Solar Christmas Lights
Solar Christmas Lights: What’s the Big Deal?
In my search for garden accessories I have run across many sites selling solar Christmas lights. My curiosity was quite piqued so I decided to investigate.
My search was begun at a local ‘linen’ store where I found some solar Christmas lights on sale. Believe me these were weird looking little things seemed to be quite expensive to my practiced shopping eye. Why on earth would you pay $19.95 for a string of only 60 lights (and on sale no less)? Regular Christmas lights on clearance after the holidays can often be purchased for two to three dollars for a string of 100 or for the 200 string icicle sets.
And let’s get real, the electric power that the standard Christmas light string uses is pretty negligible. Most people don’t realize that a standard string of 100 lights runs on about 1 watt of power. Got a 60 watt bulb in your lamp or bathroom fixture? Ah….now you get the idea, sixty strings of 100 lights would cost you about the same as that light bulb. I hope you are laughing along with me at all of the adds out there touting how much money you are going to save by getting this type of fancy solar Christmas light.
So why buy them? Because they will save you the one thing you need the most during the holiday season: TIME. Oh you will still have to hang from your toes from a ladder to get them on the roof line or up in that tree in the front yard. And you will still have to figure out how to carefully attach them around a door frame without tearing up the frame or stapling through the wires. But what you won’t have to do is run miles of extension cords and find an outlet (or set of outlets) that will be easy to plug into and not cause a fire. Oh, and find a way to run those cords where they are not visible or could be tripped over. You also won’t have to remember to turn them on and off as most sets will come on by themselves at dusk and shut off at dawn.
But I saved the best reason for last: creativity. Because you don’t have to run the pesky extension cords you could put lights anywhere! How about down each side of your driveway for a Santa runway? Decorate your mailbox for the holidays, we all know that this is the time of year when even the most reluctant put pen to paper and use the post office to communicate our best wishes. Put a holiday tree in your front yard or as Jewish friend of mine did, create a menorah on the front of your house, lighting the candles each night, it’s easy when you use solar power.
There are also some fun solar decorations available. One of my favorites is a string of over-sized snowflakes that can be hung in a tree or in front of windows. Another good one is the solar door wreath. I am sure some of you have seen the lighted door wreaths but in the past the majority of these were run on batteries. Solar models and seperate light strings designed to be used with wreaths are now available so you don’t have to worry about getting batteries (or remembering to change them out when your neighbor notes that your wreath isn’t lit any more). I also noted on one web site that sold solar lighted reindeers and sleighs, snowmen, carolers and giant Christmas ornaments for trees. Another beautiful solar christmas light was a giant star to represent the one the wise men saw to start their journey.
I hope I have encouraged you to check out some of the great solar Christmas light products available and to stretch your imagination while enjoying your holidays. (And of course save yourself a little time and grief while doing it!)
Stay tuned for discussions about the types of solar Christmas lights and what will work best for you…
