By Maria Bargellini, holiday lighting designer for DFW Christmas Lights

Icicle drop lights are fairly new and have been used mostly for large commercial holiday lighting displays – until now. Icicle drop lights are designed to give off the appearance of falling snow by using the LED lights (diodes) in the tube to “drip” down the length of the tube repeated. They look great in trees or over your entryway, breezeway or any type of archway. The tubes come in a variety of lengths and combinations. For example, you can get a 5 tube strand in 10 or 20 inches, a mixed strand of  (3)-20 inch tubes and (2) 40″ tubes, or (5) 40 inch tubes. The best tree displays will use a mixture of these strands. Make sure to use the shorter icicle drop lights if you are using them in an area where there is pedestrian or vehicle traffic. For a striking upgrade you can add colored light to the trunk of the tree like in the video below.

(The icicle lights are toward the end on the next video)

These LED Christmas lights may be more expensive than incandescent mini lights but you don’t need any where near as many mini lights as you would icicle drop lights, you definately wouldn’t use as much energy, and they surely don’t take as much labor to install or take up as much space in your storage room. So in terms of what the two different displays will cost – they should be about equal. Of course it will depend on the type and amount of mini lights you were using, it can in some cases be less or more expensive.

Icicle drop lights are also a great way to add movement to your holiday lighting display without making it look to busy or like the Griswalds, not that there’s anything wrong with the kind of thing, if you’re into it. If  you would like more information or have questions about this product please feel free to write or call us at 214-257-8813.

Icicle Drop Light Pros

You can add up to 10 sets together

Use less Storage space

Use less energy

Less effort to install

Low profile disappears during the day

Not your grandmas Christmas Lights

Icicle Light Cons

More expensive than other lighting options

Only comes in the pure white color

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DFW Christmas Lights, The Outdoor Lighting Expert, and Lawn Sprinklers Dallas are sites owned and operated by Dallas Curb Appeal Inc.

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This home has all 4 sides decorated with warm white LED C9 bulbs. It also has red berry, “Razzleberry” LED mini lights on the shrubs and “Ice Drop”  tube lights on the tree, entry way and breezeway. It’s on the Highland Park carriage trail and it is a must see this holiday season.

DFW Christmas Lights and The Outdoor Lighting Expert are owned and operated by Dallas Curb Appeal Inc.

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By Maria Bargellini of DFW Christmas Lights

For Part I of this article please click here.

Ready to put up your lights—Stop! There are a few thing to do first. Read on for some more FYI.

#3 Test your lights

• Roll out and connect your lights sets.
• Turn sets off to make any repairs or replacements.
• Replace any burned out bulbs or fuses while you’re on the ground when it’s convenient.
• Keep a look out for bulbs that are very very bright. This is a sign that they will soon go out. Better safe than sorry.
• Do not–I repeat, DO NOT install the lights while they are on. They will burn out a lot faster by being shaken and moved when they are hot.

#4 Hang your lights

OK now for the hard stuff. So you got your ladder and your spotter–hopefully it’s someone who loves you and will do more than just laugh at you as you plummet to the earth. Most homes will have either shingles or gutters. For this there’s the wonderful All-in-One clip. This is a universal clip that you can use to attach the lights to both your gutters and your shingles. If you are adding lights to your fascia or any painted surface you will probably need to use staples. Here’s a few tips.

• Use gloves. I don’t care where you get your lights from–they all contain lead. Wear your gloves and for the love of God do not put any material in your mouth or allow your kiddies to munch on wire and such.
• Wear an apron to hold tools and material–not your grilling one–as it is too long. You want to make sure your legs are not impeded
• Take extra material like clips, glue, tape, staples etc. in your apron. You don’t want to spend all day up and down a ladder–the Cowboys might be actually winning later.
• Buy staples that are rounded as they will do better to protect the wire
• DO NOT staple the wire! This makes it really hard to trouble shoot. Make sure the wire is clear.
• Yes glue will peel the paint off and yes your spouse will notice.

#4 Go Green

• Recycle old lights
• Change to lower wattage bulbs: Most bulbs are 7 watts but there are 5 watts available also
• Upgrade to LED lights. With the colors available out on the market coupled with the energy saving you’d be hard pressed to find a reason why you shouldn’t.
• Live on the wild side and add a little color.

The information contained in this article has been created for informational purposes only as  a general guide. Consult a professional for your specific needs.

DFW Christmas Lights and The Outdoor Lighting Expert are owned and operated by Dallas Curb Appeal Inc. , a fulls service landscape contractor.

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Don’t let this be you this Holiday Season

If you want to take out the guess work and Hassle out of the Holidays have your Christmas lights professionally installed by DFW Christmas Lights.

DFW Christmas Lights and The Outdoor Lighting Expert is owned and operated by Dallas Curb Appeal Inc.

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Unfortunately Holiday Lighting comes with a bit of maintenance. There’s bulbs, fuses and sometimes even wires to be replaced. If you have light sets from different manufactures it’s important that you keep the extras that come in the packaging labeled so that you don’t mix the bulbs as they do not all burn at the same amperage and are not to be used with other sets. Say you have a set that uses .01amp bulbs and you replace it with a .3 amp bulb. This will cause your set to eventually malfunction.

How to Replacement a Bulb

1. Hold the plug and remove it from the receptacle or other outlet device. Do not pull on the cord.
2. Pinch the grooves on the sides of the socket. Gently pull the lamp base upwards. Some can be tight and you may need a tool like a needle nose plier. Don’t squeeze too hard.
3. Align the grooves in the base of the replacement lamp with the grooves in the socket.
4. Gently push the lamp into the socket until you hear a snap.
5. Replace the lamp only with a matching lamp from the set. Try to keep your extras labeled to avoid confusion in later years.
6. In case the lamp base of new replacement lamp does not fit lamp holder:
   • Remove the lamp from its base by straightening the wires and pulling the lamp out of the base.
   • Insert the new lamp into the base by fitting wires thought the two holes in the bottom of the base and then bending the wires up onto the sides of the base.
   • Insert the completed lamp/base unit into lamp holder.

Fuse Replacement

1. Hold the plug and remove it from the receptacle or other outlet device. Don’t pull on the cord.
2. Open the fuse cover. Slide the open panel located on the top of the attachment plug towards the blades to expose the two fuses.
3. Remove the fuse carefully by turning the attachment plug over.
4. To avoid the risk of fire, replace the fuse only with the correct amperage replacement fuse (check packaging).
5. Close the fuse cover by sliding the panel on top of the attachment plug.

Disclaimer

Please note: This information is just a general guideline to assist you in your project. With any electrical product or situation there is a risk of electrical shock. DFW Christmas Lights and it’s parent company, Dallas Curb Appeal accepts no liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided, unless that information is subsequently confirmed in writing. Any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company-Risk of fire. Do not replace attachment plug. Contains a safety device (fuse) that should not be removed. Discard product if the attachment plug is damaged.

DFW Christmas Lights and The Outdoor Lighting Expert are owned and operated by Dallas Curb Appeal.

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