Looking for mini lights

[soakes94]

Hey, I think this will be a more expensive option but I thought worth a try. I live in the UK and I've built a grinch and then a ren-c and I've almost finished my SSR's. In the UK we pay about £10 for 10 meters of lights, that's about 15USD. I get so jealous when I see that you guys only pay a few dollars for lights, so I was wondering does anyone have any 24v ac lights that they would be willing to post to the UK? I wouldn't need the transformers as I can get them cheaper over here.

I will pay for the postage and I don't mind how long they take, well as long as there here in time for Christmas.

Thanks Stephen

[Jrd]

I have never seen any 24 VAC lights here in the USA, we typically get 120 VAC lights for cheap after Christmas. (If there are any left by the time we can get to the store)

[christmas-light]

Originally Posted by soakes94

Hey, I think this will be a more expensive option but I thought worth a try. I live in the UK and I've built a grinch and then a ren-c and I've almost finished my SSR's. In the UK we pay about £10 for 10 meters of lights, that's about 15USD. I get so jealous when I see that you guys only pay a few dollars for lights, so I was wondering does anyone have any 24v ac lights that they would be willing to post to the UK? I wouldn't need the transformers as I can get them cheaper over here.

I will pay for the postage and I don't mind how long they take, well as long as there here in time for Christmas.

Thanks Stephen

Well I am here in you neighbor country Denmark, And here we have the same problem

So I do this: I go to ebay and buy led christmas light, it is cheaper, but the quality is not the best

C - L

[soakes94]

Sounds like a plan however Ive just made 9 AC SSRs and I now dont know what to do lol

[Jrd]

You could use them for commercial LED strings, they are designed to run on AC.

[soakes94]

Just wondering if anyone has any idea how much it would be to post mini lights out to the UK? Just the normal American 110v ac ones, I can get a transformer over here and I'm wondering if it would be cheaper as we pay alot more in the UK for lights instead of everyone in the US.

[hartlove]

The post office web site has a Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box listed as $53.15. The box is 12" x 12" x 5.5" (Max wt 20lbs)

I'm not sure how many strings of lights would fit into one of those.

[soakes94]

Ive done some math, not sure how considering I just failed my exam lol, I pay £8 for a set of christmas lights, if I could get more christmas lights for what it would cost to buy them here then that would be a good deal, how many watts would I need per set of lights? That way I can pick a transformer.

Thanks Stephen

[dirknerkle]

Originally Posted by soakes94

Ive done some math, not sure how considering I just failed my exam lol, I pay £8 for a set of christmas lights, if I could get more christmas lights for what it would cost to buy them here then that would be a good deal, how many watts would I need per set of lights? That way I can pick a transformer.

Thanks Stephen

Stephen,
Watts is a function of volts multiplied by amps. You don't "need" watts, they are a result of the voltage and current for the lights used. So what you really need to decide is how many lights you plan to have and go from there.

Also, there isn't an exact standard in terms of mini-lights. Generally speaking, a string of 100 mini-lights will use about 1/3 amp current at 120 volts. However, some string manufacturers use a different bulb and the say their 100-count strings take half of that, or about 1/6 amp for the same 100 lights.

I'm not sure how I would even answer your question other than to say that it sounds like you're trying to compare prices for 100-lights strings in Scotland vs. similar strings sold elsewhere. Prices vary all over the place, too but they'll be highest at this time of the year because there are no lights in stores. The lowest prices are generally right after Christmas when they go on sale. Right now, a string of 100 mini-lights might cost $8 US because they're not readily available. 3 months from now (November) they'll be about $2.50 for the same string.

The bottom line is right now, you just have to shop around.

[soakes94]

Yeah, do you think its worth it or do you think it will cost more to bring them over from the US than just buy them here?