Apr
5
The tradition of lighting homes, public buildings and businesses at Christmas seems to become more popular every year.
There is a huge selection of Christmas outdoor lighting available. Most people seem to choose a selection of Christmas theme figures that are often animated, with a background made of light strands and colorful LED rope light.
Suggestions to consider with Christmas lighting:
- Decorate the background and outline of the building with LED Rope Lights
- Select Christmas Yard Art. Popular figures include Santa, Rudolph and the Reindeer, light art in the form of local landmarks.
- Animated figures are great fun.
- Lawn Decorations of Snowmen and Reindeer are popular.
- Use Christmas LED Lights where possible for power efficiency.
- LEDs are available in Lights Strings, Rope Lights and LED Garlands come in an assortment of colors, sizes and string lengths.
Christmas Light Design Tips:
- First sketch the outside of your house, indicating its dimensions - height, width and length.
- Note the locations of any available power outlets in the sketch.
- Decide where you want the lights to go e.g. along the eaves, around windows.
- If you want lights on trees and bushes, measure the height of bushes and the height of the sections of any trees you want to light, including each tree branch.
- For trees and bushes, a good rule of thumb is to allow about 50 lights per foot of height (double this number if you’re using miniature lights).
- In the design, add an extra 25-40 feet to allow for the pitch of the roof if you are following the roofline.
- Decide what style of lights you want to use: solid, chasing or blinking? Miniature (C-7) or full-size (C-9)? Do you want white or colored lights or a mix? Rope lights usually come in lengths from 25 lights to 200 lights.
- Now you have to work out how many strings of lights you’ll need based on your design and measurements.
- At this point you may decide to scale back your design, because you have too many lights!
- Also remember you don’t want you house/premises to be too bright - you’ll lose the appeal of the best Christmas light arrangements.
Christmas Light Installation Tips:
- Test the lights before you install them (it’s a pain in the b–t if you have to take them down again).
- Get help. If you’re up high have someone hold the ladder and pass you the lights.
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