There are approximately 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees sold in the US each year. American Christmas tree farms usually grow close to 350 million trees each year.
Buying and decorating a Christmas tree is a holiday tradition for most American families. This is a huge part of Christmas and is usually at the center of most people’s holiday decorations.
There is a lot that goes into decorating a Christmas tree, including Christmas lights. Most people are not sure how many Christmas lights they should use to achieve the best results.
Keep reading to find out how many Christmas lights you need for your Christmas tree.
How Many Lights Does a Christmas Tree Need
There is a lot that goes into Christmas tree decorations and choosing the perfect types of lights. If you don’t have enough lights, your tree will look bare, but if you have too many, it can be overwhelming.
The best way to find out how many Christmas lights you need is to measure the height and width of the tree. This is the only accurate way to buy your Christmas lights this year.
Although, you also need to consider the types of lights you are using. Some lights have more bulbs on them, resulting in a brighter string of lights.
Some light colors can also be bolder or milder or the lights may be closer together. This can impact how many you need to really light up your tree and make it look whimsical.
How Many Lights for a 6-Foot Tree
Wrapping Christmas trees that are 6 feet can be quite a challenge if you don’t know where to start. This is one of the most common sizes of tree that most people buy around Christmas time.
It is usually recommended that you have 4 to 6 strands of Christmas lights, each strand being 30 to 40 feet. This is going to depend on the width of your tree as well.
Most standard Christmas trees are going to be 3 to 4 feet wide. You may want to go for a fuller or leaner tree, depending on your Christmas light budget.
How Many Lights for a 7-Foot Tree
If you have a Christmas tree height of 7 feet, you will most likely need 5 to 7 light strands. This is a good number of lights for a 7-foot tree that is around 3 to 5 feet wide.
Keep in mind that some trees will get wider the taller they are. If that is the case for your Christmas tree, you may want to invest in one or two extra strings of light.
You can also choose to buy denser strains of light for a brighter effect.
Other Tree Lighting Factors
If you are buying your Christmas tree decorations, there are other factors to consider. The amount of Christmas lights you buy is going to be dependent on different factors regarding your Christmas tree.
Not everyone has the same taste or the same Christmas lighting design budget. If you are buying new lights for your tree, these are some of the things that may impact your decision.
Personal Taste
Christmas tree decorations really come down to personal taste. Some people prefer a very bright tree, but you may want a more minimal effect.
How many strands of light as well as how dense they are, will depend on the look you are going for. Some people use more lights so that they can bury the lights deep within their trees.
If you have multiple Christmas trees, you may want different amounts of light for each one. For instance, a tree in front of your window may need more lights than one in the corner of your room.
Safety Concerns
There are also certain safety concerns regarding using Christmas lights on real trees. With any kind of light source, there is always going to be some type of fire risk.
It is estimated that 25% Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical issues. This is not a huge percentage, but it is something that does deserve some consideration.
Your plug-ins are also only equipped to handle a certain amount of voltage. You should follow the instructions on the lights to make sure you are not putting too much strain on these electrical outlets.
Most people attach Christmas light strands to create one very long strand. You can safely do this to a certain extent, but you should not exceed the amount recommended on the light instructions.
It is also best to buy LED Christmas lights as they use less energy and do not heat up as quickly, especially if you want to hang Christmas lights on your roof.
Tree Fullness
Everyone wants a full Christmas tree, but that isn’t always the case. Depending on how full and fluffy your tree is, you may need fewer or more Christmas lights for it.
A very full Christmas tree will need more lights so that they do not become buried in the branches. For a sparse Christmas tree, you don’t want too many lights, otherwise they will become too noticeable.
Tree Decor
The amount of Christmas tree decorations you have can also impact how many lights you use. Heavily decorated Christmas trees may not leave a lot of room for your light strings.
Depending on the size of your tree, you don’t want to add too much and risk it looking crowded or overwhelming.
Amount of Christmas Lights Your Tree Needs
If you are buying new Christmas lights this year, you may not know how many your Christmas tree needs. The good thing is that this is relatively easy to determine based on the tree size. For beginners, check out our Blog Post: A Beginner’s Guide to Christmas Lights: Everything You Need To Know
Do you want to buy Christmas lights ahead of time? Contact us today at Lighting and Supplies for the best Christmas lighting options.
Wholesale Christmas Lights Supplier – Lighting and Supplies
As one of the best wholesale lighting distributors in the United States, Lighting and Supplies provides a wide variety of indoor and outdoor Christmas lights to accommodate all commercial and residential lighting and electrical component project needs. For home owners, electricians, contractors, lighting engineers, project managers and more, we can help source the lights you need by providing a lighting quote or creating a proposal for the right lights in your lighting specification process or next lighting design project.
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