The opportunity to decorate the house with colorful lights, not only inside but also outside, appeared relatively recently. For a long time, the use of light bulbs on the street was impossible due to difficult weather conditions: frost, rain, etc. But progress is not in place and today you can find street LED lights: cold-resistant, thermo and moisture resistant. Consider what opportunities provide such owners for street decorations.
How did the Christmas LED lights for the home
For the first time street Christmas lights appeared about 100 years ago in America. Of course, they did not immediately become widespread. But due to the fact that they were used to decorate the main Christmas tree of the country, it soon became much easier to buy a street garland. The first to support this trend was the stores, and then the owners of private houses.
In Russia, street lights appeared much later. First of all, this is due to the more severe climate and severe frosts, which are characteristic of the cold season. But today this problem has been solved and LED garlands for the house give everyone the opportunity to decorate their home. In addition, such devices are often used to decorate shop windows, advertising signs, banners, etc.
Using LED lamps as decoration has a number of advantages, which ensured the popularity of the garlands. The main ones are:
- in comparison with conventional incandescent bulbs, LEDs have a significantly longer operating life (usually 4-5 times longer);
- LED bulbs can boast a high level of brightness, as well as the purity of the glow;
- from the point of view of economy, they are more profitable than usual ones, so there is no need to worry about excessive energy overspending;
- A special plastic case is able to protect them from the effects of any environmental factors and moisture ingress;
- parallel connection of light bulbs allows the garland to continue to work, even if one of the elements fails, while for incandescent bulbs only a serial connection is used, which requires the indispensable serviceability of all components;
- There are many ways to decorate and diversify the LED garland. To do this, use special plastic nozzles of various shapes.
Helpful advice! Thanks to the different nozzles, you will be able to use the same garland over the years, while each time decorating the house and territory in different ways. For example, in one year, you can use the nozzles in the form of stars, in the other – hearts, etc.
As with any other product, LED street lights for trees are subject to a number of requirements (it is important to understand that only if your purchase meets all these parameters, you can count on its long and uninterrupted service):
- The first thing you should pay attention to is the quality of the plastic that was used to make the case. To distinguish quality material from poor quality is quite simple. If a cheap alternative was used in the manufacturing process, the case will not be able to withstand severe frost and will crack. Much better if the manufacturer used rubber or rubber instead of plastic. This will ensure not only the best functionality of the garland, but also a higher level of safety of its use;
Helpful advice! To ensure the frost resistance of the garlands for trees on the street, when buying devices, pay attention to the labeling. This criterion is denoted by the letters G and R.
- when it comes to decorating a large Christmas tree or the facade of a house, the question of the necessary length of the garland is acute. Standard sizes of devices vary in the range of 5-20 m. The most popular and convenient option is a street LED garland of 20 meters. With due diligence, you can find a device up to 50 m long. The easiest way to extend the garland if necessary is to use special connectors that allow you to connect several devices into a single chain;
- moisture protection level is another important selection criterion. Everything is quite simple here: in case the device does not have additional protection against directional water flow, this is indicated on the package with the letter N. For use in outdoor conditions, you should choose a garland on which this designation does not exist.
Another important point that you should definitely pay attention to is the stability of the voltage in the power grid. If it is not stable, even the most carefully selected garland may become faulty due to a sharp voltage drop. To completely eliminate the risk of burnout of light bulbs, it is best to use a special stabilizer, which will require additional costs.
LED garlands are divided into types according to two main parameters: the method of power and configuration.
By type of power devices are divided into:
- connected to the mains;
- autonomous power sources – it can be a cold-resistant outdoor LED garland on batteries or solar powered.
The advantage of the second type is the absence of the need to look for a nearby outlet. In this case, the use of solar cells as a power source is considered more convenient, as well as an environmentally friendly way. Thus, the outdoor garland on solar batteries accumulates the energy received during the light day, and then gradually spends it on the operation of the LEDs.
Helpful advice! LED garlands on batteries are very convenient if you want to decorate an object that is remote from the outlet. But do not forget that the power consumption of such devices, as a rule, is not too large. Therefore, if you still decide to buy a LED garland on batteries, make sure that there are several sets of batteries in stock.
Another way of separating street lights is their form. Depending on the configuration, they can be used for different purposes and in different conditions:
- universal garlands – the simplest and most familiar option, which provides for the alternate arrangement of light bulbs on a flexible wire. With all its apparent primitiveness, with the help of such a device you can decorate almost anything, giving the garland any shape. You can purchase both single-color and multi-color universal garland with one or several modes of operation;
- LED festoon-curtain on the window (or, as it is also called, LED festoon-curtain) is a cable located horizontally, with hanging threads on which LED bulbs are attached. Depending on the length of the filaments, and it can vary from 1.5 to 9 m, such curtains can be used both for the decoration of window openings and for entire facades. You can often see that they are mounted on the eaves or visors. These garlands got their name due to the ability to control the flow of electricity supplied to the LEDs, which allows you to create the effect of dripping or flowing water;
- devices in the form of icicles or fringe – it makes sense to buy a street garland of this type if you want to decorate the peak or the eaves of the house in an original way. The principle of its operation is similar to the previous type of devices, but the number of bulbs in the threads of the fringe can vary. As a rule, the length of one thread does not exceed 1 m, but they all differ from each other in length. With the help of the controller, as well as the grouping of the LEDs in bunches by color, the effect of running shine is created;
- LED garland-grid is a more complex system, which is a set of wires, in the junction of which the LEDs are fixed. This grid is designed to decorate the entire facade, openings, as well as areas for recreation. Using special connectors, the individual elements can be combined into a one-piece design of almost any size. The only difficulty that may arise and which must be taken into account is that the wires themselves are rather fragile and easily subject to mechanical damage. Therefore, this grid should not be used when it comes to decorating trees.
Rope light is a special type of garland, which is a tube inside which the LEDs are located. Depending on the type of garland, the distance between the luminous elements can be from 12 to 27 mm. In this case, you can buy a multicolored street garland of duralight or pick up a monochrome model.
Depending on the type of cord used to connect the LEDs, the strings can be round or flat. With the help of duralight it is convenient to create various luminous figures, inscriptions, as well as to draw out with their help facades, showcases or advertising signs.
In a separate category can be distinguished garlands, which in appearance resemble melting icicles. They are made on the basis of the same duralight, but thanks to the controller, the LEDs located in the hanging threads gradually go out. Thus, it seems that the surface gradually decreases. Depending on the model, one garland can have from 5 to 10 such icicles, the distance between which is from 10 to 50 cm.
Due to the unusual effects that can create duralight, this type of garlands is gaining wide popularity when it comes to the design of sites designed for recreation, verandas, as well as the facades of houses and eaves.
Each of us saw that the flickering lights of LED garlands, located both on the street and in homes, can be of great variety. Each mode has certain names, and all models of the chains are pre-programmed for one or another combination.
Main names and descriptions of modes:
- fixing (fixing) – a mode of a static luminescence of diodes without any additional effects;
- chasing (chasing) – the gradual ignition, alternating with slow attenuation of LEDs. Thanks to the smoothness of this process, it is used to create effects such as overflows, as well as light waterfalls;
- flash (flicker) – in this mode, every 5th or 7th LED in the festoon flashes;
- chameleon (chameleon) – constant intensive change of colors of LEDs;
- multichasing for which a controller is required. It includes combinations of several different modes at once.
Models that can provide all of the above variety of effects are certainly more expensive than those that are limited to one or two modes. In any case, it is worth checking the health of each mode still in the store before you pay for the purchase.
Quite often a situation arises that even last winter the device was perfectly functional, and now it does not work as it should, for example, the LED garland is dimly lit or not turned on at all. It is also not uncommon for a single LED garland of several colors not to light up. To be engaged in repair and to put in a working condition the device quite probably by own forces. To successfully solve the problem, it is necessary to have an idea of exactly what kind of breakdowns occur most often, as well as possible ways of how to repair the LED garland in this or that case.
