We have always had a real tree but the wife says this may be the year to change that. She is looking at pre-lit trees but several friends have had bad experiences with lights going out after one or two uses and it becomes a real PITA to repair if in fact you are able too. I am leaning to putting on strands of lights the old fashioned way. If they die you pitch and replace. What are your experiences? Thanks, Kevin

We've been doing what you said. Bought a $800 tree about 10 years ago. Worked good the first 4-5 years, then intermittently, then not at all.So the last few years, we just put strands on it. Bought an after Christmas sale last year. Hope it lasts, but honestly my expectations are to get 3-4 years of use from the pre-lit.

I have a little pre-lit tree that some of the lights stopped working, so a couple of years ago I bought a larger one with LED lights. I'd expect the LEDs to be good for many years, but the power/control module might suffer failure. I certainly would not buy a pre-lit tree with anything but LEDs at this point in time.

I have cats, so I don't hang ornaments on the tree -- just enjoy it lit up.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by BigJnSA:
We've been doing what you said. Bought a $800 tree about 10 years ago. Worked good the first 4-5 years, then intermittently, then not at all.So the last few years, we just put strands on it. Bought an after Christmas sale last year. Hope it lasts, but honestly my expectations are to get 3-4 years of use from the pre-lit.

Same,
Ours, some of them work in sections and I've just added a few strands to fill in the blank areas. The lights don't match exactly but when it's all done up, that's our tree and I'm not bothered by it.
If it really bothered me, I could just unplug the pre-lights and go all old fashioned.

We've had several pre-lit trees over the years and have now gone to a nicer artificial tree with separate strands of lights. In my experience, folding and storage is harder on the pre-lit trees than actual use. After about 2 years in the attic, the wiring begins to degrade. Loved the concept, but haven't found one yet that can stand up to a SC summer in the attic.

We bought a pre-lit tree years ago at Lowe’s.

I saved receipt and warranty. Over the next couple years I ended up with a replacement tree a section at a time. The replacements died and we moved to hanging lights on a tree.

Get one at Costco, then when it dies take it back if you feel you didn’t get enough use.
But a wreath for the smell.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.9mm:
We've had several pre-lit trees over the years and have now gone to a nicer artificial tree with separate strands of lights. In my experience, folding and storage is harder on the pre-lit trees than actual use. After about 2 years in the attic, the wiring begins to degrade. Loved the concept, but haven't found one yet that can stand up to a SC summer in the attic.

Mine is stored in a spare bedroom, only partially folded. Dallas summers are hot, too.

flashguy

They’re all “Made in China”, so consider that. I go real.

Edited to read “All I’ve shopped and viewed are Made in China.”

We like them just fine.

Best advice I can offer - get the lightest one you can possibly find that is still visually acceptable. Our prior tree looked nice but was an absolute beast! The newest one is a skinny tree the wife wanted. It's not as nice to look at but it is 50 lbs lighter.

We are on our second, the first had some lights go out but it also was non led.

Second one from Costco is full LED, with color changing tech, multiple types of light, all white, all color, different timing of light sequences.

Easy as heck to put up, the connectors are in the middle stem of the tree, no plugs except one to the wall. At the price of real trees, and that I'd prefer trees stay live, in the ground, we've enjoyed artificial trees just as much.

Online link below, I'd go into the stores and check for whats in stock...

https://www.costco.com/Catalog...word=christmas+trees

I worked for the Forest Service and the annual ritual of going out and harvesting a Christmas tree was sacred. Our kids are grown now, but the tradition continued; then we moved here. Came to find out that the closest area on the Med Bow was off limits for tree cutting and we faced a drive of nearly one hundred miles before we could begin to look for a tree. Two years ago we bought one from Costco, probably like HRK’s. I don’t know about long term, but it’s aww-iight.

My daughter has an artificial tree with
lights from Lowes. Has worked fine, I think she bought it about three years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

quote:

Originally posted by BigJnSA:
We've been doing what you said. Bought a $800 tree about 10 years ago. Worked good the first 4-5 years, then intermittently, then not at all.So the last few years, we just put strands on it. Bought an after Christmas sale last year. Hope it lasts, but honestly my expectations are to get 3-4 years of use from the pre-lit.

Same,
Ours, some of them work in sections and I've just added a few strands to fill in the blank areas. The lights don't match exactly but when it's all done up, that's our tree and I'm not bothered by it.
If it really bothered me, I could just unplug the pre-lights and go all old fashioned.

Same with my pre-lit tree. It lasted a few years, I repaired it one year, then we just bought some strands to fill in the missing lights.

Last year I bought a fake tree on Amazon for under 100 bucks and several strands of lights at Target for a few buck each. Tree looked just fine.

This also falls under the category of "You get what you pay for".

My wife is a Christmas Tree snob. We would spend hours on multiple tree lots finding just the right tree.

A few years back she bought a Balsam Hill. https://www.balsamhill.com

It is the tree that all the Hallmark Christmas movies use.

Anyway, the thing looks amazing. My wife is happy. And I no longer have to spend a half to a full day each year in late November driving from lot to lot in search of the perfect tree.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: holdem,

We just bought a Balsam Hill also,we will see how it works out over the years. It gives you 3 options for lights,white,colored and flashing,you can change them easily with the control module.

Real trees aren't much of an option for us. The "you get what you pay for" argument is typically a very good point. Some of the comments in this thread about $800 trees failing though...make you wonder. We bought the most we could afford (probably about $500) about 7 years ago. We keep it in a purpose-made storage bag in a temperature-controlled environment, but it's also usually up for about 4 months a year (we love Christmas). So far, it still works perfect. Probably bought it from Home Depot? Could have been Fred Meyers. It probably is made in China also.

Like Valkyrie1, we have a Balsam Hill pre lit tree. Thus far no issues with the lights and it is easy to put up and then put away. However, even though it is pre lit, my wife insists on additional strands of lights so that her Hallmark ornaments that either light up or have motion can be plugged into the extra lights. I wish Balsam Hill and Hallmark would get their heads together to make the pre lit sockets accept the Hallmark ornament plugs. Oh well, it is only once a year and my wife gets much joy from the tree when it is finished and it does look amazing. A very Merry Early Christmas to you all. Be blessed.

Another for Balsam Hill - had it 4 years and will never look at another brand. (unless it shits the bed this December, of course)

Balsam Hill for the win if you want nice