The search of the best exterior lighting starts as the holiday season gets closer. Although there are several alternatives, the traditional choice may be reduced to two iconic types of bulbs: C7 and C9. The difference between the two may appear as a trifle difference, but the appropriate choice will have a revolutionary impact to the festivity of your home. To give that polished and professional look that Colorado homeowners desire, a Broomfield Christmas light installation company is able to offer the knowledge necessary to maneuver through such options and have a masterpiece finished.
This guide gives you a chance to answer that question through discussing the technical and visual differences to make the right choice of which size should be on your roofline this year.
Visual Profile and its understanding.
The blatant difference between these two staple items of a holiday is their physical presence.
- C7 Bulbs: C7s are smaller than the C8s and their shape is often referred to as a strawberry; it usually is approximately 1.5 to 2 inches high. They are the heirs of the ancient indoor Christmas light, and they are nostalgic and vintage.
- C9 Bulbs: The big brothers of the holiday world. C9s are impact-specific devices that come in around 3 inches high. Their considerable size is a bold statement, which gives a home a modern high-contrast appearance, defining the edges of a home in a commanding manner.
This translates as the impact in architecture of a different nature. C7 bulbs have a sophisticated and elegant look. They produce faint lines that highlight the smaller details such as windows or smaller gables without dominating over them. C9 bulbs are admittedly showy; due to its greater size of surface, they have the ability to be seen by an observer on a block further, and this is the standard of the high end residential lights.
As well as Brightness, Spacing, and Technical Specs.
Other than aesthetics, the technical specifications of these bulbs are the factors that determine how your home will glow at night.
- Brightness and Wattage
C9 bulbs consumed much more power in the incandescent lighting days. Nonetheless, the modern LED technology makes the two sizes extremely efficient. C9 LEDs tend to have more light-emitting diodes within the plastic casing, which also creates a more powerful and brighter light. C7 LEDs are less bright and have the effect of glowing like normal candlelight.
- Ideal Spacing
Space is the magic ingredient towards a professional appearance. C7 bulbs are smaller and therefore they need more space between them-usually 6-8 inches to ensure that they do not appear spacing. C9 bulbs are too large to be positioned too closely, typically spaced 12 inches apart and still form a continuous and strong line of light.
- Energy Efficiency
Although C9s are bigger, going with LED versions does not make much of a difference in your electric bill. They both can be used to power hundreds of feet of lighting on a single circuit, but the C9s will always give you more lumens per foot since they are constructed internally.
What Type of Bulb Fits Your Personality?
The ideal size would differ completely on your house structure and the size of your place of stay.
The Ranch Home: Delicate Chic
The C7 bulbs are usually the ideal bulbs to use in single-story ranch houses. The reduced height of the roofline also does not overpower the structure due to the smaller profile of the C7. It will include a touch of classical beauty that will not make the gutters appear burdensome to the horizontal lines of the home.
The Two-Story Home: Plastic Drama
It is at this point that the decision becomes interesting. C7s will be able to work on windows, but C9 bulbs are virtually exclusively used at the primary roofline in a two-story house. There is a lot of space between the ground and the peak of the second story; a smaller bulb might appear to be a small dotted line on the street, but C9 is bright and recognizable even at a distance.
Big Box Custom Builds: Impact Mega
In the case of large residential buildings with steep mountains, towers and intricate construction designs, C9 bulbs are the unquestioned winner. Being huge, they do not lose sight among a great edifice. Such a huge canvas requires a bigger brushstroke of light to make a unified and stunning sight which is equal to the size of the home.
The Professional Benefit: Individual Measurement
One of the errors DIYers commit is to purchase the so called pre-strung lights at the big-box stores. Such strands frequently produce embarrassing blanks or have to be folded back on themselves at the roof extremities.
Installing companies operate in a different way. They use the specially-cut bulk wire which is custom-cut to the inch of your roof. This is so that all corners are capped perfectly with a bulb and that the symmetry is mathematically ideal. The custom-fitting of the wire removes the dangling wires that are very unsightly and the spacing is the same everywhere in all the peaks and the valleys of your house.
Conclusion
And like the light to the architecture, whether you like the nostalgic, twinkly appeal of the C7, or the bold, professional-looking pop of the C9, it is about what size fits. You can make your house a winter wonderland by taking into account the height of your house, and your own personal style.
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