LED lights

[zjcr19]

I am still waiting on my order which was placed mid October. I have a couple of questions regarding LED lights which is probably a matter of preference but would like some feedback.

1. It seems like a lot of people like CDI (along with others) as a place that has good prices and great customer service. My question, do the prices for LEDs get discounted that much after the holidays or should I just take the plunge and purchase now? If the change in price is not that big then I have some old strings I can probably get by with for this year.

2. I have read a couple of post about cheap LEDs on black Friday from HD and other box stores. Are these kind of LEDs going to last versus ones from CDI and are LED lights from HD the kind that I would be able to dim without issues?

Thanks.

[-klb-]

Generally the best pricing from CDI is ordering in January for that year's production run. I think it is usually partial payment up front, balance before delivery, typically mid year.

[Santas Helper]

First of all, welcome to the forum. Some great folks here with great input and ideas.

Going to HD or Lowe's will have cheaper products and some may not hold up to the LOR controller functions, if that's your game.

If price isn't a problem, go with CDI or other commercial company. If you can hold off till spring, CDI or others sometimes start having sales.

My suggestion only but... try to stay with commecial products if possible, for better reliability and customer service.

Just my thoughts/experience,

[Guest guest]

Eventually I will replace my LED (Big Box and Discount/Closeout stores) with commercial grade, but for now I'll use the cheapo's from HD, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Big Lots, Target and K-Mart. They've held up for a couple of years, but I have had some of these rust out and no longer be usable. So you do get what you pay for pretty much.

When I can I'll probably go with CDI since most here highly recommend them and the folks haven't really had very many issues with their product, and if they did, it was replaced fairly quickly.

So if you can afford to go with the commercial grade, I'd say go that route, if not, the big box stores will work, and if you're lucky you might get 3 or 4 seasons out of them until you can replace them a little at a time with the commercial grade ones.

[beeiilll]

Welcome Jay

Well there is a good reason you hear people talk about CDI as the place to buy your LEDs. Service, service, service!
Paul is "the man" when it comes to dealing with any company out there as far as most people can find (myself included). When you find a company that stands behind its product as well as its customers, then you rarely look back.

The spring sale after the first of the year is when CDI orders its supplies from China so Paul gives people a chance at a nice discount if you get in on the sale. It is definately worth it for the savings if you can go that route but still worth it to buy from CDI at any time unless you only need a string or two and then there are some other places that you can find single strings at not too bad prices.

As far as the cheap LEDs from Lowes, HD, or the discount stores? Well you are going to get what you pay for in my opinion. I have tinkered with strings from a bunch of places and the quality, value, performance vs price, longevity, and the looks of the different brands can vary greatly.
CDI is/was getting their LEDs from the same manufacturer that makes the Holiday Creations brand and are one of the best grades of LEDs that I have seen. I have been using them for 3 years now and only have had a few strings fail and that was usually right in the beginning of their use. I had 3 strings fail during the season (2 got broke from wind and 1 had a rectifier fail so 1/2 the string went out). I am more than happy with the quality so far.
I have had problems with the strings that I bought from other places due to poor quality (poor assembly joints, manufacturing defects, lower grade materials) that made the strings unuseable within anywhere from the time I opened the box to within a few days because of failure.
So I stick with the Holiday Creations brand as I find it to be the "best" so far in my searches for LEDs.

Oh and CDI will stand behind the warrantee on the product without question as well. I have had other companies try to convince me that I did something wrong (by plugging in their product?) and not want to work with me when I had a problem with their product. Paul takes care of his customers and knows that we are his business, hence the biggest reason to deal with him.

Be careful when folks start telling you to get commercial grade LED strings verus the regular grade strings.
Commercial grade strings tend to be shorter (25 bulbs vs 70 or 100 for regular grade) and have a twist connector on the ends of the strings that helps keep moisture out and the strings connected together. The regular or Pro grade LED strings can come with anywhere from 25 to over 100 bulbs on them and have regular 2 prong electrical plugs on the ends to connect them together.
I use the regular grade of LEDs without any trouble since it can run a substantial amount to go with the truely commercial grade of LED strings.
It really boils down to the manufacturer of the LEDs more than the commercial vs. regular issue as far as I have seen.

Hope it helps.
Bill

[travis p]

let me add this to this thread i work for lowes as a facility service associate (janitor) this means my funds are limited. this is going to be my first year with lor i called paul and explained my needs to him
this was in april my order was placed then.then irene hit i had oak trees fall on my house whitch had to be rebuild my funds had to be redirected till the insurance kicked in. called paul no problem.my last payment was sent in on 10 /27 11 on 10/30/11 i had my lights in hand.i will ALLWAYS CALL PAUL FIRST he and his staff are good people with fast and caring SERVICE

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the clarification Bill! I was unaware of the differences in the Commercial Grade and the Pro grade (which some may be also calling or referring them to "commercial grade?").

Definitely want the type with the male/female plugs and NOT the screw connectors!

So your info helped me to NOT make a major mistake when I can start upgrading my cheapo Big Box/Discouunt-CloseOut store LED's to a better quality product. Hopefully starting after a few months into next year in 2012 I will be able to do that.

Again, thanks for the clarification. I would have been buying the wrong LED strings otherwise!

[zjcr19]

Thanks for all the input. I'm not sure if I will even get it done this year as I knowingly purchased my controllers this late in the season.

[Dave Boros]

t purser wrote:

let me add this to this thread i work for lowes as a facility service associate (janitor) this means my funds are limited. this is going to be my first year with lor i called paul and explained my needs to him
this was in april my order was placed then.then irene  hit i had oak trees fall on my house whitch had to be rebuild my funds had to be redirected till the insurance kicked in. called paul no problem.my last payment was sent in on 10 /27 11 on 10/30/11 i had my lights in hand.i will ALLWAYS CALL PAUL FIRST he and his staff are good people with fast and caring SERVICE

They have always worked with me as well, even on my first order. Another thing, you should get several years out of the CDI lights. They do cost twice as much, typically, as the economy/value brands, but when you're going on your third set, nuff said. If you can't afford em now, and you have lights you can use, I'd save the $$, personally. I would only buy the cheapies now if I needed it to complete my display. Most of the leds I been seeing this year actually cost more than CDI. The one thing w CDI, is they sell by the case.

[ronjensen1943]

what is CDI's URL:?

[Dave Boros]

You should be able to just google CDI and it'll come up as one of the choices. Creative Displays Inc

[wallleyes]

https://www.creativedisplays.com/Home