ChristmasLights
Latest
The best Christmas lights
By Doug Mahoney and Thom Dunn This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to christmas lights. Christmas lights bring a unique glimmering warmth to your holiday season—or your backyard, your favorite dive bar, or really anywhere else, for that matter. After more than 100 hours of researching, interviewing experts, and testing more than 25 different string light sets since 2014, we believe GE's Energy Smart Colorite LED Miniature Lights (available in strands of 100 bulbs in multicolor or warm white) offer a combination of light quality, color accuracy, and wide availability that has been unmatched among competitors since we began recommending GE's Colorites five years ago. Like all LED models, the GE Colorite lights are safer, more durable, and longer lasting than traditional incandescent lights, and they barely draw any electricity at all. Among the LEDs we looked at, we found that the GE Colorites' hues of warm white and especially multicolor closely matched those of traditional incandescents. They also have a tidy wire that doesn't curl or twist, simplifying the task of draping them through a tree or storing them in the off-season. The bulbs should last for at least 10 holiday seasons, and you can replace individual bulbs if they go out (or you can just leave those; the rest of the strand will stay lit). Although you can use the Colorites outdoors, we think they're best for indoor use, since the bulbs aren't completely watertight. Overall, these lights offer better benefits and have fewer drawbacks than any other indoor lights we tested. The GE lights have sold out quickly the past few years, so if that happens again, we recommend the Christmas Designers T5 Smooth LED Christmas Lights (available in warm white, multicolor, or solid color). In our tests the multicolor lights looked as good as the GEs, while the warm white lights had a cooler tone that was a little further from the coziness of an incandescent. For outdoor use, we recommend the Christmas Lights Etc Kringle Traditions Wide-Angle 5mm Outdoor LED Christmas Tree Lights, available in white, multicolor, or single color in a variety of lengths and bulb spacings. These lights offer all of the benefits of LEDs as well as a design that makes each bulb impervious to moisture for weeks in the snowy, sleety, rainy outdoors—we confirmed that by leaving a lit set submerged in a water-filled bucket all day. We liked the warmth of the color, the bright light output, and the manageable wires. Due to the unusual design of the wide-angle bulb, the brightness of each changes dramatically depending on where you're standing, giving the lights texture and depth when they're draped over a tree or twisting around a porch post. Because they're likely to be exposed to harsh exterior conditions, these lights have a shorter lifespan than indoor LEDs, but you can still expect six or seven seasons out of them. The only major drawback is that they're a bit too bright for indoor use. Pro lighting designers and other experts have consistently named this particular type of bulb as the ideal choice for outdoor holiday-lighting displays. If the Christmas Lights Etc lights aren't available, Christmas Designers makes a similar string light that's just as good but a little less bright. Last, if you're not ready to give up the unique warm twinkle of incandescents for an indoor tree, Christmas Lights Etc's Clear Christmas Tree Mini Lights are our favorites. These mini-light sets emit the warmest overall light, and like our other picks, they have an easy-handling wire. They also cost less than an LED strand, but they're not as durable, they're less efficient, and they won't last as long—you can expect 2,000 to 3,000 hours of use, versus an average life of 20,000 hours for our pick. That's just the bulb life, too, not even taking into account how fragile and easily breakable an incandescent filament is. If you can't decide between white or multicolor lights, the GE Color Choice Multi or Warm White Multi Function LEDs offer the best of both worlds. A small control box near the plug lets you choose white, multicolor, or both, in a variety of flashing and steady lighting options. The colors aren't as good as what you get with a dedicated white or multicolor string light set, though; the white in particular is more neutral and bland than warm, and the green is somewhat lime-like. But we think that's a fair trade-off for their flexible usage. One thing to keep in mind: Although the lights themselves are generally safe for outdoor use, the control box can malfunction in the wrong conditions, so try to plug it in somewhere that's safe and dry.
IFTTT Recipes: Using Siri to turn on the Christmas lights
IFTTT Recipes is a new recurring column featuring recipes developed using IFTTT.com and their favorite IFTTT channels. Come see what TUAW bloggers cook up in the IFTTT labs! In this latest installment of IFTTT Recipes, I'll show you how to use Siri to turn on your Christmas lights -- and amaze the little ones at the same time. To perform this magic trick, you'll need a free IFTTT account, a Belkin WeMo Switch (US$49.95 from the Apple Store), the ability to send SMS text messages and a Siri-capable iPhone. First, log into IFTTT and enable the SMS channel. When you do this, IFTTT will set you up with a special SMS phone number. If you send a text message to that number from your iPhone, that can trigger an action. Next, set up a contact on your iPhone. To add fun to the effect, I set up a contact for Santa Claus, entering in his mobile number as the SMS phone number from IFTTT. Now make sure that your WeMo switch is plugged in and ready to go, and that you've enabled the WeMo channel on IFTTT. The WeMo switch is designed to handle a maximum of 15 Amps at 110 Volts. My vague recollection of a university electrical circuits class reminds me that P=I*V, where P=power, I=current and V=Voltage, so you'll want to make sure that all of your bulbs (indoor or out) don't require more than 1.65 kilowatts of power. Otherwise, you may need to set up multiple WeMo switches... In IFTTT, it's time to set up a recipe. I've blurred out the phone numbers, but you'll see it's as easy as this: if IFTTT's SMS account receives an SMS from your chosen iPhone, then it will turn on the WeMo Switch. In this case, my device's name is Living Room Lamp, but it's actually hooked up to the Christmas tree. Finally, gather kith and kin around you while drinking wassail and singing carols, and invoke Siri. Say "Send a message to Santa Claus saying turn on the Christmas lights", acknowledge that Siri understood the message, and let the recipe work its magic. Within about 10 to 15 seconds, the tree or your outside lights will pop on.
Christmas lights hack puts your IM contacts on the wall above your desk (video)
As you well know, if it exists it can be hacked. And what better way to ring in the holidays than by taking a string of GE Color Effects G-35 lights and -- thanks to some hand-crafted drivers and a Microsoft .NET Micro Framework embedded controller -- turning it into a IM notifier? Of course, these aren't any old Christmas lights: between the ability to change colors and the preset light shows, these guys boast a feature set that Clark Griswold would die for. And that's where a Microsoft employee named Andrej Kyselica comes in: using the Microsoft Lync 2010 Office Communications Server, our man has rigged a system that allows him to assign each of his instant messenger contacts to a particular bulb, which changes color according to each contact's status (for instance, green indicates that someone's available, white means away, and purple means out of the office). Pretty sweet, eh? Check out the video after the break for a closer look.
Christmas lights synced with Guitar Hero axe
While we already knew Sony's mysterious Rolly got down to holiday tunes, this installation managed to capture our attention just a wee bit more. Rivaled only by the famed TSO project from 2005, this guitar-controlled setup transforms a traditional office into a holiday funhouse by enabling rockers to control the light patterns within the building. Open source software, dubbed Frets on Fire, was modified to generate controls for dozens of light strings around the cubicles, with the corner plant being used to "keep the beat" and the trash can fittingly being lit only when someone missed a note. Click on through to catch this madness in action -- and yeah, it's pretty evident the boss left weeks ago to enjoy the rest of '07 from afar.
