LED vs Incandescent Christmas Lights: Which Should You Buy?

01The short answer

For most people LED is the better buy. LED strings use a small fraction of the power of old incandescent mini lights, run cool to the touch, survive being dropped, and let you connect far more strings end to end on one outlet.

The reason incandescent lights have not disappeared is the colour. Old bulbs give a soft, warm, slightly yellow glow that many people associate with Christmas. Early LEDs were cold and blue-white, and that reputation stuck.

If you have ever disliked LED Christmas lights, you probably bought cool white. Warm white is a different experience.

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02LED vs incandescent compared

	LED	Incandescent
Power use	Very low	High; adds up on big displays
Heat	Cool to the touch	Bulbs get warm
Strings per outlet	Many, check the listing	Few
Lifespan	Long; bulbs rarely fail	Bulbs burn out each season
Durability	Plastic lenses, hard to break	Glass bulbs break
Glow	Warm white now close to classic	Soft, warm, nostalgic
Upfront price	A little higher	Cheapest per string

Because of the heat difference, LEDs are the safer choice on a real tree that is drying out, near curtains, and anywhere small children can reach the bulbs.

03Why some people are going back to incandescent

It is almost always about the look. Classic incandescent strings have a gentle warm tone and a slight flicker that suits the nostalgic Christmas trend on Pinterest this year.

You can get very close with LEDs. Look for warm white with a colour temperature around 2,700K or lower, a frosted or faceted lens, and a steady (not flashing) mode. Many listings call this 'incandescent look' or 'vintage warm white'.

04How to tell which lights you have

Look at the bulbIncandescent mini bulbs have a visible thin filament inside clear glass. LEDs have a small flat chip, often under a plastic lens.
Touch it after an hourIncandescent bulbs get warm; LEDs stay cool.
Read the tag near the plugThe tag lists the wattage. A long string with very low wattage is LED.

05What to buy for indoors and outdoors

Indoors on the tree: warm white LED strings, or a pre-lit tree with warm white LEDs. On a flocked tree, warm white looks far better than cool white against the snow effect.

Outdoors: LED strings with a weather rating for outdoor use and a built-in timer. Check the IP rating in the listing; higher numbers handle rain and snow better, and a timer means the lights are on every evening without anyone remembering.

Mixing LED and incandescent strings on the same circuit works, but the colours rarely match, so keep each tree or roofline to one type.

06How many lights does your tree need?

A common rule of thumb is about 100 mini lights per foot of tree height for a classic look, and up to double that if you want the tree to glow brightly. A 7.5 foot tree therefore takes roughly 750 to 1,500 lights.

Wrap from the inside out. Run the string along each main branch from the pole to the tip and back, rather than circling the outside. It uses more lights but gives the tree depth instead of a glowing shell.

Lights wrapped only around the outside make a full tree look hollow.

07What the difference costs on your power bill

The wattage is printed on the tag near the plug, so you can work this out for your own lights. A typical 100-light incandescent mini string is rated around 40 watts; a 100-light LED mini string is usually around 5 watts or less.

Example: 10 strings, 6 hours a night, 30 nights	Incandescent	LED
Power for 10 strings	about 400 W	about 50 W
Energy in a month	about 72 kWh	about 9 kWh
Cost at 17 cents per kWh	about $12	about $1.50

Use your own rate from your electricity bill; the gap scales the same way. On a small indoor tree the saving is a few dollars a season. On a full outdoor display with dozens of strings, or larger C7 and C9 bulbs that draw several watts each, LEDs pay for themselves within one or two seasons.

08Half the string is out: what to check

Check the fuse in the plug

Most strings have a small sliding cover on the plug with two fuses inside, and spares in the box. A blown fuse turns off the whole string.

Look for a loose or missing bulb

On incandescent strings one loose bulb can darken a whole section. Push each bulb in firmly along the dark part.

Do not overload the run

The tag says how many strings can connect end to end. Going over it blows fuses and can overheat the plug.

Replace, do not repair, damaged wire

Any cut, crushed or melted section means the string goes in the bin. It is not worth the fire risk.

09Should you replace old incandescent strings?

If your incandescent strings still work and you love the look, there is no urgent reason to throw them out. Replace them when bulbs keep failing, when a string runs warm near something flammable, or when a big outdoor display is adding noticeably to your power bill.

When you do switch, buy one test string of warm white LED first and look at it next to your old lights in the evening. Colour descriptions vary a lot between brands, and seeing it in person avoids buying a whole set that looks wrong.