topic Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees..... in Holiday

Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Mominohio — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 21:47:25 GMT

have a relatively short lifespan?

Based on reviews, and my past experience, it seems that prelit Christmas trees tend to have a rather short lifespan before the lights begin to fail.

I have only had two, and admit I bought them at an auction, but they were new in the box, and nice quality, but probably not super expensive.

One only lasted two seasons before some sections of lights began to fail. And I 'hear' the same in many reviews over the years in watching the various types on Q.

What is your experience with the longevity of prelit trees? Are the new color changing ones and the ones that light up as you assemble stronger or weaker in durability than the older models? Are the expensive ones lasting longer than the cheaper ones? Any brands get higher reviews than others?

I want to purchase one, but if even the higher price ones fail relatively quickly, perhaps a cheaper one would be the way to go.

Please share your experiences.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

RazorSharp — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 22:10:51 GMT

My experience has been the same as yours. My prelit trees generally last 2 seasons, but I buy them at "At Home," and they're $100. While some may see this as a bad investment, I consider that the same size fresh tree in my area would cost $50, I'd have to buy the lights, string them, get the darn thing to stand up straight in the base, and deal with it dying pretty quickly regardless of how fresh it is, plus do all of the above in reverse. Not to mention the constant vacuuming up of needles and fear that it's going to catch fire. So, I don't see these trees as more of a two year investment, and I'm happy with the bang I get for my buck. I wouldn't invest in one of those expensive Santa's Best trees based on my experience with other prelit ones. Also, like my dad used to say, "the more bells and whistles, the more there is to break."

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Carolm — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 23:47:58 GMT

I have a prelit Christmas tree that is at least 7 or 8 years old. I purchased it from either QVC or its competitor and it was not much more than $120.00. I've not had any problems with it, although I've thought of replacing because it is so darn heavy.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Mz iMac — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 23:58:52 GMT

Purchased mine from Home Depot approximately 10 yrs ago for under $50.

I put the lights on a "timer." This saves the longativity of the bulbs.

Mine is set to come on at "dusk" (5 pm) Shuts off at 2 am. I am a night owl.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

MathisFan — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:31:31 GMT

This will be my 6th Christmas using my prelit tree. Bought it at Hobby Lobby. Have never had a problem with it. I paid around $100 for it.

It has the clear/white lights. I'm getting tired of them. This year I may buy old fashioned looking colored lights and use them on it and not even plug in the lights that came on the tree.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

sunshine45 — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:01:52 GMT

our pre-lit tree lasted about six years with all of the lights working. in the 7th year we cut off all of the lights and bought strings of lights again. we did the same thing again for the 8th year last christmas. the tree was too beautiful to give up so we may do the same this year instead of getting a new one.

we put the tree up the sunday after thanksgiving. it stays up until the end of the second week of january. it is lit between dusk until about midnight.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

RazorSharp — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:39:14 GMT

I think it's important to mention how long you keep your tree up each year, and how many hours a day you keep it lit. For me, I put my tree up a couple days before Thanksgiving, and keep it up until the second weekend in January. I have a remote control plug that I use, so I turn it on in the morning, and turn it off before I go to bed. That means mine is lit about 16-18 hours a day. I'm sure if I put it up later in the season, and didn't keep it lit as long each night, I'd get more years out of mine, too.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Nataliesgramma — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 10:41:45 GMT

Mine last 2 seasons then I start losing lights. I put it up on Black Friday and take it down Jan 10th.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Mominohio — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 12:47:02 GMT

@RazorSharp wrote:
I think it's important to mention how long you keep your tree up each year, and how many hours a day you keep it lit. For me, I put my tree up a couple days before Thanksgiving, and keep it up until the second weekend in January. I have a remote control plug that I use, so I turn it on in the morning, and turn it off before I go to bed. That means mine is lit about 16-18 hours a day. I'm sure if I put it up later in the season, and didn't keep it lit as long each night, I'd get more years out of mine, too.

Good point, as we have ours lit all day as well.

I guess what I don't get though, is that when we used the old fashioned lights that we strung ourselves, (not LED, but I guess are incandescent), we got years and years and years out of those light strands, with maybe a bulb here or there each year replaced.

So what is it about these newer trees that is making them so 'weak'?

I'm guessing maybe they are too 'high tech' with the multiple functions (the more it does the more there is to fail), or when wrapping the lights on the tree, they are damaging or weakening the wiring inside by winding so tightly or something like that? Or the components are just plain not made like they were back in the day?

It figures they get these trees advanced to having all these great functions and ease, then they cost a fortune (which would be ok if they lasted), but they don't last.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

gardenman — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 12:56:43 GMT

The LED lit trees should have a longer life span. In my LED experience (not with Christmas trees) when an LED lit anything fails, it's typically the power supply that gives out rather than the LED's.

With conventional pelit tress there's a great little gadet called the LightKeeper Pro that was specifically developed to help keep prelit trees lit. It's a great little gadget, sells for around $20, and works like a charm. Most of the conventionally lit prelit trees have bulbs with a shunt in them. The shunt is designed so that when a bulb burns out, the shunt in that bulb will then activate and allow current to flow past the burned out bulb. When a whole section of lights goes dead, it's usually a sign that a shunt (sometimes more than one) has failed. The LightKeeper Pro plugs into the string of bulbs and when you pull the trigger, it generates a static electic charge that travels through the light's wiring to the failed shunt and activates it turning the lights back on again. I've used mine for several years now and I love it.

There does come a point in a tree's life where bulbs are burning out on a frequent basis due to the amount of use they've experienced and then you're left with either replacing every bulb or buying a new tree, but for newer trees with less use, the LightKeeper Pro will help to keep them lit.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

RazorSharp — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 20:45:06 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
@RazorSharp wrote:
I think it's important to mention how long you keep your tree up each year, and how many hours a day you keep it lit. For me, I put my tree up a couple days before Thanksgiving, and keep it up until the second weekend in January. I have a remote control plug that I use, so I turn it on in the morning, and turn it off before I go to bed. That means mine is lit about 16-18 hours a day. I'm sure if I put it up later in the season, and didn't keep it lit as long each night, I'd get more years out of mine, too.

Good point, as we have ours lit all day as well.

I guess what I don't get though, is that when we used the old fashioned lights that we strung ourselves, (not LED, but I guess are incandescent), we got years and years and years out of those light strands, with maybe a bulb here or there each year replaced.

So what is it about these newer trees that is making them so 'weak'?

I'm guessing maybe they are too 'high tech' with the multiple functions (the more it does the more there is to fail), or when wrapping the lights on the tree, they are damaging or weakening the wiring inside by winding so tightly or something like that? Or the components are just plain not made like they were back in the day?

It figures they get these trees advanced to having all these great functions and ease, then they cost a fortune (which would be ok if they lasted), but they don't last.

I think you're right about the wires being stressed by the way that they are too tightly wound in the prelit trees, That makes the most sense to me.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

ValuSkr — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 20:58:19 GMT

I have a pre-lit tree and so far so good (10+ years), though I don't use it every year. Were I to buy another, I'd make sure it had a good warranty from a reputable company and was easy to locate and replace burned-out bulbs.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Allegheny — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 00:42:07 GMT

We've got our pre-lit tree from the Q about 10 years ago, it is a Bethlehem Light, 3 piece, 7 ft. We keep it up about 4 weeks and the lights on for probably 14 hours daily.

While its starting to show its age we haven't had any issues with the lights until last year. We used the gadget that Gardenman mentioned in his post. Amazing product.

Re: Do all prelit Christmas trees.....

Spurt — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:05:16 GMT

I have found that pre-lit trees usually last about 3 years.....either sections of the tree won't light even after using the the LightKeeper Pro device that @gardeman mentioned OR the branches start to come loose from their hinges and start to sag ...And I think lights that won't work have more to do with the wiring of the lights rather than just the bulbs...LED bulbs are supposed to last longer...

I put my tree up in mid November and take it down a few days after New Year's Day. If I'm home I leave it on all day, but if I'm doing errands or shopping etc, doing Christmas activities etc, then I turn it on at dark and on those days it's just on for a few hours....

It also has to do with where you buy your tree.....some stores have better quality trees then others....I have better luck with trees I purchased at Home Depot rather than the trees my sister purchased at Wal Mart and Michaels......I find the prices on the artifical trees have really increased in the last few years I remember paying $89 for my first 7 ft pre-lit tree, then it jumped to $99 $150 and last year $199.for a 7.5 ft tree...and Home Depot had the best prices. You can buy cheaper trees but you won't get the fullness and I find these tend to be very skimpy and not realisticl not very sturdy and not made very well....

My latest is a Martha Stewart from Home Depot and it has all the bells and whistles that the QVC trees do but at a lower price.....last year was my first year for that model and I was very pleased with it.....it was very heavy but well made....but last year was first year with this one. the reviews werepretty good too