That is true, but desn't do much for the planet! I'd be interested (for my general education if nowt else) in an answer to the original question. Douglas de Lacey.
What's 'greener' - buying an extra string of lights when you buy the first one, or ordering a replacement bulb from RS, which will be packaged in a parge box with lots of polystyrene peanuts, and delivered to your door by ParcelForce van?
Get real... and if you really have any environmental concerns, don't buy trees/bulbs in the first place. And try to cut back on those present - the packaging is shocking.
Have a good look at the way the bulbs are wired, they will probably be wired so that the power goes through each bulb in a big loop. E.g.:
L -------- B ---- B ---- B ---- B ---- B ---- B --+ | N ------------------------------------------------+
L = Line B = Bulb N = Neutral
Some sets basically wire the bulbs in two sets:
L -+------ B ---- B ---- B -----------------------+ \-------------------------- B ---- B ---- B --+ | N ------------------------------------------------+
Or:
L -+------ B ----------- B ----------- B ---------+ \------------ B ----------- B ------------ B -+ | N ------------------------------------------------+
There may be a few other versions, but I guess the above options would account for most.
The mains is (give or take a bob or two) 240v.
You can now work out the voltage of the bulbs by counting the number of bulbs in a set and dividing 240 by that number. If there are different wattages available in that voltage then you may have problems - if the wattages are different the distribution of voltage will not be equal and you will blow something (hopefully the fuse bulb). Try getting a range of values and see which one causes all the bulbs to be about as bright as each other.
All in all, the safest option is always to go for a new set, and if you do so make sure that you keep a note of the bulb type!
Hopefully very soon we will get LED sets so no need to buy new bulbs every year.
Of course the set manufacturers don't want this because they make thier money by this bulb confusion trick. Every couple of years you have to buy a new set because no mater which set you bought you just can't seem to get the bulbs any more (and even if you can you end up spending the same for a couple of years' supply as the original set!).
Visited parents who have diminutively sized Christmas tree with a set of 20 bulbs on it. Was working for a while and had then failed. They had used up the spare bulbs.
Went to nearby garden centre and packs of 5 bulbs were £3.99. New set of lights was £2.99.
Problem sorted and I don't need to pull out 20 bulbs to test with the meter only to discover it's the last one that is class F.
That's all very well, but I know that some bulbs are 3V. So if the bulb glows very brightly for just a moment, I can assume it used to be a 3 volt one.
I've been messing about with a variable power supply and a current meter to see if a bulb glows at a similar brightness to existing ones. The idea is to try and reconcile orphaned spare bulbs with their original sets. I'm rather astonished at just how many variants there seem to be.
But I'm more astonished that there doesn't seem to be any known source for these bulbs.
You'll probably just have to "do the rounds", try garden centres, Wilkinsons, Poundland as well as Woolies etc.
Some bulbs are rather low voltage - try using 1.2v batteries, first singly, then in series, 'till the bulb lights up as they should. You might have to put two bulbs in series to get a good "match". If you whap a significant voltage through a buld without starting low, you could well blow it. Once you've got the voltage you need about right, it's probably easiest to just guess at the wattage, which might be anywhere from about
0.1W to 1W for most of these bulbs. You could also fiddle about using a multimeter (borrow/buy for a tenner), Scalextric controllers and things like that, etc. Have fun!
A few types can be bought in decent sized packs for a few quid from Noma Direct:
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bet is to go back to the store you bought the set from and hope they have spares. I agree it is a PITA, LED sets are getting more available, quite a few about this year, I suspect next nearly all sets will be LED.
What I was looking for was a decent mulicoloured, multifunctional (preferably fading rather than flashing) battery set to bung over one of the bushes where getting mains is inpractical.
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