Just an observation on this, as an engineer who loves Christmas lights, but repair of the old lights is something readily done, assuming they are C9 120-volt bulbs (or whatever); large boxes are available on Amazon or eBay at very low cost and in many styles, including transparent color (nice) or clear. In fact, a string of 25 C9 lamps with bulbs is only $18, or 1,000 for $720. When we see $350,000 fire trucks, one for $349,000 instead might get us nice lights, too. The town should buy these lights; perhaps the DPW with the Fire Department’s ladder, if so inclined, working with a local tree contractor (for the large cherry picker), could put them up correctly. Subcontracting this as a turnkey job only gets you fast and dirty.
Even if the old lights have bad sockets or plugs, they can be readily cut out, wires soldered and covered with shrink sleeves, and repaired, as many of us do to keep old Christmas lights working. Unlike LEDs, they are multiple wired, so one goes out only by itself. On LEDs, one loose connection and the whole string is out. To say nothing of the awful blue-white color. They are physically too small for the scale of the tree. The dance starts if a string is out. Bumping incandescent bulbs once they have been turned on will break the filament, so you cannot just drop them to the ground. The answer there is obvious.
Also, looking at some of the wiring in past years is a little scary. We need a semipermanent 60- or 100-amp weatherproof service box (underground wiring?) and multiple outlets, and well thought out multiple cords leading up the tree; if each C9 string is 5 watts x 25, which is 125 watts, about 10 strings per 15-amp cord/outlet/breaker is OK (1,250 watts for 250 5-watt lights); 8 breakers if 2,000 lights.
I am not sure who did all this in the past, but a big thank-you to all the well-intentioned people, even for the last iteration. To me, real Christmas trees have real, colored, Edison bulbs. It’s worth it.
John Grady, P.E.
Slough Road
