As you’re gearing up for the holidays, one of the decisions you have to make is related to your Christmas lights. Is it time to replace them? Or will they last another year? If you’re starting to shop around for new Christmas lights, you may have seen some of the newer, LED options that are available on the market.

LED Christmas lights are very appealing, with options claiming that they’ll last longer, or that they’ll save you money on your energy bills. While these claims are true, and LED Christmas lights have come a long way, there are still some common mistakes that people make when buying their LED Christmas lights. Check out what not to do if you’re ready to buy some new lights this year!

Buy From Big Box Retailers

When you buy LED Christmas lights from a large retailer, you’re buying the worst version of the product, unfortunately. This can be a real bummer, especially since they offer the cheapest prices on LED Christmas lights. However, you get what you pay for, and when you buy cheap, your lights are going to be cheap. Often, they’re not going to last more than a season or two, at best. Spend a little more, and buy higher quality lights.

Avoiding White LED Lights

For some reason, people have this strange belief that pure white LED lights aren’t actually white. That you’ll end up with lights that have a blue hue. This couldn’t be further from the truth with modern LED Christmas lights. In the past, LED lights did have a slightly blue tinge. However, modern pure white LED Christmas lights are crisp, and are fully white. The mistakes were corrected years ago. If you’re buying pure white lights, you’ll be getting pure white lights. Don’t let the LED bulbs of the past deter you.

Buy Without Measuring

If you’re buying new sets of lights, don’t do so without measuring the surfaces you plan on lighting. If you skip this step, you’re going to do one of two things.

First, it’s entirely possible that you won’t buy enough lights to cover your home. Estimating is fine, but when it comes down to it, an estimate is an educated guess. Base the number of lights that you buy on an estimate, not just a made up number.

Now, the other thing that may happen is over buying. If you don’t measure your surfaces, you could very well buy too many lights! When you’re buying high-quality Christmas lights, dollars can add up fast. You don’t want to blow your budget because you didn’t take the time to measure first.

Try LED Christmas Lights this Season!

If you’re going to go all out and put lights up for this holiday season, consider investing in some LED lights! They’re going to last longer, and they’ll cost less to run and maintain during the holidays. If you’re feeling really festive, contact a Christmas lights contractor! They’ll be able to help you pick the right lights, and help you get the job done so that you don’t have to.