Megatree: C7's or minis?

[NogginBoink]

I'm taking inventory of what I have vs. what I want for next year in preparation for the post-Xmas sales.

I'm debating whether I want to make my megatrees with C7's or with mini's next year. Anyone have any opinions?

I think the C7's would be brigher and 'prettier' but with 12 inch bulb spacing I'm not sure it will look 'full' enough.

I'm hoping there's some experience here on the boards to help me make my decision.

[NogginBoink]

No one has any opinions on this?

[ron d]

Im using minis and also 12" spacing and about 18" tall. c-7's would also look great i think but i used almost all minis and wanted to be consistent. 24 sets per color so its as bright as i would have hoped it to be also. if i had mostly c-7's thats thr route i would have gone or if i wanted it to stand out from the other features.

[bmcgeeny]

I'm taking inventory of what I have vs. what I want for next year in preparation for the post-Xmas sales.

I'm debating whether I want to make my megatrees with C7's or with mini's next year. Anyone have any opinions?

I think the C7's would be brigher and 'prettier' but with 12 inch bulb spacing I'm not sure it will look 'full' enough.

I'm hoping there's some experience here on the boards to help me make my decision.

That is a lot of C-7's. If you go that route, I think I would double up the strings, back the bulb spacing down to 6". That's still a lot of watts

I am doubling up my mini's for next year.

[bigtintheoc]

I've tried to search my question but with no luck, I chose to ask you because the discussion hits on part of my question.
What does C6. C7, C9, etc mean?

[Macrosill]

Well the decision on which lights to use for your Mega Tree can only be made by you. Which bulbs do you like better, the minis or the C7s? Would you prefer to not lose a half a set of lights because of a single shunt not working?

Now onto my opinion. This really depends on the size of the Mega Tree. I feel the size of the tree should determine the size of the bulb. My tree is 12' tall, minus the topper. I use C5 LEDs on it. They are slightly larger than mini light but use the same spacing. On my tree I do not think the C7s or C9s would look good. The spacing, 12", between the bulbs is too great for the size tree I have. For a 12 foot tree I would only get 13 bulbs per run, top to bottom. With the 4" spacing on my LED sets I get 37 bulbs per run top to bottom. 3 times the amount of bulbs. There would be a lot of dead space by using the C bulbs. Now on the other hand a 50 foot tree would look awesome with C7s or C9s. The tree would be so enormous that the 12" spacing between bulbs would be proportional to its height. The mini lights would be lost on a tree of that size.

Do not forget about the power consumption. My 4800 LEDs at .02 watts per string pull about 2 watts. 4800 Minis at 40 watts per string would pull about 16 amps or 1920 watts. 1248 C7s at 5 watts per bulb would pull about 52 amps or 6240 watts. These numbers are estimates.

Now please remember this is only my personal opinion, others may feel differently. In the end it is entirely up to you to choose how you want your tree to look.

[Macrosill]

I've tried to search my question but with no luck, I chose to ask you because the discussion hits on part of my question.
What does C6. C7, C9, etc mean?
See the images below.