It's jingle bells time again folks! Christmas is round the corner! The air is chilly, but the hearts are warm. The season of feeling good about everything is finally with us.
Now is the time to forget about the trials of the year, and look forward to a fresh year with lots of promises. To make everyone happy, and feel happy yourself, you need to deck up your house. Christmas decorations are an important part of Christmas. A well decorated house with a nice Christmas tree will make everyone in the family feel the festivities. To make your Christmas decorations stand out, you need to spend some time and money over Christmas lights. Along with Christmas gifts, Christmas wallpapers, Christmas lights form your shopping list for Christmas. So, here are a few things you need to know about Christmas lights.
Electric Christmas lights
Christmas lights have been used since the late 19th century. Credit for the first displayed Christmas tree with electric light goes to an associate of Thomas Edison, named Edward History Johnson. In 1895, the first Christmas tree with electric Christmas lights was put up in the white house by President Grover Cleveland. Electric Christmas lights did not become popular until in the 1930s, chiefly due to high costs.
Evolution of Christmas lights
After initial experiments, Christmas lights gradually gained in popularity across the US. Soon, many towns started using electronic Christmas lights for decorating the trees in their neighborhoods. There are many claims for being the first. McAdenville in North Carolina has been credited by some sources as being the first to decorate evergreen trees with electronic Christmas lights. After the lights became affordable and mass production followed, people started using Christmas lights for other Christmas decoration as well. Doorways, rooflines, windows, mantles, and railings of homes and businesses began to sport electronic Christmas lights. Even streets, buildings and sky scrapers have been decorated with Christmas lights in recent times.
Kinds of Christmas lights
The chief varieties of Christmas lights in use today are still the original incandescent light bulbs and relatively recent light emitting diodes (LEDs). Neon and fluorescent lamp sets are also available.
Incandescent lamps
These are the traditional and still widely used types of Christmas lights. They also give a very traditional look to your house when you use them. There are a few drawbacks though, when compared to LEDs. The incandescent lights heat up very quickly and are not durable. The color fades due to exposure and being larger in size than LEDs, they require more storage space.
Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
LEDs are fast replacing the traditional incandescent lamps, as they are cost effective, durable and safer. They use much lower energy, and are easier to store as well. LEDs are the first choice if you want to run the lights on batteries and place them outdoors. They use as much as 90-98% less electricity than standard incandescent lamps. The LEDs are available in all shapes, sizes and colors. You will find LEDs shaped as strawberries, raspberries, snowflakes, pumpkins and other shapes. Due to these advantages, LEDs are used in most city decorations and to decorate large buildings as well. Synchronized LEDs with various animations are very popular among households.
Fiber Optic Lights
Fiber optic technology is also being used for Christmas lights. These usually involve the use of LEDs. The use of this can be seen in Christmas trees that have LEDs at the base and optic fibers extending from the base to the branches. Fiber optic lighting can be used for other forms of Christmas decoration as well.
Creative lighting
Creative minds will stop at nothing. Artists can do wonders even with electricity! Christmas lights are also used to depict various shapes, figures, and even entire scenes like the nativity. To do this, lights are fixed on frames of various shapes and sizes. These creations made of colorful lights have given a new dimension to Christmas decorations around the world. Creative minds can be set free to think out of the box and create spectacular sights made of light.
Synchronized Christmas lights
Christmas lights are animated in various ways by using flasher bulbs and electronic controllers. Using various technologies, the animation of the lights can be controlled, and rhythms and patterns created. Some of the common functions of such lights are fading, alternate flashing, long flashing, short twinkling, sequential twinkling, border flashing, and many more. Styles depend upon the manufacturers, and new styles keep on being invented.
Power issues with Christmas lights
Most Christmas lights run on household AC electricity and have to be plugged in. Some lights can be joined end to end and have a plug at one end and a socket at the other. This way, long chains can be formed.
You can also run the Christmas lights on batteries. There are many options to do this. You can buy light sets that are wired for DC, or you can use an inverter that converts AC Power to DC.
Remember that if you are using batteries, you need to go for lights that use less power, like the LEDs, and not incandescent lamps.
Safety issues with Christmas lights
Like all electrical gadgets, Christmas lights also need to be used with some caution. Some basic safety measures can ensure that your family can have a safe Christmas. Just keep in mind the following tips while using electrical Christmas lights.
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Always look for fuses in the Christmas lights before you buy.
- Look out for damages in old or even new set of Christmas lights. Broken sockets, damaged wires and loose connections have to be inspected. Get them repaired if you can, otherwise get rid of them.
- Try to avoid older version incandescent lights as they tend to get heated up very soon. LEDs are much cooler and easier to operate.
- Look for testing agency certifications on the lights before buying them. UL and ETL are the notable safety laboratories, and you should watch for their certification on the Christmas lights.
- Never hang Christmas lights on metal Christmas trees and other metal portions of your house. This may result in electric shock or short circuit.
- If you plan to use the lights outdoors, look for lights meant for outdoor use. Packages mention whether the lights can be used outdoors. While using the lights outdoors, make sure you have a ground fault circuit interrupter.
- Use extension chords with care. Overloading them may make them hot and burn.
- Use insulated holders for setting up outdoor Christmas lights.
- Put off the Christmas lights when you go to sleep.
- Do not let small kids handle the lights or come near them.
Christmas lights can make your home look beautiful and ready for the festival. Use them with caution, and your Christmas will turn out to be as beautiful as those tiny colorful spots of lights.
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