Susan--thanks for the pep talk! You are right--it isn't a matter of if I buy LEDs, it's when I buy LEDs. As much as I want to save energy--and I do--it is more the simplicity that appeals to me. Every year I have strings of lights in various stages of repair and I then get annoyed when they don't work. Life is stressful enough this time of year...
Yes, they cost more at the beginning but then you see the savings in your bill as the energy consumption is going to be lower. It's like an investment, you have to wait to see the ROI.
Let's all vote for Barbara to get her LED Christmas lights this year. :)
I hope you will defintely get the LED lights for this year christamas. I still belive they look much better and take very less power but at a little higher cost.
I read your blog with curiosity and at the end I came back to these two key sentences:
"Right around this time every year, I make a promise to myself that I will invest in LED Christmas lights. This is the third year I've blown my promise."
To me, it seems like this LED Christmas lights issue has taken a different dimension already; it has gone from a question of thinking if you should buy them or not due to the high price to wondering about complications with changing bulbs to a broken promise to yourself. And this the point where you should stop and re-evaluate the whole issue. Why?
Because since the moment you made a promise to yourself the LED lights are crying out inside you and won't let you in peace until you finally get them. A promise to yourself should be sacred and kept and most important than anything else. :) You will feel very good with yourself and your new LED Christmas lights this Christmas.
Give them to you as a Christmas present. You have to give yourself something anyway, don't you? Just go and get them. You won't regret. I promise. Then take a picture and post it here with a blog update. :)
Living here in Michigan I can feel your pain about the dark bleary winters. Unfortunately we just got hit with 6 inches of wet snow before I could get our lights and inflatable’s set up. It’s going to be a long cold weekend with the lights. As for the LEDs, we started making the change over the last two years. While decorating our tree last year we fell short of LED lights and had to mix the types on our tree. Mixing lights is not really a good look.
This year we got a jump start and planned on buying our missing lights around Thanksgiving. We were hoping to find some on sale; they are normally $8.99 for a strand of 60! The lights were reduced that week for $6.99. We planned on getting them later in the week. Then on Thanksgiving night I wanted to run and get them in case they were sold out before the weekend. They had a 1 day sale for $4.99 a box, we bought 8 boxes. Hopefully we have a bright blue LED tree this year.
I feel your pain! What's worse is mixing the LEDs with the incandescents. I'm not ready to go there yet. I'll either drop $$$ on the LEDs, or try to scrape another year out of tiny fuses and replacement bulbs.
My house in New England is now all lit up w/ led strands ..........i miss the warm glow of the old style incandescent bulbs.............my house sticks out due to the led's in my neighborhood full of old style lights...........led's currently cannot replicate that warm white light glow. and, i have noticed that multi color leds tend to accentuate the blue light more than the others....switched to led because like u i was tired of replacing strands.....Merry Christmas to all!!!!
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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