Christmas tree light bulbs

Legacy_user

Posting this on behalf of my friend who does not have the internet.

She was in the process of putting up the tree and switched on the lights before she puts them on the tree. The fuse bulb has gone. She used the spare one last year or the year before.

She cannot find spare bulbs anywhere. She has tried Wilkinsons, B&Q, a local DIY place and Homebase - all sell Christmas tree lights, but no bulbs!

Are we expected to throw tree lights every 3-4 years? Or in my case the whole tree as my tree has the lights attached and I know I replaced the fuse bulb last year.

Why do shops that sell lights don't sell spares anymore?

Helix

More are moving to LED lights now which last longer and are cheaper to run but you can't replace the bulbs. So they probably don't feel the need to stock replacements for the older style lights like they used to.

Looks like Wilkos have some online you can click and collect though - http://www.wilko.com/indoor-lights/wilko-replacement-bulbs-for-50-clear-fairy-lights/invt/0322506

houseimprover

ScarletMarble wrote: »

Posting this on behalf of my friend who does not have the internet.

She was in the process of putting up the tree and switched on the lights before she puts them on the tree. The fuse bulb has gone. She used the spare one last year or the year before.

She cannot find spare bulbs anywhere. She has tried Wilkinsons, B&Q, a local DIY place and Homebase - all sell Christmas tree lights, but no bulbs!

Are we expected to throw tree lights every 3-4 years? Or in my case the whole tree as my tree has the lights attached and I know I replaced the fuse bulb last year.

Why do shops that sell lights don't sell spares anymore?

As above, LED lights have taken over, they last upto 20 times as long, use a tenth of the electric per bulb and do the same job. If one bulb goes it doesn't kill the whole set.

Also, no retailer is going to stock every single bulb ever produced for sets of lights and you need to be careful you match up the voltage and wattage correctly as well.

She may as well buy a new set.

cashbag

I have a tree and a set of 12 lights which were bought new together in 1953! Ran out of spare bulbs a few years back & trawled eBay until I found the stock of a closing down electrical business had several sets remaining. So I bought the lot & am good for another 20 or so failures!! Proves that they might be out there somewhere. Fortunately for me I still have the box they came in so easy to check the bulb type/reference.