The wheels on the base, a unique feature among our picks, make this tree much easier to move into place and back into storage. Like those on the Downswept Douglas Fir, the lights on this Fraser Fir connect automatically via plugs within the trunk, and you can switch between clear, color, and a mix of the two using a handy remote control. It also has more lights (1,320 versus 750), creating an opulent display that our testers oohed over. (For smaller homes, we recommend the 6.5-foot version.) Like all artificial trees, it takes up a chunk of storage space in the offseason, even when it’s disassembled.Ĭompared with National Tree’s Downswept Douglas Fir, Balsam Hill’s 7.5-foot Fraser Fir Flip Tree Color + Clear LED has a greater proportion and higher number of realistic branches, which together make it appear even more lifelike. Finally, it’s widely available, easy to set up, and competitively priced. At 7.5 feet high and almost 5 feet across, the tree will fill the corner of almost any living room. While some trees require you to hunt down the light strings’ plugs among the foliage and manually connect them, the Downswept Douglas’s trunk-mounted PowerConnect system automatically does the job for you when you stack its three sections together. They can also switch from all white to multicolor to a mix of the two, giving the tree uncommon versatility. Its nearly 2,000 lifelike polyethylene branch tips create a convincing illusion of a living tree, and its 750 pre-strung LED bulbs fill the branches with light. While, on the more affordable side, we loved The Seasonal Aisle’s outdoor string lights, as well as Dunelm’s characterful snowman, as both offered great bang for our buck.Compared with both pricier and cheaper trees, National Tree Company’s 7.5-foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir strikes a terrific balance of cost, realism, and ease of setup. Twinkly’s multicolour strings proved a hit with our house guests for its colour and pattern combinations that are seriously impressive. The lights looked enchanting when hung from a tree, and while they do bring all the seasonal sparkle, they are not overtly Christmassy, meaning our winter wonderland can continue well into the new year. We loved Atkin & Thyme’s outdoor snowing cascade lights for their magical feel. Depending on when you start counting the 12 Days of Christmas, the twelfth night will be on either 5 January or 6 January. When should I take the Christmas lights down?Īgain, there’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to when you should take your Christmas decorations down, but many people who adhere to Christian tradition may wait until the twelfth night of Twelvetide, the Christian celebration of the 12 days of Christmas. You may decide to wait until the first day of Advent if you are following tradition, which will be the 3rd December. You can, of course, put your Christmas lights up whenever you would like, but you may see Christmas lights starting to go up in the weeks after Halloween. If you want your outdoor space to have a homely and traditional feel, the yellow hues of warm LEDs may be best suited to your tastes, while cool white LEDs with a blue hue to them may be more appealing if you prefer a brighter appearance and contemporary feel. Outdoor Christmas lights FAQs How to choose between different colour LED lightsĭepending on the atmosphere that you want your Christmas lights to create, you can choose between different colours, whether it’s a vivid electric blue LED or a multi-coloured set, while the simple white lights can either be a warm white light or a cool one. Some come with multiple lighting modes and special effects, too, meaning we can go from twinkly to flashy, or even change colours and tones, with a push of a button. Increasingly high tech, today’s outdoor Christmas lights often come with a timer and remote control, enabling us to choose the perfect moment to switch on – and, of course, to conserve energy during daytime and in the middle of the night. However we found, with clever design, most of our mains-operated Christmas lights gave us a generous length in order to discreetly run the illuminations from indoors, with enough flex to position the lights exactly where we wanted them. If you don’t want to worry about running a cable into your home you can choose battery-operated lights, of course. Luckily for us, most of the modern LED lights we tested were surprisingly low voltage for their brightness, meaning lower running costs: a win for our wallets, and the environment. While there’s undeniably a scale of tasteful to tacky, one thing we can all agree on this festive season is that we want the sparkle without the extra burden on our electricity bill. It won’t be long before the nights draw in, Strictly returns to our screens, and Mariah declares, “it’s tiiime!”, which is why we’ve gone all a-twinkle for this year’s selection of the best outdoor Christmas lights.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |