We've seen fantastic trees lit up at residences, shopping malls, and in corporate installations just like this residential installation in West Texas.
Running so many lights in series takes advantage of the high maximum connectivity specifications of LED light strings. (You can run a ton of them together in one continuous circuit.)
Materials
- Warm white 5mm LED Christmas light strings - the light strings in this photo have 6-inch spacing for more coverage of the tree trunks with each set. 43 sets can be run in series.
- Or your favorite color of low current/high connectivity LED light string
Tips for Installation
- Consider the size of the tree trunk to be wrapped when choosing the spacing between bulb
- Smaller trees - consider 4" spacing
- Larger trees - consider 6" spacing
- Be sure to start with a male plug so you don't finish wrapping the tree and discover the first male plug is somewhere up in the branches
- Test lights before installation and consider plugging them in often during installation to test as you go
- Wrap the lights like a ball of yarn before climbing the ladder to make unrolling as your wrap easier
- Use rope or string to measure how much of distance is in one loop around your tree trunk. Then mock up a few turns around your tree. Use a little simple math to estimate how many light strings you'll need for the entire trunk. Consider purchasing a couple of extra strings of lights to cover the "estimating".