It's About Time! 

Welcome to the October 2005 edition of the PlanetChristmas newsletter!  It's published every month and covers relative topics for the decorating enthusiasts. 

LEDs.  Is it Time in the Christmas Display World?

You probably have already seen the recent generation Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).  Next time while sitting in front of a traffic light, look closely and you might see a bunch of small dots clustered to make that big red light you always stop for.  You’re looking at LED’s.  Cities are starting to replace the old incandescent traffic light bulbs and lenses with these LED’s because they use one fifth the power and last five times longer.  See the picture to the right with the LED signal on the left and the tried-and-true signal on the right.

You might even have an LED flashlight.  I forgot to turn mine off and when I picked it up four days later it was still shining.  Flashlight LED’s use less than 10% of the battery power of regular flashlights.   

But there’s something unusual about LED’s.  When you look at an LED straight on, they are very bright and some almost hurt your eyes.  Look at them from the side and there’s not much to see.  Viewing angle is the key. 

Look at a clear, incandescent light bulb.  See the big filament inside?  Turn it on and you can see the light from almost any angle.  Incandescents are great for general illumination.  If targeted light is required you can build a reflector around the filament. 

LEDs are the opposite of incandescent lights.  They create a point of light and the epoxy casing diffuses the light.  For a good explanation, goto:  http://www.theledlight.com/technical1.html 

With all this information in mind, the real question should be: Is it time for LED Christmas lights? 

The answer for 2005 is an unqualified “it depends.” 

Attendees of PLUS2005 saw plenty of LED Christmas lights and light strings.  Many LEDs looked like they were the size of C6 or C7 type light bulbs.  Looking real close at a bulb sometimes revealed an LED embedded in the very bottom while the rest of the bulb was used to diffuse that point source of light.  Red and blue colors looked pretty good.  Whites seemed the brightest but with a bluish tint.  Green was OK and amber colored LEDs appeared dimmer than the rest.  In a dark room all the LEDs looked alright.  The best part was the LED strings required about 1/20^th to 1/40^th the power of incandescent equivalents.  (For a power comparison, go to PlanetChristmas at http://www.planetchristmas.com/FigurePower.htm) 

The most interesting LED product was being offered by Holiday Lights and Magic (http://www.holidaylightsandmagic.com/)  The company had C9 based LED bulbs with standard screw bases that replaced C9 incandescent bulbs.  Inside each were three LEDs and the bulb was as bright as the incandescent type.  Even better, each LED replacement bulb drew less than 20% of the power of an incandescent version. 

Unfortunately, there’s a real gotcha.  Today, LED based Christmas bulbs and strings are three to twelve times more expensive than their incandescent cousins. 

Let’s now put LED costs into perspective.  If you have or plan to have thousands of lights in the Christmas display this year but you’re going to have to call a licensed electrician to upgrade your home electrical service to handle the power load, LEDs are an attractive alternative.  Since the LEDs use so much less electricity, you can probably live with your existing service.  Weigh the price of an electrician with the price of LED’s.  This might also factor into any computerized lighting controllers nearing their maximum load; adding low current LEDs might be cheaper than buying more hardware.  Then there’s always the “green” perspective.  If you want to save energy and be easy on the environment, LED’s are the way to go. 

BUT, if you can wait a year, do it.  The difference in LED Christmas light technology and pricing between 2004 and 2005 is dramatic. 2006 should be even better.  In my opinion, 2006 will be the year when the old-timers like me start replacing the incadescents with LEDs.   

For 2005, buy a few different types of LED bulbs and/or strings to play with.  Put a string around the wall of your garage or bedroom and leave it plugged in all year.  Power consumption will be next to nothing and you can see for yourself if LEDs dim over time.  We are right at the inflection point where LEDs make sense.  Now is your chance to become the expert your neighbors will turn to for lighting advice in 2006. 

What’s New at PlanetChristmas? 

Been to the PlanetChristmas website lately?  It’s totally revamped and easier to navigate.  www.PlanetChristmas.com is always a good resource for your Christmas decorating questions.  

Enter the Worldwide Christmas Decorating Contest for 2005! 

Heard about this year’s worldwide contest?  Three categories, over $2000 in prizes and the chance to call your display “the world’s best!”  Go to http://www.planetchristmas.com/WWContest2005.htm for all the details.

Help Us Grow for PLUS2007! 

If you attended either of our PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium (PLUS) events, you know what a great time it is.  Not only is there so much being taught by the instructors, but you learn even more networking and sharing information with others. 

The key to success of PLUS2007 is the continued growth of enthusiasts within the PlanetChristmas community.  As we enter this holiday season, take the opportunity to tell fellow decorators in your area about www.PlanetChristmas.com. 

Got a Newsletter Topic Suggestion? 

Have a suggestion for a main topic in a future PlanetChristmas newsletter?  Send us an email:  csmith@planetchristmas.com!

Next time: look forward to more Christmas decorating tips. 

Chuck Smith of PlanetChristmas