Turning on the outdoor Christmas lights on December 1st is always a pivotal moment for me, it signals the start of the holdiay season and plays a big part in getting me into the Christmas spirit!
Putting up the lights is my hubby's job, the design and the rest of the decorating is mine. Nothing says "peace on earth & joy to the world" like tripping over the gazillion strands of lights snaking across the floor and a constant stream of swear words filling the air as hubby tries to figure out which light is burnt out and is mucking up the strand! Last year hubby went rogue and spent almost $400 on LED icicle lights to replace our regular ones with the thought that it would both make his annual job easier and be more energy efficient. I just want to say upfront that I was not a happy camper as I thought it was an exorbitant amount of money to spend for something that we already had...although he tells me that it was almost impossible to find replacement bulbs or strands for our old set so we needed to do something...
So two Sundays ago out came the giant box of lights from the garage and the checking process began; and can you believe we ended up with the exact same problem again??? Strands that were put away working, mysteriously no longer work! Off to the store he went to buy more strands to replace the non-working ones (which he used to have to do with the old ones as well) except that now the cost of a box of lights is $16 each for LEDs instead of $6 each for the old style incandescents! $135 later and the lights are all installed, timers are set and we head outside just before they're due to turn on to admire his handiwork!
<Insert Shock & Dismay Here> The new ones are a cool blue white and last year's are a nice soft golden white and it looks...stupid! (stomping my feet) Do you think that we've been able to find the soft white ones? Nope! Do you think I want to spend another $300 on more cool white ones? Nope! So the lights are up but they will not be turned on this year, and this makes me very sad... but also very angry! Oh and how's this for irony, can't find the right "new" strands of lights we need but there are plenty of the old style ones available...you know, the ones we got rid of in favour of these new better ones...sigh :(
This was supposed to be a long term solution, put out the money now and enjoy the benefits for years to come...if you Google LED Christmas lights you will see that we are not the only ones that are having issues! Another maddening problem with these type of lights is that they need to be put away bone dry otherwise the connectors and the leads on the bulbs rust! How are you supposed to put them away dry? They've been exposed to the elements and its not like you want to drape them all over the inside of your house when they're wet and/or dirty in order to dry them! Where was this information last year, why didn't we know this before we spent $400+??
So the moral of this story is if you're thinking of making the switch, do your research to see if it's really such a great idea or if you've already taken the plunge then make sure you dry them before you store them, maybe that will help?
I can't find a picture from a previous year but here's this year's messed up version, turned on for the photo and then off again...and as you can see another strand has partially gone out!
Do you agree that my lights look stupid (lol)? Do you have anything good to say about outdoor LEDs? Do you have a similar tale of woe to share? I'd love to hear it! Don't forget I've got Tim's cards burning a hole in my pocket for those who get involved in the conversation!
Coming up this week is Part 2 of the Move Up Buyer, a special guest interview and more, so please tune in!
That's it for now...
