".

[George Simmons]

I also use 32" tomato cages and have found that 200 clear minis per tree is plenty bright. I fold my minis over when wrapping them so that when the inevitable half-set goes dark there are no dark spots on the tree, just a 25% decrease in brightness that I doubt very many people even notice. I also use LEDs for colors on the mini trees and have found that a set of 50 full-wave LEDs (either minis or C6) gives plenty of light while keeping the mini trees almost affordable.

[caniac]

George Simmons wrote:

I also use 32" tomato cages and have found that 200 clear minis per tree is plenty bright. I fold my minis over when wrapping them so that when the inevitable half-set goes dark there are no dark spots on the tree, just a 25% decrease in brightness that I doubt very many people even notice. I also use LEDs for colors on the mini trees and have found that a set of 50 full-wave LEDs (either minis or C6) gives plenty of light while keeping the mini trees almost affordable.

i am having a senior moment, what do you mean by folding them over?

[George Simmons]

First off, my brain doesn't think of a 100 ct set of mini lights as one string of 100, but rather as two consecutive strings of 50 joined together. Instead of wrapping the lights starting with one end or the other, I "fold" the set in half and start from the center - essentially wrapping them as though they were two sets of 50s in parallel. That way, when a light fails and half the set goes dark there isn't a black hole anywhere. I do all my mini trees, arches, and poles that use incandescents this way.

[jeffandnicole]

caniac wrote:

plan on doing 20 mini trees this christmas and originally thought i would use LED's on them. got tomato baskets (33inch) and wire tied the point together. took a 70ct m5 type LED's and wrapped it around them and have the LED equivalent of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree (ok maybe not that bad but close). would i make the power company too happy if i went mini lights and maybe two strands per tree?

Simply put: No.

20 trees times 200 lights (2 strands) per tree = 4,000 lights.

As you see on the signature banners, 4,000 lights isn't really a whole lot. Then, figure that you will rarely have all the trees on at the same time, and most likely you will have just a few scattered ones on dancing to the music. The total electrical output is generally minimal.

[james campbell]

I just wrapped two minis tonight. 32 inch cage with 3 sets of incandecent 100 count. Mine draw about .3 amps per string,so about one amp per tree.I think many led strings only draw about .03 amps.