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Christmas lights - another angle

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PetrosA:
I was reading the other Christmas lights thread today after I came back from getting some LED lights for the tree. The nerd in me and the saver in my wife love the fact that a 100 light string of LEDs only burns 8 watts. And, as the other thread shows, you can do a lot of customizing with LEDs.

But... In spite of the fact that I got name brand lights (GE) and not some cheapie one-hung-lows, we hit the wall again. My wife plugged them in and the color was SO anti-holidays and SO glow-in-the-dark nightclub that we're going to take them back. There's absolutely no way either of us could see using something like that inside the house. They would work outside, but we don't go too crazy with decorating the shrubs.

So in spite of a great idea, it's just not time yet, or maybe we're too old fashioned (we also have real candles on the tree). CFLs, LEDs, etc. have to come a long way yet before they really become a part of our life and not just a cheap light to leave on in the bathroom :(

tinsmith:
You bought the wrong color, Q.E.D. all non-incandescent lighting has no place in the home other than as a night light?

I'm not sure I'm following you...not in the least because most "Christmas lights" are strands of small incandescent bulbs.

Zero999:
Some stores have displays showing off their LEDs.

What colour were they?

I don't like the deep blue ones, but I think cold bluish white looks good and red is also a nice colour for Christmas tree lights. Multicoloured lights are also popular but I've noticed that blue is sometimes the dominant colour in a set with different colours, which isn't nice.

How about making your own? It may cost than buying them but at least you have some control over the colours and flash pattens, if you're into that kind of thing. If you do make your own then run them from a small mains adaptor, don't use mains voltage, unless you're sure you've insulated the connections well enough and used a suitable fuse.

PetrosA:

--- Quote from: tinsmith on November 27, 2010, 05:43:48 am ---You bought the wrong color, Q.E.D. all non-incandescent lighting has no place in the home other than as a night light?

I'm not sure I'm following you...not in the least because most "Christmas lights" are strands of small incandescent bulbs.

--- End quote ---

I got mini lights in both white and various colors (the string kind that you wrap around the tree). The white is actually pretty white by LED standards - only slightly on the blue side but it's enough that they look a bit surreal while the colored ones give off strange, almost fluorescent colors that look like something you'd see in a night club with black lights on. Maybe all red ones would work, but I think the screwy spectrum that the low cost LEDs have is what's making it so unpleasant.

I have tested high end LEDs for general lighting and I can say that some of the bulbs are great with color, but they cost over $100 each. I've also tested commercial outdoor LED fixtures that cost $190 for the cool white version and $200+ for the warm white versions each and unless I was going for a moonlight effect, only the $200 version even comes close to giving pleasant light.

As far as CFL goes, until you get into the really expensive ones, I haven't seen any that give good color. I dunno, maybe most people don't have artwork on their walls or anything with natural or non-printed colors in their homes so they really don't see the difference that bad metamerism makes.

tyblu:

--- Quote from: PetrosA on November 27, 2010, 09:14:11 pm ---...the difference that bad metamerism makes.
--- End quote ---
I had to lookup metamerism; it's not even in my dictionary.

--- Quote ---In colorimetry, metamerism is the matching of apparent color of objects with different spectral power distributions. Colors that match this way are called metamers.
--- End quote ---
For other mortals.

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