The Twinkling Light Set: An increasingly rare but delightful type of decorative lighting

[@mari0n333]

forever entertained by this guy's outrageously specific opinions on tech items most people never even think about

[@mvl2468]

Yes!!! I love this man!!

[@flowerpt]

he's right because he's thought them through.

[@TheSuperCommentGuy]

Good summary

[@vapenation7061]

leeeah his nerdiness is so cool i love it

[@ronaldgarrison8478]

Right…LOL. It's a bit like watching a caricature of myself. Unnerving, actually.

[@sjcb]

My Christmas tree lights have 6 settings: 1. On 2. Epilepsy test 3. Epilepsy test 4. Underground rave 5. Epilepsy test 6. Epilepsy test

[@inactive736]

Dont forget setting 7: The Sun

[@Benzeel]

Or 8: they die or do the same setting as another or it's very sudble

[@riduck]

I like the classic 1. Off 2. On 3. On fire

[@brookewestonctc]

You're lucky. I wish "on" was the first setting on my lights. I have to press the mode button 17 times to get to "on".

[@theogantenbein7870]

I expected this to become less funny in the comment section of the comment, but i was wrong 😄

[@GoldSrc_]

Legend has it that if you say "warm white LED" 3 times, a wild BigClive might appear.

[@ChozoSR388]

LOL! Edit: Not this time :/

[@1marcelfilms]

warm white LED warm white LED warm white LED

[@ChozoSR388]

If you've watched BigClive's videos, you'd know how epic it'd be if he did suddenly appear after thrice uttering "Warm white LED".

[@jameslaidler4259]

ChozoSR388 They'd make a nice pairing. Clive could teach him how to make them.

[@SteelSkin667]

Clive does love his fairy lights. He once said that they were one of the reasons why he became an electrician.

[@Coylee91]

As a Brit I always assumed Menards was just what a pirate shouts when you kick him between the legs.

[@phmeeeeeeeee]

That got a genuine laugh out of me, good job

[@Krushak8888]

But that's their favorite store.(its a common joke where I live.)

[@luvondarox]

That's fair. I thought ASDA (Asda?) was a medical condition for the longest time. Turns out it's like y'all's Walmart.

[@Krushak8888]

@@luvondarox I'm from Wisconsin and I never heard of asda

[@luvondarox]

@@Krushak8888 Ah, my bad. It's a British store.

[@ER-nl2hz]

I don't know why KZbin recommended this, but dang, that dude has a pleasant voice and cadence of speech.

[@GeneralChangFromDanang]

It's a great channel. I couldn't care less about some of the stuff he talks about, but you always learn something.

[@clblanchard08]

@@GeneralChangFromDanang It's a great channel. (STRONGLY AGREE) I couldn't care less about some of the stuff he talks about (SLIGHTLY DISAGREE) but you always learn something. (STRONGLY AGREE) Point 2 and 3 seem to be contradictory to each other for me on most counts in hindsight. Like I know how a dishwasher works so I didn't care much about the video as a whole, but I didn't realize so many people were using those stupid packets as a one step solution to a two step problem. Also, I didn't realized the first cycle was only heated by the water coming from the tap, which is pretty stupid from an engineering standpoint.

[@sentientarugula2884]

@@clblanchard08 Chris speaking nothing but straight facts

[@TheZINGularity]

@@clblanchard08 id say i initially could not giove 2 shits about most of the topics in the thumbnails, but knowing how interested i regardless have gotten many times previously i give it a go... and 9/10 times i wont stop midway through

[@womanwithtoolbelt9171]

Usually when I hear someone speaking electrical facts to me I tune out. However, this dude must be a great teacher bc I was able to actually follow 😳

[@TechnologyConnections]

I'm usually not so keen on running incandescent lights anymore, but for the season of various festivities I'll make an exception for this one special set of lights. Hopefully you find them as beautiful as I do!

[@billyboh78]

I'm too very fond of the incandescent lights for this purpose. Maybe it's because I had my eyes almost blinded by the awful set of too-blue too-bright LCD lights of my neighbors. Thank you for this video, I would never thought fairy lights could have such a great amount of physics in them. I hope to find something like the beautiful lights you' ve put on your balcony, but I don't think they sell them here. Too bad!

[@gplustree]

I soooo agree with the "please make LED fairy light sets from warm white LEDs with tinted diffusers" idea. (And with proper flicker smoothing!) Also, the white flickering LED set shows just how bad commodity "warm white" fairy lights still are. It's not white, it's a horrible sickly green. Last season I finally saw a set of warm white LED holiday lights which had me fooled into thinking they were incandescent until I was about 10 feet away. However, this was a custom install on a large house in a rich neighborhood. Interestingly, there was a little waterproof "bullet" every so often, I suspect containing driver electronics. Having seen this, my hope is that we'll get decently colored low-flicker warm white LED xmas lights at the mass market price point in another year or two. (I have also seen a couple sets of good-looking 3000K fairy lights, but only in the wild - I don't know the manufacturer. The lights themselves were much smaller than mini lights.)

[@alternatelives8559]

I agree with you; that is a very nice effect!

[@kyoudaiken]

Hi. I sacrificed 2 old incandescent fairy light strings and replaced the bulbs with diffused smooth color changing RGB LEDs. Each LED has a very own oscillator, thus after a short time they're all drifting and randomizing in color. As a driver, I used a cheap Chinese capacitor dropper off of eBay with full bridge rectifier and smoothing capacitor (BigClive). The result is truly amazing and is comparable to a kind of twinkling.

[@sarah1390]

Check these videos out if you want to create your own set of LED fairy lights kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2raYXdne9yKbqc kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKDTdKGCaLGGY9U kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJmpk2Wudt2dZsU And if you want to program your own set effects kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIOTYn1moJd8m6s

[@kajraske2002]

"Now you're both annoyed!" I love it!

[@Socken1255]

as a Brit who has only ever known those things by the name 'fairy lights'... what are the words he was avoiding using???

[@brandonlowe4311]

I believe it's Christmas lights or Holiday lights. Some people think that if you don't specifically name their holiday, you are somehow marginalizing them, when in reality, they are marginalizing the numerous other holidays that occur around the same time.

[@ThatsPety]

Brandon Lowe actually I think it's safe to say he was talking about the terms "Christmas" and "Xmas", which is a different deal than a simple "holidays"

[@Uhohlisa]

He definitely meant Christmas and Holiday, since so many people insist there's a war on Christmas because stores say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas now (yes, for other countries: This IS a real thing, the group that literally runs this country is obsessed with finding reasons why they're being attacked).

[@ThatsPety]

I literally see nobody complain about the phrase holiday, and it makes no sense that he would go "hmmm hmmm" in place of such a generic word. If anything, your "war on christmas" theory makes a heck of a lot more since if he meant xmas, since xmas is a direct censorship of the word christmas

[@traxxdefluff4543]

I have to say I was a little disappointed when you brought up the Menards jingle as evidence of their eccentric nature, and not the fact that the founder (John Menard) has been banned from his own stores for plowing a truck through the front doors of a new store for not opening on time. I worked at my local Menards for two years, and one of the first things I learned was how much of a lunatic that guy is.

[@lilac9346]

John Menard is my new favorite person

[@chrismofer]

@@lilac9346 :(

[@markp844]

I did not hear that, but I did hear he fired half the people in a new store for not being ready in time

[@kkfoto]

There are so many bizarre stories about this Menard. He seems to be a nasty character.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Joe Bay recently informed me that "Menards" is what a pirate says when you kick him in the crotch.

[@hectorheath9742]

I like this guy, he's totally and shamelessly open. I can relate to his passion for lights..still a kid at heart..that's golden!

[@Joshuacliftojm]

Alec, I thought you'd like to know that because of this video (which I discovered earlier this year, being 2021), I and now my sister share your love of incandescent twinkle lights! We did not know these existed, so thank you for bringing them to our attention and extolling their virtues! We had standard multi-color mini-lights in our living room for year-round ambiance, but they were burning out. Fortunately, because of your video, we were able to replace them with twinkle lights! And thanks to you, I also knew where to find them. The Menards near us stocks them (we live in Indiana and shop in Cincinnati). I also replaced a (working) strand of white lights in my bedroom with white twinkle lights so I can enjoy the effect there, too. We like the gentle, organic, random nature of the incandescent twinkle, and the shimmer effect the flashers cause in the rest of the bulbs. It simulates candle-flame, which is pleasant and relaxing in a living room or bedroom. We love your videos and the way you make obscure, quirky technology fun and fascinating to learn about. Thank you for sharing your interests with us! For other viewers reading this, I've provided information below about the product to help you find it. I am having trouble finding the incandescent twinkle lights using the Menards.com search tool (it finds only the LED lights), so I included the product numbers so you can look them up more directly (though, the website cannot currently find the multi-color product). Product Name: 100 Twinkling Miniature Light Set Brand: Enchanted Forest (distributed by Menard, Inc.) Specs: 100 incandescent lights spaced at 3", green 22-gauge wire, 24.7' (7.5m) lighted length, 26.5' (8m) total length. White Product No.: 284-1565 Multi-Color Product No.: 284-1566

[@elysecouvillion6485]

Thank you so much! I couldn’t find it on their site. Just ordered 2.

[@meredithcheesbrough4774]

Just ordered these! Can’t wait!

[@kj4925]

Ditto! No Menards near me but I was just able to order thanks to everyone’s help. It’s been a frustrating few weeks of trying to find lights that were twinkling and not flashing.

[@chantalhill9268]

as of today-8/23/23- they are on CLEARANCE! @ $4.49 ea!!!!! Even w shipping it's a great price!

[@MikeMietlicki]

@@chantalhill9268I think I got the last two sets at this price. Just have to find 700 more somewhere!

[@itsvoogle]

Agreed, When it comes to Christmas lights, nothing beats the subtle and beautiful incandescent bulb glow. Gives Christmas a more comfy and warm feeling...

[@jorkusmalorkus]

what are christmas lights? this video was about fairy lights

[@mandolinic]

Every time someone says, 'I don't believe in fairy lights,' there is a bulb somewhere that dies.

[@NextRomana]

Every time a bell rings a fairy gets it's wings". With apologies to "It's a Wonderful Life".

[@MattMcIrvin]

Christopher Durang didn't clap hard enough.

[@AFrogInTheStars]

Mandolinic ahhh, that explains it all!

[@jjbarajas5341]

This comment is gold.

[@LMacNeill]

I *knew* I wasn’t crazy!! LED Xmas lights *do* flicker!!! My wife swears they don’t, but I can barely look at our tree this year with all the LED lights she’s put on it!! Drives me nuts!!! I don’t think every person can see the flicker, or maybe they just don’t notice it for some reason. Drives me crazy!!

[@kingjames4886]

not everyone seems to see it the same. I can kinda see if it I really try but my dad always said LEDs drove him nuts... he never much liked those LED bulbs. :P

[@ABaumstumpf]

it also depends on the lights used. We have now bought a near identical illuminated rug 3 times ( a small circular rug with some star-shaped inlays that we put under the tree to catch all the needles). the first does flicker, but it is barely noticeable if i look at it with peripheral vision (the black/white vision is a lot faster than your colour vision). The second is horrible - seems to have a 'nice' 50 Hz flicker and a strong one at that - maybe just a single diode? The 3rd was the same as the 2nd - horrible.

[@kingjames4886]

I guess it really must depend on the person.

[@corsec]

It absolutely depends on the person. I am sensitive enough to flickering that I am unable to watch a film-based move theater, while obviously a lot of people have no problem with the 72Hz flickering there.

[@ChurchOfTheHolyMho]

My solution was simple - incandescent inside (where I see) - LED outside (where its brighter and requires less extension cords). I refused to work with a 60Hz CRT (serious nausea / headache), sometimes have problems at the movies, and am troubled by motion blur in Vizio LCD tvs and the dropped frame in Samsung LCD tvs (although it looks like Samsung has fixed this in their 4K sets). So, is the horrible flicker in the old / cheap LED light strings usually caused by half wave rectifiers?

[@miriamlewis3413]

Wow! My mom and I share your enthusiasm for these very specific, hard to find, twinkling lights! Thank you for this video, I love to know exactly how something works. Now I appreciate these lights even more!

[@thegood9]

We love em dearly. The colors are just "right", and no LED set has yet attained their degree of "imperfection" and warmth.

[@joanbohlman1679]

Please make this a seasonal series. I wanna know how the flicker flame lights and bubble lights work!

[@piratetv1]

big clive has a video about flicker bulbs thats very good

[@JokeDeity2]

@@piratetv1 Pretty sure BigClive has a video on bubble lights as well.

[@frosty_brandon]

Only 5 years later!

[@Mystickneon]

"No, I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM!" lol... almost had the coffee come out my nose there!

[@Lellba47]

I read that right when he said it

[@tubeTreasurer]

I see no problem. Once I bought a super comfortable pair of shoes. Couple month later I went back and bought another 4 pairs. So often stores stop selling stuff I like. NOT THIS TIME HAHHAHA.

[@Montork]

blue leds piss me off too. makes my eyes feel like they are seeing a tear in the universe

[@sirthomasnolan]

There literally Threes of us, Threes!!! (I hate it to, and no one else I know has voiced an opinion about it)

[@JackVermicelli]

I really like those blue ones; they're relatively novel, and eye-catching. Some people take drugs to achieve the same effect.

[@JuanDaMajikOne]

Try and seeing them with cataracts and you'd swear your seeing a halo around them.

[@KairuHakubi]

I had really bad and increasing cataracts while I had blue LED lights up all the time, and I didn't see haloes, but I did have a bizarre effect looking at them.. i'm told it's because your eyes confuse them for being nearer or further than they are, and focus on them wrong also they have enough UV to light up weird parts of the room, especially if you have a huge model/toy collection

[@kellyngrey4950]

I never knew this wasn't just me! I suddenly feel at peace with my visual neurotocism regarding blue LEDs.

[@anthonysaunders345]

I was born in '71 and one of the Christmas rituals I grew up with was testing each string of lights and if necessary locating the burnt-out bulb. One of my favourite visual delights was watching the twinkling of the Christmas tree at night after all the other houselights were off. It was mesmerizing!

[@artoismta]

Hm-hmm lights: Christmas lights Hm-hm-hmm lights: Holiday lights (Edit: every year around this time I get an influx of comments, thank you all.)

[@itechiwizard83]

None of them sounds as nice as fairy lights btw. No I'm not British. But that sounds lovely.

[@BrionesPalomo]

I thought Hm-hm-hmm lights were Hanukkah lights

[@piave874]

Shhhh! "midget lites", or "Merry midget lites" . made by G.E.

[@StevieCooper]

Ohhh. In Australia we’ve always called them fairy lights. No idea it was so contentious

[@revenevan11]

@@StevieCooper it really isn't contentious to the vast majority of sane people ( who aren't a strawman version of a liberal, or an actually "war on Christmas" believing radical evangelical or crazy right winger or white supremacist American. Sure, stores label them as holiday lights so they can sell to a wider audience and convince people that they're not decoration for exclusively one holiday, but whether people are putting them up just for wintery holiday decoration, for hannukah, or for Christmas, most people don't care. But there are certain breeds of Jesus freaks in the US who take anything not being specifically for them as an attack. Almost all people are normal and probably even sensible and decent humans who don't care about this, but this is the internet, so outrage gets amplified.

[@Kemecgabriel]

I'm impressed he hasn't said yet (to my knowledge) "And thank you to all my patreon supporters, you are the ones that keep the lights on"

[@Ck87JF]

That honestly would have been the perfect end to this video on Christmas lights (oh no, I said the C-word! 😮).

[@kathleenwhite9741]

Amen on the new colored lights!!! I've been searching for true twinkle lights for years!!!! Thank you for your information!!!! 😘😘😘😘😘

[@RZRtelevision]

I didn't even realize these were becoming rare! It was some of the most common christmas lighting that came into my thrift store. I would highly recommend checking your local goodwills if you're looking for some.

[@rubiebaker732]

Rewatching this video has become a yearly Christmas tradition like Charlie Brown or the grinch. I love how comforting the simplicity of these lights are and can feel the warm glow of nostalgia as they shimmer. I recommend this video and these lights to everyone, it's a little ridiculous how much I bring them up during the Christmas season. Thanks so much for making it :)

[@zozzy4630]

That hazy halo around the blue LEDs reminds me very much of how most lights look to me without my glasses/contacts. You're spot-on: it feels like you can't actually get your eyes to focus on them for some reason.

[@griffmillerii1885]

Because of the relatively short wavelength of blue light.

[@bigloudnoise]

You mention a dislike for the harshness of colored LED lights, and a desire to see a set that instead uses warm-white LEDs with colored caps. I agree 100%, and in fact just the other night I actually MADE my own set just like that. I bought a set of warm-white plus a set of multi-colored from the local hardware store, and just switched the caps between them. The modified set is MUCH easier on the eyes, and more closely resembles incandescent in my opinion.

[@theuncalledfor]

I like the colored LED's. They're more intense. I even like cold blue-white LED street lamps. Most of all, I like when there's variety. Not all lamps should have the same color. It's more pleasant that way, for me.

[@pifci]

Wow, I had no idea so many people hate blue LEDs. They were always my favourite specifically because of their harsh and unearthly appearence.

[@dauf69]

@@pifci Those things you just mentioned are what drives people to hate blue LEDs.

[@matthew8153]

bigloudnoise You’ve got to teach me exactly what to do step by step. I want an LED set so it’ll last 20 years but I can’t stand the way they look.

[@erictheberry]

@@pifci Same here. I think the shade of blue is really beautiful as a nice cobalt blue is my favorite color. And I love how piercing they are at night.

[@Dev-lc4cd]

Woah, another human being that appreciates these twinkling incandescent lights as much as I do, I'm not alone. I've been watching your channel for more than a year, but I just came across this video. Well, this is where I'll deposit my thoughts on rope lights for the first time ever, because I'm way more into rope lights than most, and I never get to share what I know. I know this video is years old, but I really hope you'll read this, because I know for certain you'll appreciate it more than most. Here's the most essential tip I could ever give about white incandescent string lights: Connect them to an outlet dimmer. Not only does this extend the life of the bulbs, but they gain a huge boost aesthetically. They become more richly ambered when dimmed, and also another quality that's indescribable. You really have to see it for yourself to understand, it quite stunning. Also, the twinkling bulbs will twinkle more slowly the more you dim them. I use a bluetooth controlled outlet dimmer by GE, allows you to control the level of dimming using an app on your phone, and to make multiple schedules to dim the light to a certain level and different times throughout the day. I have these twinkling rope lights permanently hanging throughout my house, so I'll have them scheduled to gradually increase in brightness in the morning to wake me up, and gradually dim in the evening. It makes it more versatile because often having so many of these lights on at full brightness is too much, so you can dial it in for different situations to make them more comfortable. It allows me to have 658ft of "icicle" style white twinkling ropes lights always on, inside and outside, to some degree of brightness, without it ever feeling too much, too bright or visually busy. Then there's the practical benefit. What wears out incandescent bulbs is repeatedly being turned on and off, the huge rapid shift from being in a cold state to searing hot. Also, being lit at full brightness, and also movement, all for the same reason: The tungsten filament is more fragile when its hot, it breaks more easily. In fact, there's a lighthouse that's reputed to be using the same incandescent bulb for more than 100 years because the bulb is rarely turned off, and never subjected to movement. Before I learned about this, I was replacing about 45 bulbs per week on average. Once I put them on dimmers, and never turn them off, never go beyond 80% brightness, and started handle them carefully, that number went down to only 4 bulbs being replaced per week, it blew my mind. LEDs just cannot compete with incandescent rope lights, aesthetically, which is why I went through the trouble of figuring all this out. Not only is the color of the light more pleasing, but the way the glass encasement makes the light sparkle has a mesmerizing effect. And most importantly, as you noted, the twinkling is random. The patterned twinkling of the LED variety just breaks the charm. That's also why I like using the "icicle" variety. The way the bulbs hang randomly placed in the space makes them look more like stars in the sky, especially with dimming: When you dim these twinkling sets, the light of the non-twinkling bulbs are smaller and less bright than the twinkling bulbs, so there's also an added variation in light size. The more variation, the better. But here's something I can't understand, and maybe you could figure out: If turning incandescent bulbs on and off stresses them and shortens their lifespan, why does that not seem to be true for the twinkling bulbs???

[@KerbalRocketry]

"Now you're both annoyed!" *laughs ecstatically in british*

[@KairuHakubi]

surprised fairy lights isn't even more offensive these days :p

[@zombieregime]

Can confirm. Was annoyed.

[@dragonridertechnologies]

I know, to all of the above. It was great.

[@WR3ND]

@@KairuHakubi _"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the yuletide gay."_ XD

[@thannbanis3639]

What were the two terms?

[@LawyermomIowa]

Been looking for the twinkling lights in this video for 2 years. Love them.

[@wolfsbane4516]

I absolutely agree on the colouring and randomness of the twinkling being key. My parents replaced our brilliant twinkling lights for our Christmas tree with lights that don't twinkle at all and it just doesn't have the same peaceful magic as it used to.

[@MichaelColeman]

I have to admit I'm one of those people who never was aware of "twinkle lights" as something unique. But now I have to find some!

[@ansulfolf5343]

You sure helped keep these lights alive. I decorated my house with four strands of these lights "two clear and two multicolor" as well as two strands of their C9 counterparts on the roofline. You are right it sure is quite a pleasing effect. Thank you for bringing them to my attention.

[@Alurith]

Anyone else made it a Christmas tradition to watch these Christmas light vids every year? Also, anywhere to buy the good twinkling lights, in 2022?

[@sinfashion0]

I do. Every year. Love my lights

[@thetastywhale]

I enjoy the description of how these work, and our shared dislike for the orange bulbs and fake twinkle lights.

[@sallyjenkins4265]

Omigosh! I’ve been looking for these everywhere! No one even knows or understands what I’m talking about!! You are the best! I hope I can find this kind somewhere!!!

[@Bertie_Ahern]

I thought I was the only person who even realised this type of xmas light existed; it's by far the best twinkling type, especially the ones where you have 4-5 different randomly twinkling sub-strands within one single set. My set was bought in 1995 in the UK but I don't think I've seen them on sale here in around 15-20 years.

[@sarah-ci4xh]

I don't know how this video was recommended to me, but I'm so glad to find there are others! I had one precious string of these twinkle lights, and guarded them fiercely for years, but now they are lost! I am beside myself. They don't sell them anymore. No one else uses them. They were magical. And now that magic is gone.

[@ChrisHewitt16]

I know you made this comment a year ago, and your twinkle light situation might have changed, but if not occasionally these sets appear on eBay. I have a set from eBay and they are the exact same lights we had when I was a kid!

[@tarabooartarmy3654]

My dad was upset for years because he couldn’t find the old twinkle lights anymore. When I was a kid in the 80s, we always had the multicolored twinkle lights that actually seemed to all twinkle individually and they had a pretty flower shaped shield around them. It’s a shame they don’t make those anymore. They were beautiful. Yellow, blue, pink, green, red was my favorite color combination back then.

[@Achiyugo]

You are absolutely right about the light colors.

[@JagaimoNeko]

I was born in 1994 and raised in Europe. In this season I finally was able to find two unopened red boxes of “20 miniature lights” (a red paper box with an oval plastic window and an image of the Christmas tree). It’s so nostalgic! They were selling these boxes in the late 90s - early 2000s, my parents were really doubtful about them “because it’s cheap China, you know”. To me, they’re perfect: incandescent “candles” with a blinker bulb. They even smell like Christmas to me, I’m so happy!

[@williammcfarlane4681]

I totally enjoyed this presentation as I was looking for the twinkling lights and didn't know where to find them or how they worked. The video was excellent and the presenter very professional and entertaining. Thanks. Cheers

[@ndz9818]

Anyone else in love with how passionate he is about these “fairy light” colors?

[@beckel3593]

Me!!

[@JimC]

I love the randomly twinkling lights, too! I miss them and I'd love to have some! In the 50s and 60s we had some standard-sized blinking (as they were called then, IIRC) lights in the strands for our Xmas tree. (All of those strands were wired in parallel, so we didn't have to hunt for burned-out bulbs.) Around 1960 we got one strand of the miniature twinkling lights (all colors) that we used to decorate the inside of our front door. IIRC again, Italian restaurants used a lot of them for atmosphere! The interesting thing about the strand we had is that it had was almost all twinkling lights except for a few slightly larger, dimmer lights that were always on. My older brothers guessed they were there to handle the excess voltage when a large proportion of the twinkling lights happened to blink off.

[@paradust]

I like how on one side you have an old CRT TV and on the other a LED printer. It adds a nice touch in line with the rest of your videos.

[@michealdrake3421]

I lit my first apartment's bedroom with these. I just had them stretched at full length around the perimeter of the ceiling and the twinkling and flickering made it look just like the room was amply lit by candle light at all times, and it was fantastic. To be honest I highly recommend them if you think you'd like that effect

[@michealdrake3421]

I did have a ceiling light, but it was a harsh, stark white cfl and I liked the warm yellow of the incandescent string lights better

[@sofjanmustopoh7232]

This is season to be jolly You are the men I’m at my wit end trying to explain twinkle is DIFFERENT than flasher People think I’m crazy 😀

[@honda2363]

When I was young we moved into an old house that had some things stored away in the basement by a previous owner. One of those things was a few sets of "bubble lights" which I'd never seen before. We used them for years until the plastic housing that held the bubble tubes became brittle and broke down, likely from the extra heat they produced to heat the liquid-filled glass tubes (perhaps also their age). These lights looked amazing and were very different to anything I've seen, and it seems that you can still at least find "vintage repros" on places like eBay. Not sure how they'd compare to the old ones we had.

[@wades623]

we used to have those and put them on the tree. they are tubes filled with alcohol and it boils when they get warm enough.

[@choreomaniac]

We had a set too. They were cool!

[@Mama_eats]

Me, a Midwesterner: these aren’t rare, I bought them last week? Me, a few minutes later: a yes, Menards, that’s why...

[@gambitonemillion]

Hey Rebecca, after watching this video I have realised my grandparents had these when I was a kid. I cannot get my hands on them her anymore ( it’s led only here in Melbourne Australia) and I can’t tout from menards online. Could you buy a set and I’ll pay you via PayPal for the product and postage? . Hopefully it’s pretty easy for you but if not no problem. Have a merry Christmas!

[@sentientarugula2884]

@@gambitonemillion Well this is obviously late but next time you want to buy something from the US (like these Menards lights) try a service like www.myus.com/, it's a US to Australia third-party shipper. Menard's doesn't ship to PO boxes but these services give you a custom address in the US, which you can enter as your home address and then they will pick the product up from that address and ship it overseas.

[@sentientarugula2884]

@@gambitonemillion Never mind it seems you found a pair that ships to the land down under! Have a good one

[@chantalhill9268]

Omg, so happy to find your video! LOVE THESE!! I had these for a few years and after they finally died I was so upset I couldn't find them anywhere! I must have called a million Ace Hardware stores...

[@kimberleysmith5876]

Ah, I just found this channel at xmas 2020 and then this came up in my feeds. As a 50+ Floridian (with mid-Western parents) we grew up using colored xmas lights that twinkled. I think each of our 3 sets were from JM Fields and were $1 in the early 70s. As the youngest, I got to help putting them away in the original flimsy boxes. I was proud to make them fit. When we got them out the next year, my dad and I would test them and replace any bulbs. Although we didn't use them anymore (due to their age) I was devastated a few years ago when my older sister told me she'd tossed them out. Fond memories. Plenty of pictures though. Am still a color lights gal even if it is now LED...thanks for the video.

[@PaulphotoeyeVideo]

You could be British with that amount of irony and sarcasm. I would know I am British! Love your videos!

[@lostboy626]

I love these lights too! I grew up with them and we continue the hunt to find them. I’m glad that led’s are coming up with a take on the twinkle to keep it alive, but you are right, the bulbs do it better. Also, we used to also use the twinkling c9 and c7 bulbs as well. Much easier to find in the 90’s.

[@kathleenwhite9741]

Thank you for talking about these true twinkle lights! They're my favorite and remember them from my childhood. No one around where I live( including Christmas stores) seems to know anything about them.

[@derrikhester5182]

As a theatrical lighting technician, I appreciate your use of “lamp” instead of “bulb” 💯

[@derrikhester5182]

I also share your love of these fairy lights

[@derrikhester5182]

Wow didn’t expect to hear a Menards commercial today, something I haven’t seen in over a decade. What a wild journey

[@pausmth]

Man, love going back to this video when you come up with new and exciting ways for dealing with crappy xmas lights.

[@grendelum]

Why people aren't using *_FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIERS_* (sorry, a little *ElectroBOOM* slipped out) on LED displays is maddening... driving past an auto dealer with a couple hundred feet of LED figures and fences at 35mph was migraine inducing !!!

[@mspenrice]

Because it's just cheaper to connect them all up in series (which gives you your voltage drop) and ignore the negative-going part of the mains wave completely, rather than adding extra hardware that's more manufacturing cost, more points of failure, and hardly anyone will appreciate? So long as the frequency is high enough, and the lights and viewer aren't moving at any significant speed relative to each other (which is the usual case), they'll still look like they're giving a steady light. Those which run off batteries for convenience, or off 12V DC transformers for safety are your saviours, anyway. They don't have any meaningful flicker at all, and the sets which have various programmed flashy patterns should be almost totally constant when in non-flash mode, because they're being driven off an electronic PCB, which of course demands steady DC...

[@zebunker]

Because 99% of people work 40plus hours a week and only shop at big box stores and dont care.

[@mspenrice]

Or in other words, it's cheaper that way.

[@rich1051414]

Wouldn't it shorten their life letting them go -120v? I assume it is why they add the power diode in series along with a capacitor(sometimes). 1 power diode is cheaper than a step down transformer, 4 diodes, and smoothing capacitors.

[@RAndrewNeal]

I don't understand why they don't use two diodes in each bulb, that way, it reduces the need for extra diodes. But using a *FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER* would allow for smoothing the power with a capacitor and inductor.

[@turnerlarson12]

Thank you for calling out those weird purple and orange bulb strans! Glad to know I'm not the only one who noticed this.

[@Tshizzle42o]

Ilike the purple and orange combo. Great Halloween lights

[@sandraandrus4701]

Now I know I’m not the only one too 😊

[@minnybiker4505]

I agree with your take on this. I want lights to twinkle randomly, as if the sun was reflecting off of icy or snowy branches in a light breeze. I'm in love with Twinkly lights. I have 1200 on some bushes out front. They're expensive, but fantastic!

[@Vexnatos]

if you mean the fancy rgb lights, you're not alone; I have a few sets as well and I love how versatile they are

[@gd8610]

I knew i liked lights from my child hood better but now i know why! The twinkling was better back then!!! Thank you for the info and raising awareness!!

[@hailbaphomet]

I love how he gets into to the pros and cons of the types of things we just spend the least amount of money on and call it a day.

[@Colenol13]

ive noticed that this video is more relaxed than most of your others but still just as informative. its helped to calm my mood after the past few days. if i wasnt subbed already i would have just done so

[@HebaruSan]

Upvoted for Menards.

[@katiedwyer659]

Til, menards is only a Midwest thing and I feel so bad for the millions of people who have never been to menards

[@pamacons]

@@katiedwyer659 what's funny is Menards is older than home Depot but since they're still a private company that doesn't take out any debt they are still much smaller

[@pauljs75]

Can be cheaper than the other chains, but you're totally screwed if you ever have to do a return.

[@DED_MEEM]

I feel like Menards was the hardware store Weird Al was talking about...

[@jfm14]

@Orbis Dev Ha, that brings back memories! We kids came up with all sorts of crude parodies of that jingle back in gradeschool.

[@dr.awesome5247]

6:47 "If you're not an American Mid-Westerner, you probably don't know Menards." I laughed harder at that than I should have.

[@commentingisawasteoftime7195]

What a pirate says when you kick him in the jingle bells...

[@hope6629]

i love fairy lights and how diffused the light is, they’re so much easier on my eyes than traditional light sources that they’re slowly taking over my home :’)

[@jbsbrickkiln9254]

So this just popped back up in my recommendations. This year I have a string of these random twinkle lights mixed in with others on my tree, and two sets of random twinkle icicle lights in my windows. I love the shimmer effect talked about in this video as the flasher bulbs make the whole string shimmer. It is a truly dazzling effect!

[@jfm14]

I've always called them string lights. Honestly, I don't even associate them with the holidays. They're an ideal year-round decoration in my book! 😁

[@CIorox_BIeach]

Same here. I call 'em "Christmas lights" but I don't associate them with Christmas.

[@L3yon]

In germany they are simply called light chain (lichterkette)

[@charlesslaton5924]

"And now you are both annoyed". And that's why we love you man. :)

[@stu1701E]

Agreed, this is the best type of twinkling effect. Have had a Noma brand set since the mid 90s, and it's the most reliable set we've ever had. Stuff made by Noma in that period seemed to be of much higher quality than what we get now.

[@LightBoxDays]

I agree with you about everything except the colors. I am an 80's kid, was spoilt with the beauty of non led fairy light Christmases. Our lights had little flower petals casements like glass ornaments, and the colors included red, orange, and a golden yellow, as well as a royal blue, green, turquoise blue, and a beautiful pink. Without the pink and turquoise colors I don't find the same magical glow. Christmas lights that only contain the primary colors have no subtle variation, especially when looking at led lights!! The lights I remember used to twinkle without twinkling , the glow, the casement, the color variation, caused an ilusion of twinkling through the layers of branches and needles. That said, I do like those twinkle lights you explained about so indeptly, you really do know about the science behind the magic. Thank you for your sharing 🌟🙂🎄

[@jamespolnick]

holy shit, the comment about the colors of the lights is complete right! red yellow blue green, nothing else! another fantastic video!

[@tjhess2]

I'm just now catching up on your older videos, and this one is absolutely hilarious! Your sense of humor is greatly appreciated. Thank you for the laughs and teaching me something I've always wondered about during that time of year. Sidenote, I replaced FORTY bulbs on my pre-stranded tree this past year. I kept putting it off, but now I see why I should stay on top of that. My HMM HMMM tree thanks you!

[@raydunakin]

When I was growing up we had the old-fashioned full-sized Christmas lights instead of the mini lights. My favorite thing was the "twinkle" bulbs. You could buy a whole set of twinkling lights, though that was expensive and thus uncommon. Or you could buy the bulbs separately and mix them in with your regular lights. The twinkle bulbs came in the same variety of colors as the regular bulbs, which was another nice feature. When the mini lights became popular, I was bummed that there were no mini twinkle lights. Even now the few mini twinklers are just clear, not color, and you can't buy them separately.

[@BrooklynWalker]

That, indeed, was my favorite.

[@raydunakin]

@@BrooklynWalker As a kid I used to love lying on the living room floor at night and watching the multi-colored shadows from the Christmas tree on the ceiling. Every time a twinkle light went on or off the shadows would change.

[@BusyElectrons]

​@@raydunakin I also did this as a young child and it remains one of the most powerful memories of my life from that time. I would lie on the floor for a long while just watching the lights and shadows dancing around the ceiling. It seemed almost magical to me.

[@raydunakin]

@@BusyElectrons Yes! I felt the same way!

[@NextRomana]

We're one of *those* homes. During the holidays we have a fan base for our display. We do a ton of customization and are big on repairing rather than replacing. "Cascade failure" and "shunt" are terms we use daily this time of year. Just last night we were hitting the stores and *hoarding* twinkle lights. We're transitioning to LED (love the literal headaches from the flicker) but there's no LED equivalent to twinkle bulbs we've found. Having watched this, my husband will be going out today to grab some more ;) BTW, they're referred to as "amber" not "orange" :D. In my experience, the yellow bulbs are very pale, and in a year or two are basically white and have to be re-painted or replaced.

[@TechnologyConnections]

Just a quibble; I wouldn't call the orange lights "amber". Amber is the color of a turn signal or traffic light, much closer to yellow than orange.

[@NextRomana]

It's nuts this time of year. We used to decorate indoors; now we just get the tree up by the evening before the Holiday. We have people driving by the house constantly - even while we're still decorating, which is a little awkward ;)

[@NextRomana]

I think they're called "orange" for Halloween ;D. For the holidays they're called amber. They are ever-so-slightly less orange-y. I really liked this segment. We're somewhat techie here, but we were all educated by you. Thank you!

[@fuflang]

And while you're just quibbling, Technology Connections, they are definately christmas lights.

[@dhpbear2]

They should market sets of lights for Halloween: orange and black ;)

[@cfblythe]

Visiting Menards when I go home to South Dakota each winter is a both baffling and rewarding experience I look forward to each year. That jingle really brings me back!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

I remember the old twinkle lights. I wanted them as a kid, but never had them. You brought up good memories.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I just bought a set of these to use as background to my KZbin channel. Thank you for the physics/engineering lesson about them.

[@kevinnowak6680]

As in your other Fairy Light video/s, every opinion you share is spot on how I feel, no matter how minute ( your opinions on yellow for example.) Funny and gratifying that someone else holds such similar and strong opinions about something so seemingly trivial. By the end, I had to say something. I will stock up on these too if ACE gives me the chance. Thanks for clarifying thought and holding a candle for all of us "analog" lighters.

[@PanduPoluan]

The scene of the lights on your balcony is so peaceful... Can you like, make a 1h-2h video of just that?

[@Cole_1]

As soon as you got done with the fairy lights joke I could tell I was going to like this one

[@pildo12345]

I always thought they twinkeled thanks to the magic of christmas. Those lights you showed at the end are truly delightful

[@bureizukappa]

Omg this is the kind of detail criticism that I live for! Also I completely agree with you on the multi color lights! I just want a warm white led set that does a slow fade fade out twinkle.

[@susanreynolds9947]

what brand name for the random twinkle lights?

[@blaknoizee]

I didnt know Menard's even sold them. I'm surely getting me some this year!! I miss the twinkle lights.

[@bdr420i]

I'm not Christian but I really envy you because you have this time of the year to have chance to play with this lights 😍 but seriously I feels Alek is an old man live inside a young man 😂 I love his old-school subjects

[@ianquyck9834]

Bader Al Araimi Many tech nerds have a fondness for old school tech. Even if there’s no practicality

[@lostindixie]

Christian or not, everyone is invited to play with the lights, toy trains, Dickens Village, Santa. Even the tree isn't really a religious thing.

[@bdr420i]

lostindixie thank you ^^

[@bryansullo9798]

I learned more about stranded lights in the first four minutes of this video than I have in over forty Christmas seasons.

[@Krushak8888]

I just found this channel and I love listening to while i work 3rd shift custodian job. The mere fact he called out people and said fairy lights made me laugh.

[@TDGalea]

I honestly prefer fairy lights over LED. They just seem much more Christmas-y.

[@theuncalledfor]

They're ALL fairy lights. What you mean is "incandescent".

[@omardude39]

I've never seen these sets before! The operation of them is remarkably simple but I think everyone agrees (once you've drawn attention to it) that the shimmering effect they have on the rest of the set is very pleasing. It reminds me of the throw of light from a fireplace on a dark winter night. I'm one of your fan-followers over here in the UK, and in a couple of months when Christmas is round the corner I will look out for these lights to see if they are available, and if so, from where.

[@The.Plague]

It's been more than a couple of months. Are they available? And if so, from where?

[@kegthoth-rha]

So! I found another set of these! Tupkee Shimmering Twinkle lights on Amazon. I just got them in today, and they are these kinds of lights!

[@susanreynolds9947]

awesome.... love that the multi have the red green blue yellow and magenta color combo of the 1970s.

[@jagerpowell1458]

I could care less about lights but... somehow I'm hooked? I like this guy. Thanks youtube algorithm for letting me find this guy

[@deejaytrudell]

I remember the first year that these lights were sold. It was 1980 and a new store had just opened at South Coast Plaza, our local mall. Simply named the Christmas Store. What they sold was anything but simple. Mostly imported German x-mas decorations, advent candles, and nutcrackers. Several artificial x-mas trees displayed hand blowen glass orniments ranging in size from one inch to a whopping 16 inches. One of the artificial trees even snowed on it's self with little styrofoam balls that were collected and recirculated. What I remember most was that nearly all of the store's decorations were lit with clear random twinkling lights. I was mesmerized by their effect. At that time I was only 13 years old and probably had no more than 10 dollars in my pocket. I had to have a set of these lights. It took a bit and I was so exceited to finally find them. I picked up one of the few remaining boxes and headed towards the cashier. Standing in line I looked at this little box of 50 lights and was horrified when I saw how much they were selling for. My heart sank. In 1980 a set of 50 mini lights usually sold for around $4.99. A set of specialty lights were a couple of dollars more. The Christmas Store in SCP was $34.99 a lot more than the ten dollars I had in my pocket. Sadly I turned around to put the box back where I had found it. I remember thinking what if I just walked out of the store with them, would I get caught. It was super busy with customers and sales people. But that wasn't me. Apon returning to the location where the lights were shelved, I noticed that all of those lights were gone. I stopped a sales woman and asked if they had any more of the same lights that I was holding. To which she replied "hang on tight to those ones kid. There selling like hotcakes and that is the last box.". I just stood there. I must have had the look of shock on my face when I realized that a woman that I slighty recognized kept asking me if I was okay. It was a close friend of my stepmother's. I told her that I was fine but I don't think my reply was too convincing. I set the box on the shelf behind a different type of lights in hope that they would be there if I returned. My stepmother's friend ask me to say "hi" to my parents and whished me a Merry Christmas. A couple of weeks later it was Christmas eve. My brother,sister and I woud spend that evening with our father and stepmother for dinner and presents. By the end of the evening we were getting ready to go to our mother's house to spend Christmas day. While we were loading the car my stepmother gave us a hug and a kiss, wishing us a Merry Christmas and handed my brother, sister and I a final present each. I could tell by the shape of the box it was See's candy. She said, "These are from your Uncle Andy and Aunt Colleen." They wern't really our relatives. My sister tore open the wrapping paper. See's candy, a one pound box. It was the same for my brother. I figured I would unwrap my later since it was the same. My stepmother asked why I was not opening my present. Becauce it's the same as theirs I replied, my brothers and sisters that is. "Are you sure about that?", she shot back. Well no I said as I slowly pealed the See's candy sticker from the end and unfolded the red paper from the box. To my surprise it was the set of twinkle lights from the Christmas Store. My stepmother's friend bought the box that I had hidden, and had it wrapped at the See's candy store to fool me, and it did.

[@WCM1945]

Thanks for convincing me that I'm not the only picky-as-h**l guy when it comes to Christmas lights. So much so that I don't use them at all anymore, since the new ones just don't do it for me. An early Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[@REWYRED]

I never knew these even existed! My favourites used to be the standard C7 or C9 incandescent Christmas bulb that had the bimetal switch and would blink at random

[@stu1701E]

Today I found the closest approximation to this effect using LEDs I've ever seen, and they're on sale now in the UK under the name "Premier FireBrights" in Vintage Gold colour. It looks like manufacturers have been listening! The same factory in China probably makes them for other brands in the US and elsewhere. Please upvote this for visibility.

[@stu1701E]

I bought a set and made a video of them in action here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpCofX6ml9uAiLs

[@TheBertLocker]

The correct color combination! Preach!

[@naysmith5272]

Its that time of year again. I just ordered some 'retro' fairy lights from habitat (i'm in uk) so looking forward to seeing how they appear.

[@LakeNipissing]

Excellent presentation as always! How warm did your incandescent scarf get while making this video? Incidentally, last year I uploaded a video with 50 year old (tungsten filament and methyl chloride *bubbler*) and 100 year old (carbon filament) Christmas lights. They are in series string of eight and operate at 14 to 15 volts each.

[@sweethomeboston2720]

50 years ago, the bubblers were the center of attention at our house when we unwrapped all of the lights and ornaments from the stiff tissue paper they had slept in all year. Breakage of a bubbler was as serious as a death in the family.

[@LakeNipissing]

In case someone doesn't know, here is how bubble lights look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKrbkKGmqcyoppI

[@TechnologyConnections]

It was pretty uncomfortable. Not intolerable, but unpleasant. And thanks for the kind words! I've seen pictures of antique Christmas lights and I've always found it funny just how quickly those, um, came to light in the history of electric lighting.

[@randymagnum6680]

Sweethomeboston haha, I think my parents still have some of our bubblers, most of them went into night lights as the older style light strings went the wayside

[@Yahriel]

I really like the monochromatic LEDs. I like the brightest, bluest, most intense colors of light I can get, though, so it's entirely a matter of personal preference.

[@carlysmarlyson]

target had them!!! my mom was on a hunt for them this year, we love twinkling lights!!!

[@susanreynolds9947]

Carly, can you remember what the box said? were the twinkle lights target brand?

[@MsAngrybutterfly]

This video predicted the future! I'm watching this in 2020, and I saw LED lights with warm white LED's with colored filters like he's describing, for the first time this year. They were part of a neighbor's display who is a professional florist, and I live in California, so I don't know how common they are yet, but this is also 3 years after this video was made. They have an effect that is so similar to the incandescent lights I actually had to feel them to make sure I was looking at LEDs.

[@twigletthecat]

I have just revisited this video as every year at Christmas I remember my twinkle set, my mum had a set and I had a set here in the UK, unfortunately long gone, they were exquisite and I really miss them. The bulbs became impossible to find in the end for me and I had to give up on them.😢 thank you for explaining how they worked though, truly fascinating.