How We Tested the Outdoor Christmas Lights
Before making our recommendations, we researched the most popular outdoor Christmas lights to buy, from top-rated and trusted brands in the lighting category. We then ordered a panel of lights and evaluated each lighting product in our own home for three weeks.
When reviewing outdoor Christmas lights, we considered brightness, quality, length of the lights, and ease of installation and ranked each attribute on a scale of 1-5 (the more points, the better). We draped them along outdoor railings or Christmas trees and made sure to leave the lights plugged in for the entire time we tested them. After weeks of seeing how each one fared outdoors, we carefully selected her favorites along with other researched options found by our editors.
You are watching: The 9 Best Outdoor Christmas Lights of 2023, Tested and Reviewed
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The Spruce / Camryn Rabideau
What to Look for in Outdoor Christmas Lights
Outdoor-Rated
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Look for words such as UL-certified, UL-listed, or commercial grade when picking out the perfect outdoor Christmas lights. This ensures the lights are waterproof and won’t rust, spark, or burn out when used outside. It also helps to look for the word “waterproof” when shopping, as seen in our Pro Christmas option.
Bulb Shape
Christmas lights come in all different shapes and sizes, and while this choice is mostly based on personal preference, Martoccio recommends certain bulb sizes for different outdoor applications. “In general, never use mini lights on a roofline,” he says. “For roof lines and evergreen trees 20 feet and over, you want the larger C9 LED bulbs. For bushes, branch wraps, and evergreens under 20 feet, you can use mini lights.” Our best large-bulb option, the C9 OptiCore Cool White LED Commercial Outdoor Christmas Lights, is a great choice for decorating large spaces.
Durability
Outdoor Christmas lights are frequently subject to rain, snow, wind, and cold temperatures, so it’s important that they’re durable enough to withstand winter weather. During testing, we were pleasantly surprised by how many lights held up well in inclement weather, including the MZD8391 Christmas Lights. Many of our experts recommend looking for professional- or commercial-grade Christmas lights (which often aren’t sold at big-name retailers), as these lights are made from higher-quality materials. Further, many professional-grade lights feature one-piece bulbs and sockets, which prevent moisture, dirt, and dust from getting inside and causing the light to fail.
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The Spruce / Camryn Rabideau
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The Spruce / Camryn Rabideau
Why Trust The Spruce?
This article was written by Camryn Rabideau, a freelance writer and product tester who has been contributing to The Spruce since 2017. Using expert recommendations, she selected more than a dozen sets of outdoor Christmas lights for firsthand testing, and she displayed them outdoors at her home over the course of several weeks, including during heavy rain and wind. She evaluated each product’s performance based on brightness, durability, ease of use, and more before selecting the top-performing lights to include in this list.
Our Experts:
- Lance Allen, Decorative Holiday Merchant at The Home Depot
- Matthew Martoccio, founder of The Christmas Guys
- Julia Fields, associate commerce editor
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor