Comparison of CCB/CCP for a person just starting out

[jmccon2]

Hello.  I'm a newbie and I've been reading this forum and have seen multiple suggestions that newbies should go with CCB/CCP instead of LEDs because of the more options and control.   I'm really trying to make a decision within the next month because the HLE presale concludes at the end of February. I really need the assistance of your sage advice to help me understand the contrast/comparison of the 2 types of bulbs.  

 

Scenario: Per everyone's advice, I'm starting small - just 5 mini trees.  Below is what I believe the costs will be.

• $600 in LEDs.  Each tree will need 250 LED lights in each color (red, green, white).  The costs to purchase LED lights for these 5 trees will be approximately $200 per color, so $600 in light costs. 
• $350 for 1 residential starter pack.  FYI - I want to be able to light up each color on the tree independent of the other trees, i.e., I can flash the green on tree 1 and the other 4 trees will not flash.  This will be 15 channels, so I'll need one controller.
• $75 for 15 extension cords to go from trees to controller. Assuming $5 each (have no clue)
• $69 upgrade software price (looking towards the future of adding on more controllers).
• ~$300 FM tuner, and other accessories

So if I compare that with CCB/CCP… 

• With the exception of the lights themselves and the number of extension cords needed, wouldn’t the costs be the same? FYI – I’m assuming the controller for the 2 strands of CCP lights offered on LOR is needed in addition to the residential starter pack.
• If I had all the LED lights on at once, I would have 3750 lights ablazn’.  How many CCB/CCPs would I need to capture the same affect?  And since 100 CCPs cost with controller costs $289 – what would that set me back?

Thanks so very much!  Janet

[George Simmons]

Hi Janet.

The LOR CCBs and CCPs are themselves LEDs. Not knowing the construction or height of your mini trees, it's hard to suggest what you'll need for lights. I personally believe that 250 lights per mini tree is plenty more than necessary. I have 70 warm white, 50 red, 50 green and 50 blue on my mini trees and they're plenty bright. However, my mini trees are the front-most element of my display and no more than 20 feet from the curb, so my needs for brightness aren't the same as someone who has mini trees a hundred feet from the street.

The CCBs and CCPs each come with their own controller that you daisy chain just like "regular" LOR controllers. CCPs are a bit brighter than CCBs. The CCBs are closer in size to C9 regular incandescents. I have CCBs on the trees directly in front of the house and from that viewing distance, IMO they're perfect. Your distances and preferences might be totally different.

If it was me, I'd probably choose the CCP/CCB option over regular one-color LED strings. You can still do all the colors you cited along with a couple million other colors. The prices you quoted are regular prices. LOR has two sales each year - their inventory clearance sale in the spring and their summer sale in the summer. There's no need to pay the regular price unless you want them now. Also, the $300 you cited for an FM transmitter is what you should expect to pay for five transmitters - not one. Check out the CZH-05B on Amazon. Excellent transmitter for about 60 bucks. IMO - the best bargain in the entire hobby.

Good luck.

[jmccon2]

@George, thank you very much for your response.  So if I understand correctly, the $289 package from LOR is self contained then, meaning, I don't need any other controllers.  My mini trees are 3' tall and I was thinking each one would need 250 LED lights of each color, but now you have me thinking that I might be overdoing it (which is not uncommon for me).  My trees will also be front and center, but a street light is right across the street.  After reading your comments, I'm going to wrap one tree in 200 hundred red LEDs and the other in 100 red LEDs and see if the difference is that dramatic.  I'll let you know tomorrow what I find out

 

Janet

[jmccon2]

Dop!  Completely forgot to ask my other REALLY big question.  If I have a 100 light strand of white, and a 100 light strand of green, and a 100 light strand of red and wanted all of them to light all at once, wouldn't I need 300 CCB/CCP lights to match the effect?  Janet

[wbaker4]

"wouldn't I need 300 CCB/CCP lights to match the effect?"

 

 

Any reason why you would want White, Green and Red on at the same time?

[steve synek]

Dop!  Completely forgot to ask my other REALLY big question.  If I have a 100 light strand of white, and a 100 light strand of green, and a 100 light strand of red and wanted all of them to light all at once, wouldn't I need 300 CCB/CCP lights to match the effect?  Janet

Janet

  IMO most of what gets done/ created here truly comes down to what makes YOU happy. There is no right way.  Everyone has a different opinion.  I personally am now sold on all the options RGB offers.  But it comes with a cost.   I would argue that the looks cannot be compared.   Watch some videos,  keep looking at the different displays,  ask questions,  maybe make some test trees so you can decide what you like best and fits in your budget.    If you were to use CCPs, you can twinkle ,mix, or program so many combinations it will make your head spin.  My experience is RGB is so bright, less is needed.

 

 

Steve

[james campbell]

one thing I am not sure you realize, with the ccp or ccb option those are rgb pixels. Each does have their own controller and comes 100 pixels per set(300 channels not counting macros) so for 5 mini trees your looking at 1500 channels. So of coarse you will have unlimited options of what your mini trees can do

[Grinch]

Janet

RGB is a great way to go if the budget is not a problem and you want to change your element a lot of different colors.  Such as use them for Halloween, Orange, Purple, Green and then at Christmas Red, Green, White like you want with out having to rewrap trees.

The only draw back of course is the answer to your question,  You would not be able to have them all white and all red and all green at the same time.  But you could alternate the colors on the bulbs to one green one red and one white. etc.. for the string.  Obviously you would not have the same intensity as having them all ON with three separate strings. Again is comes down to personal preferences. If budget is tight then maybe choose a combination of LED and RGB  Place the RGB in areas that are hard to get or require a lot of ladder climbing so that you are only putting up one string versus 3 strings. 

[jmccon2]

thanks to all of your feedback!  I have been reading all the posts in the newbie section and came across the seasonal entertainment site.  I read the tutorial on RGB and finally understand.  The set up is not as complicated as I thought.  And I finally understand that I can have LEDs and RGBs both.   And while I now feel better about the setup of each, the RGB software programming is more advanced.  So at this point, I'm leaning toward ordering the LEDs in the pre-order sales (ends February).  Once I'm comfortable with those, I'll add on with RGB, and who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and will have both types for Christmas 2014  Janet

[George Simmons]

Good move.  Begin with what you're comfortable with and go from there.  It's better to have less in the yard nicely sequenced, rather than all sorts of stuff done half-asked.