Christmas tree lights: sets by length and bulb count

Christmas tree lights: length, bulb count and spacing

Every listing gives a length and a bulb count, and the two have to be read together. Divide the length by the count to get the gap between bulbs. In this collection a 20 m set of 200 LEDs has a bulb every 10 cm, and a 50 m set of 1,000 LEDs has one every 5 cm.

The usual rule is 100 bulbs per foot of tree, or 50 per foot for a soft glow. Length is a separate question: about 15 m of lit cable wraps a 6ft tree, however many bulbs it carries.

At a 10 cm gap, 15 m of lights holds 150 bulbs, half of a soft glow on a 6ft tree. Two 20 m sets of 200 LEDs give 400 bulbs, and a close-set string gives more per metre. Our chart of how many lights a tree needs covers every height from 3ft to 8ft.

Mains, battery and USB tree lights

Most tree sets here plug into the mains, and more than half include a timer. Battery sets, often 3 AA, suit table-top trees and trees with no socket nearby, and a few run from USB. Some listings add a dimmer or a remote.

• Check the unlit lead, from the plug to the first bulb. It decides whether the plug reaches the socket without an extension lead.
• Put any controller box low and at the back of the tree, where you can reach the buttons and a tree skirt can hide it.
• For more than one set, use sets sold as linkable or give each its own socket. Follow the maker’s limit on how many can join, and do not stack adapters.

Warm white or multicolour tree lights

Warm white is the most common colour here, at 2,700 to 3,000 K, a golden tone close to a filament bulb. Multicolour sets suit a traditional tree, and there are fewer of them. Read the colour field and the photos, because a title can say warm white while the details say multicolour.

Buy every set for one tree in one go and from the same range, because two warm whites can differ in tone. The guide to LED or incandescent Christmas lights explains the kelvin figure.

Real tree or artificial tree

LED sets stay cool, which makes them the safer choice on a real tree, and a real tree also needs its stand kept topped up with water. On an artificial tree, a green cable or fine copper wire hides in the branches best.

For the wrapping itself, read how to put lights on a Christmas tree. Copper-wire strings are covered under fairy lights, and every other format sits in the main Christmas lights collection.