Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 17

Thread: Christmas decorations question.

  1. #1
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,833

    Default Christmas decorations question.

    This could possibly go in the technical section, but it's not disco related, so this will do.

    We have a small tree in the garden, which we light each year. It's a really awkward flowering cherry, and threading the standard strings of lights through it each year is a real struggle, as they snag everywhere on twigs. So, I'm looking at rope lights, as they will be sooo much easier to install.

    The simple question is this- filament or LED? Which lasts longer, and is more resistant to handling?
    Filament are significantly cheaper, but if they only last half as long, it's not a saving.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  2. #2
    Imagine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Ely, Cambridgeshire
    Age
    53
    Posts
    2,450

    Default

    I thought this was a wind up to start with

    How about some nice simple uplighting instead

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    norwich
    Posts
    742

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post

    How about some nice simple uplighting instead
    Indeed. Much more sophisticated.

  4. #4
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,833

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    I thought this was a wind up to start with
    Heaven forfend, dear boy, heaven forfend. You've not met my wife, have you? Her ideal Christmas lighting scenario would look a lot like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    How about some nice simple uplighting instead
    And at first, I thought that was a joke. ( Still reckon it is actually, but as it's nearly Christmas, peace on Earth and goodwill to all men, even Wayne. )

    I was about to point out that my Tripars aren't IP65, but a quick Google came up with this.

    I'm just going outside with a Tripar and an extension cable. Back soon.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  5. #5
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,833

    Default

    And the results for the uplighting trial are in.
    She Who Must Be Obeyed scored it nil points.

    In all honesty, partly due to the spread of the tree, it was just too understated.
    Ah well, back to the drawing board.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  6. #6
    Imagine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Ely, Cambridgeshire
    Age
    53
    Posts
    2,450

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Heaven forfend, dear boy, heaven forfend. You've not met my wife, have you? Her ideal Christmas lighting scenario would look a lot like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
    And she's married to a DJ???? Surely she's aware that these days less is more

  7. #7
    deltic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    cumbria
    Age
    60
    Posts
    2,194

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    And the results for the uplighting trial are in.
    She Who Must Be Obeyed scored it nil points.

    In all honesty, partly due to the spread of the tree, it was just too understated.
    Ah well, back to the drawing board.
    Perhaps a call to a certain Cumbrian retailer May reap dividends,the nice chap may just have a small stock of white rope lights.....
    www.mobiledjcumbria.co.uk

    N.A.D.J Member

    North East & Cumbria branch Founder member

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Durham, Co Durham
    Posts
    3,157

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    This could possibly go in the technical section, but it's not disco related, so this will do.

    We have a small tree in the garden, which we light each year. It's a really awkward flowering cherry, and threading the standard strings of lights through it each year is a real struggle, as they snag everywhere on twigs. So, I'm looking at rope lights, as they will be sooo much easier to install.

    The simple question is this- filament or LED? Which lasts longer, and is more resistant to handling?
    Filament are significantly cheaper, but if they only last half as long, it's not a saving.
    Filament lamps always look better than LED IMHO, so would win if they're cheaper regardless.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Winchester
    Posts
    231

    Default

    I'm going to chip in, as someone who does a lot of outdoor lighting (Google 'Powis Castle Illuminated Garden' for an example...).

    I can understand your wife's requirement for a bit of Christmas bling and let's face it we're all quite fond of over the top Christmas lights and a bit of naffness, even if we won't admit it in public. So yes, if you've used fairly lights previously you're unlikely to be able to get away with being lazy and just trying to use a flood on it.

    To attempt to answer your original question, I'd suggest going for LED rather than filament. Of course it depends on the type as to how long they'll last etc, but generally I'd expect the LED ones to last longer, use less power and not get warm. I've only got 4 x 45m lengths of rope light (2 of which have never been used but 2 have done a reasonable number of jobs over the last 7 years of so and are still going fine). As regards to the look, from more than about 50cm away they look the same, just depending on what colour LEDs you get (you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between warm white LEDs and filament lamps).

    However, be wary that rope light is significantly heavier than fairy lights, so you'll probably need to get it further into the tree rather than hanging it on the ends of the twigs.

    Those RGB LED floods you linked to (or any number of vaguely similar ones) really aren't very bright and have a very wide beam spread so don't throw the light very far at all. They actually work quite nicely for some small bushes with a wide spread, such as grasses etc but certainly don't bother trying to light anything with much foliage on with them.

    I've learnt that lighting plants really is quite an art and even now I can have a reasonable guess in daylight but I always need to do a lot of the work at night and quite a lot is still trial and error. A small change in the position or angle of a light can make a big difference.

    Always worth looking at more than one light source, so maybe a coloured flood of some form combined with fairy lights, or 2 different colours from different directions etc.
    Last edited by stormproductions; 06-12-2016 at 11:36 AM.

  10. #10
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,833

    Default

    Thank you one and all for your advice, much appreciated, and all well reasoned points.
    For various reasons I've just ordered a filament one, mainly because it flashes/ twinkles/chases, and is cheaper. As long as it does this year that will do.
    After that we'll reappraise the situation.
    The tree will definitely support it, no question, but definitely a point to consider. I'll keep you posted.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •