Brighten Things Up: Exploring Christmas Light Styles, and Options

This article could be considered a Buyer's Guide for Christmas lights, but we've opted to talk about your options at a high level and include it as a DIY guide - think of it as 'Christmas Lights 101' - for getting you ready to plan your project. It is an excerpt from the book "Twinkle! The Ultimate Guide to Outdoor Christmas Decorating," written by our Head Elf, Darren Vader and (c) 2024, North Pole Press.

When you walk into a store asking for Christmas lights, but you have no idea what kind you want - or maybe you don’t even know that there’s more than one style, shape, or type - the store employees know you’re a rookie. That’s by no means a bad thing because everybody has to start somewhere, but it’s a big reason why you definitely need to keep this guide handy. When diving into the world of Christmas lights, prepare yourself for a wild ride. The sheer variety can make you feel like you've stumbled into the Jawa sandcrawler from “Star Wars.” Seriously, who knew there were this many choices? It's like Christmas decided to throw a rave and invited every bulb in the galaxy. So, if you're scratching your head over names that sound like intergalactic party favors, you're not alone. In this chapter, I’m going to name the lights, along with their strengths (and weaknesses), to get you up to speed.

One note before we start any of it is that no matter what you settle on, make sure that your lights are rated for outdoor use. There are a lot of beautiful options out there that count on the comfort of the home and having a roof over their heads. If you use the wrong type, you’re going to find yourself in the dark and swiftly out of money when the first raindrops or cold spell short-circuit all your hard work.

LED? Or Incandescent?

Let’s start at the top of the list - with the battle between LED and Incandescent Christmas lights. Incandescent lights are usually going to be more affordable, and considering that some displays have thousands upon thousands of lights, that can be a very appealing choice to make. But they’re cheaper for a reason. First of all, they consume more energy, which will bite you on the back end, especially if you want to be the person who leaves the lights on all night for those hardcore fans who swing by at 2 a.m. when the crowds have died down outside your epic display.

LED lights are going to cost more upfront, but that’s because the quality is improved. They use less energy, they operate at a lower temperature, and they last longer - with some rated up to 100,000 hours - the equivalent of 4,167 days, or about 11-½ years. There are numerous types of LED bulb types to be aware of, including the 5MM conical, the G12, also known as the raspberry, the M5 mini light, and the C6, more commonly known as the strawberry. LED lights are also available in a lot more color options and motion styles than incandescent lights. For example, check out the SuperSpark, DreamSpark, and ColorSplash lines at The Christmas Light Emporium.

Beyond that big distinction, we can break our categories down even further.

Mini String Lights

A long-time favorite, these have small bulbs and are a timeless classic. This term is sometimes used interchangeably to reference LED strings (chiefly 5mm or M5 style LED strings due to their similarity in size and shape to traditional incandescent light strings) and traditional incandescent string lights. It is most commonly a reference to incandescent light strings.

LED Light Strings

There is a huge variety of shapes and styles of LED string lights available. But the most common are the four standard shapes and sizes of 5mm, M5, G12, and C6 – plus two larger bulb styles, C7 and C9, that are available in pre-lamped string form and also available as screw-in bulbs. The main difference between the various styles of LED string lights is the size and shape of the lens and how they disperse light.

When it comes to decking the halls with LED Christmas light strings, choosing the right style can feel like deciding whether to give a cat a bath—equally confusing and fraught with potential peril. Let’s break it down:

5mm Light Strings These little guys are the stealth ninjas of the Christmas light world. Small and bright, the 5mm LED lights pack a serious punch in terms of lumens per inch. They are also sometimes called “wide angle” or “concave” because of the small divot in the top of the lens that helps make these bad boys the single brightest point of light available in a Christmas light string. They’re fantastic if you want to add a brilliant sparkle to your display without overwhelming the senses. Plus, their compact size means you can string ‘em in tight spaces or even hide them in that shrubbery your landlord swears is "just a little overgrown." They are also easier to handle, install, take down, and store than some of the larger lens styles. Hence, this is the choice of most professional decorators.

M5 Light Strings Similar to the 5mm but with a longer and faceted lens that resembles a traditional mini light string, M5 lights give off a slightly softer glow. They’re like the friend who shows up to a party with snacks instead of drinks—a little more laid back. Some folks prefer M5 strings for decorating their Christmas tree because they are the LED string style that most closely resembles a traditional Christmas light string.

G12 Light Strings G12 lights are the chubby little ornaments of the bunch. With a round shape, they create a delightfully vintage vibe. Perfect for those who want to evoke a sense of nostalgia and warm fuzzies.

C6 Light Strings C6 lights are like the middle child of LED options—often overlooked but undoubtedly vital. They’re shaped like little strawberries (and sometimes referred to as such), giving them a charming flair. The benefits? They're great for those who want something eye-catching but not overly flashy. It’s another great choice for decorating your Christmas tree if you want a more traditional look.

LED C7 and C9 Light Strings (pre-lamped) Not to be confused with C7 and C9 screw-in bulbs, C7/C9 pre-lamped LED strings are usually the same size as their screw-in bulb counterparts but have some essential differences. The bulbs are generally not removable, they are usually not as bright as their screw-in bulb cousins, and the bases are the same size as all other pre-lamp LED string styles, so they don’t fit or work with standard Christmas light clips. I often call pre-lamped C7 and C9 LED strings “economy” style strings because they are much less expensive than their screw-in bulb version. While they make another excellent option for decorating your Christmas tree, some folks insist on using them to outline windows and rooflines. If you’re on a budget, that’s fine. But professional installers will never use pre-lamped C7 strings round windows or pre-lamped C9 strings along a roofline because they are impossible to install in a perfectly straight line, thereby losing that professionally installed look.

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Remember that the best light is the one that brings you joy (and maybe a little bit of eye-rolling from your neighbors).

C7 and C9 Screw-in Bulbs Available in various colors and lens finishes, these are the workhorses of outdoor Christmas decorating. They are commonly sold in sets of 25 individual bulbs that you screw into a matching stringer (a length of wire with sockets pre-installed down the line, a male plug on one end and a female plug on the other) that are purchased separately. The most popular lens finishes for these bulbs are the opaque lens – which looks a lot like the old-school painted bulbs, and the faceted lens – which offers a brighter dispersion of light and is the most popular modern option. At about 1.5 inches tall, C7 bulbs are commonly used for outlining doors and windows, and some people love them on their Christmas tree. At about 2.5 inches tall, C9 bulbs are widely used to outline rooflines. This is what you see in every neighborhood during the Christmas season – C9 bulbs outlining just about every roof you see lit up.

Net lights These are a great catch-all when you need some shrubbery or foliage lit, and you don’t want to go through the painstaking task of stringing them. You can gently ‘throw’ these lights like you’re going crabbing over the vegetation in question and arrange it so it fits on snugly and completely. They usually come in a 4ft x 6ft size ‘blanket,’ so they don’t work for every type of bush or shrub and sometimes take a little finagling to get them to fit your shrubs just right.

Icicle lights These are the much safer version of the chunk of icy death that almost kills Ralphie near the end of “A Christmas Story” when the movie-length prophecy that he’ll shoot his eye out if he gets an air rifle for Christmas nearly comes true. They are usually reasonably short in length of about 7ft and available in LED 5mm or M5 styles and a wide variety of colors. You can also find them in versions that twinkle or even slow fade for a more magical look.

Floodlights vs. Spotlights These might look the same on first blush, but they are far from it. The biggest differences are the angle of the beam and the width of it as well. Floodlights are designed to illuminate a large area. Say you’ve got the entire nativity scene going on, and you want to make sure everyone knows that the donkeys are in the barn, the wise men are making their way from the driveway, and the angel is on top of the manger; these are the way to go. They have a beam angle around 45 degrees and their beam of light is quite wide. By comparison, a spotlight has a lower angle (30 degrees) and casts a much narrower beam of light to focus on one solitary thing. To remember it better in your mind, the floodlights are when you’re showing the whole chorus on the stage during the school assembly, while the spotlight is when you ignore all the brats and just focus on your precious angel in the front row. They are available in various sizes, styles, shapes, and colors.

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Use flood lights to add that ‘pro’ look to your outdoor trees. Even if you wrap your trees with light strings, adding the same color flood light pointing from the ground and up into your tree will add a massive touch of elegance and really make them pop! You can also skip wrapping a tree with string lights altogether and just use flood lights to light them up!

Rope light Rope lights are a sturdier version of string lights, with the LED bulbs housed in a flexible, clear PVC tube. This is a great choice if you’re going to try making your lights follow paths and create non-traditional shapes, such as signs, swirls, and other motifs.

Special Effects Lighting Used in Christmas Displays You probably already know if you’re the kind of person who isn’t going to be happy with the same old, same old when it comes to Christmas lights. Like, when you see Santa on the roof in the sled, your immediate thought is - wouldn’t it be great if you could see real puffs of smoke coming out of his pipe? Or if instead of reindeer, he had an F-16 engine underneath the slay, and every 30 minutes or so it belched out a giant fireball? Yeah, I see you. Real recognizes real. If you’re aspiring for non-traditional lighting to stand out in the cul-de-sac, win the coveted “Best In” neighborhood award, or be picked up by a Russian spy satellite for your sheer energy output, here are a few terms to know:

Moving heads Moving head beams are like a miniature version of those giant spot lights you used to see in the sky indicating "something BIG must be happening over there!" or the Bat Signal the city of Gotham shines into the sky when they need Batman to come to the rescue. They are all about intensity with a concentrated beam of light that can highlight different areas of your display and create dramatic effects. Not to be confused with the Talking Heads, who created “Burning Down the House” – these bad boys have a family tree that stems out of the production lighting world and are easily the most dramatic (and most expensive by a long shot) type of lighting that extreme decorators incorporate into their displays.

Strobe lights Used by college kids doing drugs and bands in clubs, strobe lights are also great for simulating movement in your display. You can go with the traditional type or a string of them to add the effect over big parts of your display.

RGB lights The acronym stands for red, green, and blue, which sounds pretty limiting until you realize you can create more than 16 million hues from those three primary colors, resulting in literally any shade of anything you might need. If you go this route, be sure you know what you’re getting into. There are consumer-friendly RGB products available from the big box stores and online at The Christmas Light Emporium. But there are also extremely complex systems available that require all sorts of software and hardware to make them turn on, let alone change colors and create patterns.

Twinkle lights Trendy in the suburbs where HOA restrictions limit the big displays that make the holidays so memorable; these are very beautiful in their own way, especially when the whole street or whole neighborhood is similarly adorned. Usually, every 4th or 5th bulb on the string blinks on and off at random intervals.

Whether you're a first-time decorator or a seasoned pro looking to enhance your festive display, understanding the myriad of Christmas lighting options can transform your home into a seasonal masterpiece. From the energy-efficient LEDs to the nostalgic warmth of incandescent lights, the choices are as diverse as they are dazzling. Embrace the opportunity to mix and match styles, whether it's using twinkle lights for a serene ambiance or floodlights to spotlight your key décor pieces. Remember, the best lighting design is one that reflects your unique style and spirit, illuminating not just your home but also the hearts of all who see it. So go ahead, light up your world and make this Christmas truly magical.