The New Alternative to Traditional Mini Christmas Lights
Christmas lights have evolved and improved a lot since the early designs of the 1920's. Most old style Christmas lights utilized large bulbs which housed a big filament. The big filament allowed the bulb to create a lot more light but it was also very unsafe because it produced a lot of heat and was very inefficient. Although, the larger traditional style C7 Christmas lights and C9 bulbs are still popular for certain applications such as roof line decorating, the miniature style string lights are now the most popular style of light.
Mini lights are a popular choice for holiday and year round decorating for a number of reasons:
- The bulbs are small but bright
- Mini lights use 10 times less energy than C7 or C9 bulbs
- They produce much less heat
- The low profile bulbs are great for decorating
More recently, the introduction of the LED and its use in string lighting technology improved upon the existing benefits offered by the mini light. Mini lights using LEDs are about 80% more efficient than incandescent minis, produce almost no heat and have the additional benefit of being virtually indestructible because there is no glass bulb or fragile filament to break. The first versions of LED Christmas lights were designed to emulate their incandescent predecessors to attract consumers who were used to the look of traditional incandescent mini lights. This meant that manufacturers emphasized the appearance of the LED light set to the detriment of overall performance. An incandescent mini light, like all incandescent Christmas lights, have bulbs which are shaped and sized to house the filament. Mini lights have a smaller cone shaped bulb which was designed to house the small elongated filament. Because LED lights do not use a filament but produce light from a small chip or diode it is not necessary to have a large bulb cover so the only purpose the bulb cover serves in the LED string light is to make it look like an incandescent.
The problem with this is that LED and incandescent light sources produce light that is very different. LED light is a highly directional light which if not diffused properly with a well-designed lens will produce a light that is not consistently bright from all angles. Most of the bulb covers that are used on LED Christmas lights to emulate incandescent bulb styles like the mini light, C6, C7 and C9 do not work well with LED light sources. Newer versions of LED Christmas lights utilize a specially designed lens which helps to optimize the light output and diffusion of LED string lights. This is commonly known as the wide angle or 5mm.
The wide angle lens used on the 5mm style LED Christmas light (pictured above), is specifically designed for use with LEDs. This lens is very small and low profile but produces a very brilliant light that is evenly distributed in all directions. The wide angle mini light, like incandescent minis, is very low profile and great for decorating. Because the wide angle has all of the benefits of a traditional mini style bulb but has the added benefit of producing a more diffuse and even light pattern, it has quickly become the choice of most professional decorators who utilize LED holiday lights.
As consumers continue to become more familiar and comfortable with LED lighting technology, the wide angle LED string light will likely replace the traditional mini light as the most popular Christmas light set.
