Here’s Everything You Need to Know about Christmas Lights in our handy buying guide!
Christmas lights are the easiest way to inject a festive feel, excitement and a lil’ touch of glamour into your family home every yuletide season! A simple flick of the switch is all it takes to spark the spirit of Christmas and get the kids all excited.
It’s probably the first thing to consider and budget for if you’re considering investing in decorations for a new home or revamping an existing one.
Here’s what you need to know about buying Christmas Lights in Ireland below:
- Irish Origins of Christmas Lights
- Different Types of Decorative Christmas Lights
- Christmas Lights Colour Guide
- Installation Tips and Tricks
- Christmas Tree Lights Calculator
- Christmas Lights Safety Guide
- Christmas Lights Energy Efficiency Checklist
Irish Origins of Christmas Lights
The origins of Christmas lights in our part of the world go back to pagan times when the Yuletide festivities marked a mythological ‘birth of the sun’ and the growing light following the Winter solstice.
The burning of the Yule log and subsequent presence of candles were our way of welcoming back light into the world, thus beginning our historic love of Christmas lights!
Different Types of Decorative Christmas Lights
Understanding the different Christmas Light products and how they can be used will help you get the most out of your Christmas decorations.
Applying an alternative lighting solution to your home can achieve a different mood or aesthetic style. How will you mix and match the array of Festive lighting accessories on offer?
1. Fairy Lights and LED Fairy Lights
These classic Christmas lights are the most essential items you should invest in if you are starting to invest in Christmas decor. These will come in handy all year round for all sorts of events and parties, not just for Christmas!
Buying Tips for Fairy lights
- LED Fairy lights are similar to the original fairy lights but use less energy, last longer, and are more durable for outdoor use. They come in all colours and are great for indoor and outdoor use. They are also a more sustainable and safer choice of lights than incandescent bulbs.
- Fairy lights are tiny bulbs strung on a wire and come in various colours from warm white to bright white or multicoloured to suit your aesthetic or decor theme.
- Choose from various string lengths and configurations such as single string or cluster effect options.
- You can even get string lights with various settings for regulating the twinkling effect of your lights for a more mesmerizing and dynamic effect.
- Fairy lights can come be powered either by lug in options of battery powered for more portable and shorter string ranges
Decor Tip for Fairy Lights
- Wrapping around foliage like plants or a Christmas tree or draping over your structures like a mantelpiece or banisters.
- Double them up to create a really luxurious look of a ribbon of lights on your Christmas tree.
- Outdoor use will require longer lengths with better built-in weatherproofing. Use these outdoor lights when decorating your garden trees and topiary or external structures like pergolas and porticos.
Shopping for Fairy Lights
Enhance your home’s festive charm this Christmas with some of the most contemporary products on the market
Festive 1000 FireFly Christmas Tree Lights – This reputable range comes in various colours from single colour white, warm white to red/white and multicoloured combinations. These LED single string lights cast a cosy glow with a beautiful twinkling effect. How does it work? These stunning and unique fairy lights keep one light static while the other light creates the subtle but beautiful sparkle.
Festive 1000 Cluster Multi-Function Christmas Tree Lights – These 14.5m length fairy lights can be used for both indoor and outdoor locations with a variety of basic colour options. The cluster-effect Christmas lights come with 1000 multi-function lights. You can select from light settings such as Combined, Waves, Sequential, Slow-Glow, Chasing, Slow-Fade, Twinkle, or Static modes. These lights have the added bonus of a memory function, to remember the mode and setting between power cycles so there is no need to re-choose your favourite setting when powering on each day.
- Festive 600 White And Warm White FireFly Christmas Tree Lights – Next in the range is the 600 – piece option. You can get a similar range of colours from warm and bright white to combos and multicoloured options. The Lead length is 5m and lit length is 15.5m. It is suitable for indoor and outdoor use and deliver a beautiful effect by keeping one light static while the other light is twinkling.
- Festive 200 Battery Operated FireFly Christmas Tree Lights – These single string lights that cast a cosy glow in 2 various colour combos : Red/Warm White or White/Warm White with a beautiful twinkling effect. These fairy lights keep one light static whilst the other colour twinkles. They require 3 x AA batteries that are not included.
- Festive 50 LED Battery Operated Red Berry Multi-Function Lights – these shorter more portable length fairy lights are a perfect way to decorate smaller Christmas trees or to use on Christmas floristry across mantelpieces, shelves and more. A box of 50 LED multi-coloured, or single colour lights are a wonderful way to add to your Christmas decorations in occasional areas or centerpieces or even window displays. They require 2 x AA batteries that are not included.
1. Icicle Lights
Icicle lights mimic the shape of icicles in glass, perspex or plastic.
PERFECT FOR: hanging outdoors from the roof, portico or gutter to add a wintery wonderland feel to your home’s facade.
2. Net Lights
Net Lights are so-called because the bulbs are arranged and strung together in a grid or lattice-like arrangement.
PERFECT FOR: Laying over bushes or walls outdoors or indoors. You can quickly cover a large area with a blanket-like lighting installation. You could also suspend net lights over large windows or glass doors indoors to create a starry backdrop.
3. Rope Lights
Rope lights are so-called because the Light accessory is encased in a clear tube, giving the illusion of a continuous line of light.
PERFECT FOR: Outlining the perimeters of portals such as windows, doorways or Garage doors. You can also use them on the ground to mark out pathways, making this an excellent wayfinding device for darker areas.
4. Projector Lights
These lighting devices will project patterns or festive images onto the sides of any walled structure, such as the front or sides of your house.
PERFECT FOR: Creating a dramatic impact with minimal effort and generating a lot of decorative effects over a large area. For example, the illusion of cascading snowflakes. If you source interchangeable filters, different patterns can be chosen for different seasons, not just Christmas.
5. Battery-Operated Lights:
Battery-operated flights are an ideal solution for areas without easy access to a plug socket.
PERFECT FOR: Indoor locations such as wreaths, table centrepieces, mantel decorations or the hallway.
6. Novelty Lights
Novelty lights such as character-themed ornaments, tableaus, and other sculptural figurines are great fun. You can find shapes such as snowflakes, Santa and his sleigh, snowmen, candy canes, or reindeer!
These are perfect for adding a playful touch to your Christmas decor or thematic accents in different parts of your home, such as the hallway or landing.
Buying Tips for Novelty Lights
- Look out for battery operated lights if you need flexible placement options without the need for power cords – you will be able to decorate any space without hassle as a result
Shopping for Novelty Lights
Ready for some ideas? Here are some of our favourite Novelty Light options for the festive season:
40 x 60cm Battery Operated Gold Bow – this 40 x 60cm size decorative light makes a bold decorative statement. Add a grand statement to your holiday decor with this flexible battery-operated home accessory for easy portable, wire-free placement. The bow uses warm white LED lights for a more tasteful elegant glow. It delivers a shimmering gold focal point for doors, walls, or the top of your Christmas trees.
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