BigUFGator Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 I've been planning to start buying lights for my display for a few years. I was hesitant because I knew I was going to be moving to a new house and knew I wanted to start from scratch with LED's. Well now the time has come to start buying (to be ready for next year).My question is that at the various places I've looked to buy LED's online they always have two types: retail with a standard plug and commercial which seems to have thicker gauge wire and a screw connector that lets you screw them end to end (or add spacing wire which seems like it would be useful).So people here are obviously buying tons of lights for use with the LOR and I'm wondering which type I should buy and why? Does the commercial grade really matter and is it worth the extra money?I can't wait to get started! Thanks for your feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhewson Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 I am new to all of this but I have seen alot of people buy their lights from CDI and use the standard plug. Here is the link www.christmasdesigners.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Bhewson wrote:I am new to all of this but I have seen alot of people buy their lights from CDI and use the standard plug. Here is the link www.christmasdesigners.com.That link is wrong for CDI.The correct link where we buy our LED lights is:http://www.creativedisplays.com/They usually have a presale starting in late December. Super great prices then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigUFGator Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 JBullard wrote: Bhewson wrote:I am new to all of this but I have seen alot of people buy their lights from CDI and use the standard plug. Here is the link http://www.christmasdesigners.com.That link is wrong for CDI.The correct link where we buy our LED lights is:http://www.creativedisplays.com/They usually have a presale starting in late December. Super great prices then.I'm totally confused...when I see people talking about CDI, I thought they mean christmasdesigners.com (and that was the site I was looking at to buy my LED lights). So that is NOT the one everyone talks about having great customer service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 BigUFGator wrote:JBullard wrote: Bhewson wrote:I am new to all of this but I have seen alot of people buy their lights from CDI and use the standard plug. Here is the link http://www.christmasdesigners.com.That link is wrong for CDI.The correct link where we buy our LED lights is:http://www.creativedisplays.com/They usually have a presale starting in late December. Super great prices then.I'm totally confused...when I see people talking about CDI, I thought they mean christmasdesigners.com (and that was the site I was looking at to buy my LED lights). So that is NOT the one everyone talks about having great customer service?Nope. It is Creative Displays. The owner Paul Sessel is a member here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKSedg Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 JBullard wrote: BigUFGator wrote:JBullard wrote: Bhewson wrote:I am new to all of this but I have seen alot of people buy their lights from CDI and use the standard plug. Here is the link http://www.christmasdesigners.com.That link is wrong for CDI.The correct link where we buy our LED lights is:http://www.creativedisplays.com/They usually have a presale starting in late December. Super great prices then.I'm totally confused...when I see people talking about CDI, I thought they mean christmasdesigners.com (and that was the site I was looking at to buy my LED lights). So that is NOT the one everyone talks about having great customer service?Nope. It is Creative Displays. The owner Paul Sessel is a member here.I HIGHLY recommend CDI and Paul. I have ordered twice from them and the service was excellent. I ordered on Sunday night and the lights arrived on Thursday both times. Great product, too. Wait for the pre-sale after the first of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morte615 Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Back on subject, LOL! But comercial grade are thicker wire, and the connectors are weather proof (which is not the same as water proof), and are usually designed to operate outdoors for extended periods.Most retail lights are "disposable" and are expected to be thrown away every year, (that way you buy more next year!) And of course the connections aren't weather proof.Personally I don't use anything but the commercial grade when doing projects at another person's home or business, but I will occasionally use retail grade if I need to pick up a quick box for my house.I have started to notice this year that some stores (Sears and Macy's in particular) are getting commercial grade lights. Haven't looked that closely so don't know if they have the screw together connectors or straight Edison plugs or not though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigUFGator Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 morte615 wrote: Back on subject, LOL! But comercial grade are thicker wire, and the connectors are weather proof (which is not the same as water proof), and are usually designed to operate outdoors for extended periods.Most retail lights are "disposable" and are expected to be thrown away every year, (that way you buy more next year!) And of course the connections aren't weather proof.Personally I don't use anything but the commercial grade when doing projects at another person's home or business, but I will occasionally use retail grade if I need to pick up a quick box for my house.I have started to notice this year that some stores (Sears and Macy's in particular) are getting commercial grade lights. Haven't looked that closely so don't know if they have the screw together connectors or straight Edison plugs or not though.If I am "investing" in lights, I really don't want to end up tossing them every other year although I assume with LEDs this is less of a problem anyway. Ironically Sears always had a fantastic selection of lights, so this year when I went there (and many other big box retailers) to look at my options, the amount available was extremely sparse. It was like everyone made a decision to stock like 1/2 or 1/4 of the amount of lights as they had previously.Maybe one downside of LEDs is that since they last longer, people will need to buy less of them so the stores are starting to stock less of them going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 morte615 wrote: < snip>are usually designed to operate outdoors for extended periods.Most retail lights are "disposable" and are expected to be thrown away every year, (that way you buy more next year!) And of course the connections aren't weather proof.I agree with retail lights that are sold in local stores, in my opinion, they were made cheaply to hit a low price point.However, the LEDs sold by CDI, (Creative Displays), are made for and Paul's major customers, are large commercial displays. In my opinion, Paul is very generous to allow us hobbist to also purchase them at a substantial discount with his presales.I have been using CDI's since 2007, now have over 700 strings of them, and only had one failure, and it was promptly replaced, no questions asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morte615 Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Yeah the LED trend has changed the Commercial vs Retail battle a bit. But the biggest difference isn't the LED (though a good string of lights will use a higher quality LED) but more the type of connections made and the wire used. Thicker wire, better connectors and connections, and of course the type and style of LED are all things that will affect the life of the product.The retail strings are only designed for a single season use, and less than 90 days at that, (or mileage may vary) where as commercial strings are "usually" made to last much longer.I recommend that if you are looking to buy your lights in bulk to get a solid base of lights, go commercial. And then as the season approaches and you need that last 3 strings that you just don't have, then hit up the retail stores! Just expect to have to replace those strings sooner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morte615 Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I have never used CDI (though I have heard good things and I am looking for a supplier so I may get started!) But a company that uses his level of quality control then you will get more mileage out of his retail strings than if you head to Wal-mart.But his retail strings are still the "retail" version, again not made as well as his commercial version. So on the whole the commercial will last longer, that's usually why you purchase ANY commercial product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhewson Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 BigUFGator wrote:JBullard wrote: Bhewson wrote:I am new to all of this but I have seen alot of people buy their lights from CDI and use the standard plug. Here is the link http://www.christmasdesigners.com.That link is wrong for CDI.The correct link where we buy our LED lights is:http://www.creativedisplays.com/They usually have a presale starting in late December. Super great prices then.I'm totally confused...when I see people talking about CDI, I thought they mean christmasdesigners.com (and that was the site I was looking at to buy my LED lights). So that is NOT the one everyone talks about having great customer service?Thx for clearing that up for me. I also was looking at the wrong site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigUFGator Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 It looks like Creative Displays only sells by the case. Is it possible to get just one or two strands from them? I'd like to at least get just one of each color (red and green) so I could see how it actually looks before I spend a lot of money on a case that I may not like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Call them and request a sample string or two. You just might get them.There are quite a few users in the Raleigh area that use strings from CDI, visit their displays and listen to them sing the praises of CDI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 My first year (three years ago) I knew NOTHING (and some would argue I still don't ), but I knew I wanted to go the LED route.I did not research enough and ended up getting the LED's with the screw on connectors...because I THOUGHT that was how ALL LED's came...BIG mistake!! Not only were the LED strings expensive, but then you ALSO had to buy the plug/connector (another $6).So if you REALLY want the commercial ones I have a LOT of strings I could sell you!!! LOLBut like others have said, go with the type CDI sells...but if you can, wait til the sales after the first of the year.But if you are wondering if there is a difference between the look of commercial and residential, I see no difference between them...If CDI won't send you a sample, I will...just pay for postage and I will send you two strings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigUFGator Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 jimswinder wrote: My first year (three years ago) I knew NOTHING (and some would argue I still don't ), but I knew I wanted to go the LED route.I did not research enough and ended up getting the LED's with the screw on connectors...because I THOUGHT that was how ALL LED's came...BIG mistake!! Not only were the LED strings expensive, but then you ALSO had to buy the plug/connector (another $6).So if you REALLY want the commercial ones I have a LOT of strings I could sell you!!! LOLBut like others have said, go with the type CDI sells...but if you can, wait til the sales after the first of the year.But if you are wondering if there is a difference between the look of commercial and residential, I see no difference between them...If CDI won't send you a sample, I will...just pay for postage and I will send you two strings...Thank you for that generous offer!!!Do you run spacer wires between those commercial sets? I set that as a positive to run from bush to bush (since at this point I don't have an LOR controller yet so each bush is not on it's own channel).I would buy from them on the recommendation of everyone here (and on other forums) if they have what I need.I'm looking for strands of red and strands of green C9's and 5mm wide angle just to see how they look. My fear is buying some from different places and having the colors not match. Do you think this would be a problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 BigUFGator wrote: Thank you for that generous offer!!!Do you run spacer wires between those commercial sets?**They sell "extension cords" for them that have the same screw on receptacles**I'm looking for strands of red and strands of green C9's and 5mm wide angle just to see how they look.**Sorry..I only have Minis and C6's** My fear is buying some from different places and having the colors not match. Do you think this would be a problem?**I have bought from different vendors and have not noticed a difference in color...other than white, which can come in about three different versions (Pure white, bright white, cool white, warm white) Thanks Mr. B!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Don't forget Cool White and Warm White.I did buy some greens one time that was a very light green, did not match the rich dark green from CDI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigUFGator Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 JBullard wrote: Don't forget Cool White and Warm White.I did buy some greens one time that was a very light green, did not match the rich dark green from CDI.That's the type of thing I am afraid of. That's why I'm hoping that one source can provide all the lights I'll need so I don't run into that issue. It's OK if you are running 10's of thousands of lights of all varying colors, but if you don't intend on having a lot, just one strand that doesn't match will really stand out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 BigUFGator wrote:JBullard wrote: Don't forget Cool White and Warm White.I did buy some greens one time that was a very light green, did not match the rich dark green from CDI.That's the type of thing I am afraid of. That's why I'm hoping that one source can provide all the lights I'll need so I don't run into that issue. It's OK if you are running 10's of thousands of lights of all varying colors, but if you don't intend on having a lot, just one strand that doesn't match will really stand out.That is why I recommend sticking with one vendor such as CDI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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