Hey...

Does anyone know of suppliers of the better-quality or even commercial grade Christmas light strings?

I'm looking for several 25' strings of 4"-spaced 5mm conical LED bulbs for a project, but it seems the big box retailers are focusing on the LED's that are more like their incandescent counterparts with lots of faceting and not very bright. North Pole City seems to be focusing more on interior trees and treatments and full exterior decoration projects rather than things like light sets and such.

I've visited Hobby Lobby, Target, Lowe's, and HD, and no one seems to have them. I"ve seen some online sources, and they're available there, so I may end up having to go that route, but I'd prefer to be able to plug them in and at least observe them before I plunk down the cash.

Thanks.

I don't know SoonerDave but you just put me in a bad mood by asking this!! haha (just kidding and bah humbug):p

You might try Christmas Direct in Auto Alley:

Christmas Direct OKC (http://www.christmasdirectokc.com/)

I talked to the guy at North Pole City (the outside place called Wholesale Lights). They have a $1000 minimum. Their lights are very nice and what I want but I don't want 1000 dollars worth of lights....

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I've used 1000bulbs.com for almost all my pump projects and found their commercial products VASTLY superior to local retail and even some specialty lighting stores here in town. They stock everything they list so deliveries come speedily. 3 days on my last order that included 350 incandescent bulbs, 333ft of 12 gauge 18" spaced c based strand, and this 100ft LED rope light that I'm a little afraid might be TOO bright. They also have live humans in the sales office that can help you get all the other things you'll need like plugs, hooks, mounting brackets, etc. I'm a fan.

At the heavy duty commercial level: expect to spend a lot more money on led. They screw into regular c, a, and b, bases like incandescent so they each have tiny circuit boards and often multiple diodes. In my opinion though, nothing looks as good as the old ceramic dipped incandescent. But the website I mentioned has everything so it's easy to compare. That led up there costs around 6 bucks where the 10,000 hour incandescent a I use are about $1.50. Those Edison shaped a base bulbs are the top tier though. The c9 LEDs run around $1.50 vs $0.25 each for incan.

My local go-to is star lighting and light bulb supply. But they don't keep such a massive inventory. So I don't always go expecting to walk out with what I came for.

Hope that helps!

I just geeked out on your project a bit. Seems like 4" is the industry standard only for mini lights. For candelabra or intermediate based c7 c9 stuff, it's 12". But I did see an option to buy bulk 18g wire and compression fit bases. So you could make a custom 4" spaced strand. I even saw some color changing bulbs that appear to cycle without a controller. Neat stuff!

1172711725
I've used 1000bulbs.com for almost all my pump projects and found their commercial products VASTLY superior to local retail and even some specialty lighting stores here in town. They stock everything they list so deliveries come speedily. 3 days on my last order that included 350 incandescent bulbs, 333ft of 12 gauge 18" spaced c based strand, and this 100ft LED rope light that I'm a little afraid might be TOO bright. They also have live humans in the sales office that can help you get all the other things you'll need like plugs, hooks, mounting brackets, etc. I'm a fan.

At the heavy duty commercial level: expect to spend a lot more money on led. They screw into regular c, a, and b, bases like incandescent so they each have tiny circuit boards and often multiple diodes. In my opinion though, nothing looks as good as the old ceramic dipped incandescent. But the website I mentioned has everything so it's easy to compare. That led up there costs around 6 bucks where the 10,000 hour incandescent a I use are about $1.50. Those Edison shaped a base bulbs are the top tier though. The c9 LEDs run around $1.50 vs $0.25 each for incan.

My local go-to is star lighting and light bulb supply. But they don't keep such a massive inventory. So I don't always go expecting to walk out with what I came for.

Hope that helps!

Ive wondered if 1000 bulbs was any good. I want LED frosted bulbs but I doesn't look like they carry them. I might just convince my wife to get the textured ones. She wants red and green C7s

+1 for 1000Bulbs.com. Used them extensively when I had retail stores, both for track fixtures and for bulbs. I also really like SuperbrightLEDs.com

I've bought lights from North Pole city on several different occasions , and never spent anywhere near 1000 bucks , maybe that's for custom orders or something.... Matter of fact you can order straight from their website.

Got my whole set up from 1000bulbs.com. In the end got exactly what I wanted for $75 bucks. Excited to decorate the house for the first time!

Great information here, which lights does Chesapeake use on their yearly decorations down 63rd?