Mini Christmas Lights

Mini Lights are arguably the most common of Christmas lights available on the market today. Theres a handful of names for them (twinkle lights, fairy lights, miniature lights, tree lights, the list goes on) and year after year regardless of the popularity of LED Christmas lights, Mini Christmas Lights always come out on top.

We do get questions about these lights on a fairly regular basis.

How Many Sets Can I Plug Together?
The rule we go by is 3 sets, or no more than 300 bulbs. Typically 300 mini light bulbs is about 1 amp (or 110 watts) and you're best not to exceed that in one continuous run of lights, if you do then you run the risk of two things blowing fuses or blowing bulbs. Neither of those two make for a good decorating project, so we suggest making custom light power strips (click here to learn how!). This rule of 3 (or 300) is good for any style of mini light product; strings, icicles, curtains, nets, the list goes on.

Can I clip the plug off of the end if I don't need it?
WE NEVER RECOMMEND CUSTOMIZING A LIGHT STRING! This is a question you always have to answer carefully, because if a set has JUST TWO (2) wires going into the female plug, yes you can so long tape each wire off separately. If your set has more than two (2) wires then no, you shouldn't clip the plug off. PLEASE NOTE, we never recommend doing this because you're putting yourself at risk, and we of course will not be held accountable for any warranty or replacement for a customized string. So if you can get by without clipping the end plug, please do so. Or look at our No End Connector (NEC) sets as an alternative.

What does "End Connector" mean?
This is probably the second most common question we get and the answer is quite simple, think of the "Beginning" of a string as the plug that goes into the Wall, the male plug. The "End" of the string is the opposite end of the string were there is (or isn't) a female plug. The majority of 50 to 100 bulb count light strings have a end connector so you can connect sets "End to End". Our most popular Mini light strings have to be our "No End Connector" sets, these sets only have the male plug at the beginning of the string and end with a bulb instead of a female plug. NEC (no end connector) sets are perfect for crafts and decorating where you don't need and/or want that plug at the end of a string.

If one bulb burns out, do the rest stay lit?
Yes, almost all of the sets in production now come with a shunt. A shunt keeps the power flowing through the bulb even if the filament is burnt out or broken. All of our mini lights have this feature, and we hope that those old days of burnt bulbs killing strings are a thing of the past. Now remember, if a bulb is loose or twisted it WILL cause the string to not light, regardless of the filaments condition.

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.

Christmas Lights.org

A new site we've been working on for a while is finally up and running. What we plan on doing with this site is to provide as much general (and technical) information on products as possible. Building a sort of Online Christmas Light information database, helping the general public get a better knowledge of how LED Christmas Lights work, or how many Mini lights you can string together. Be sure to check it out!

Christmas Lights.org

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Zach

New Battery Powered Christmas Lights

We've been slowly, but surely, expanding our selection of battery powered LED Christmas lights sets to have one of the largest LED battery powered sets online. The old Battery powered Christmas light strings were something of a novelty, they were usually a very poor construction, had dim bulbs, used large "C" size batteries, and the battery life on some sets were less than 6 hours. So, you get a relatively inexpensive set of lights that runs on some of the more expensive batteries that you've got to replace after just a few uses, is that really shopping smart?

Enter LED Battery Powered sets, these sets come in a variety of bulb styles (Concave, M5 and Short M5) and really ramp up the quality compared to those old incandescent bulb sets. These sets use the more common "AA" batteries and can be run for 20+ hours before they've started to dim (and even then, they are still lit). Sets start around 13 dollars, and while that is higher than even a normal set of mini lights all the benefits of the leds will really add to the value of these sets.

These sets come in all your standard LED Colors; Pure white, Warm White, Multi Color, Red, Blue, Green, etc... And some colors come with a White Wire option.

Battery Powered LED stringers look great for Weddings, Parties, Proms, or anything other special occasion. Not only are they great for the above mentioned lighting applications but they are awesome for craft projects. So many people are doing the Glass Block and Glass Bottle light craft projects and these sets are PERFECT for this type of craft. LEDs generate no heat, the batteries allow you put the craft practically anywhere, and the bulbs wont come loose and rarely , if ever, burn out.

Click here to check out all of our Battery Christmas Lights

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Zach

The Benefits of Timers.

Timers are a great way to control your holiday home lighting. By setting up times for your lights to burn you'll use less energy and cut back on those high electricity bills and extend the life of your Christmas Light sets. Timers range in style from the simple analog to programmable digital models. The number of outlets also will vary between models, from one to six.

Timers let you set your light displays up to only turn on when the sun is going down. Simply set the time when you want your sets to come on and when you want them to turn off. Let's say you want your sets to come on at 8 o'clock am and off at 2 o'clock pm just set the "ON" setting to 8pm and the "OFF" setting to 2 am. With our analog style timers you can do this for a couple times a day. Our digital timers however allow you to do multiple timed events for individual days. Our heavy duty digital timer have 14 on and off settings per day, so that's a total of 98 settings per week, that's a lot of control. They are easy to use and program and normally retail for under 40 dollars.

These are a easy and relatively inexpensive way to keep on top of controlling the burn time of your lights. Unless you want to plug them up and control them yourself throughout the day, invest in a timer and take the hassle out of plugging all your lights up at night!

Click here to see our timer section!

Chasing Lighting Controllers.

Since we started our site we've always tried to give customers the most affordable ways to control their lights at an affordable price. We work with one of the best lighting controller manufacturer in the country to bring reliable and functional Christmas light controllers to everyone.

Our Chasing controllers come in a variety of options. We have a preset controllers (shown on the left), on these controllers you simply plug your lights in and set a chase speed. These controllers come in 2, 3, and 4 circuit options with either a metal or plastic enclosure. To operate these sets you plug in your lights, power up the box, and use the small speed dial to set the speed at which you want your outlets. We've handled these for years and I can't think of a single instance of one of these being faulty from the factory, they are a quality Made in the USA controller that will last year after year.




We also have a programmable controller that allows you to create your own chasing pattern. These controllers are typically larger and more expensive but you can create much more elaborate chasing sequences. These controllers are used to animated larger displays, lets say you want to make a snow ball fight for two light displays, these controllers will do just that. They work by either changing some wire jumpers or setting positions on Dip switches. By adjusting these connections you can get the lighting show perfect for your Christmas or any display. These controller have the ability to power 3 to 10 different outlets and the higher number of outlets the more options you have for different lighting effects. These controllers are also Made in the USA.