Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

Ok, here's the skinny, I ordered almost every type of 'snowfall' light or 'meteor' light available on Amazon. I tried them and returned them. First and the most frustrating, after ordering sets that were 0.00 - 0.00, they were the EXACT same as these for .00. I don't mean they were similar, I mean they were IDENTICAL, same manufacturer labels and everything. Avoid all the name brand, personal brand and high dollar snowfall lights, they are the same ones as these but at well more than double the price.

Next, these do leak. I went through 8 sets of these just to see if it was a fluke. Then I started emailing the seller and asking him why these get water on the inside if they are suitable for outdoor. I am in Southern California and have only had one small rain since these were installed and it never got near freezing. I asked him if they were leaking or it it was condensation on the inside from improper airflow. He said they were probably leaking and said I could try to seal the ends with some clear silicone. I did that and I also sealed the top where the wire go in. Some of them still leaked or got water on the inside. Since I have bought and returned all of these and now had the sellers permission to experiment a little I tried a new set but this time I drilled two very small holes < 1/16 th of an inch on the bottom of each light. That seemed to work!! After weeks now with holes drilled in the bottom there is no water on the inside. It must have been a condensation problem and since rain seldomly goes up I figured the ventilation holes on the bottom would be fine.

The bottom line, these are not for outdoors use unless you drill two small ventilation holes in the bottom of each light, you put the transformer in a plastic bag and tape it shut. Also, do not even consider buying the expensive ones hoping they will be better, they are not. These are the cheapest you will find, the quality is not great but if you know that going in you will not find a better deal.

My review pertains to the indoor use of this item, although my husband seemed to think that it would work well outdoors, as well. (You probably want to look at other reviews, if you plan to use them outdoors.) We put ours up using self-stick fasteners. We worried that these little 8" lights wouldn't have that same illusion of snow falling that the longer more expensive sticks had. But, after hearing my daughter exclaim, "Whoa, that's awesome!" I was sold. These lights were great for the price and I think 8" is perfect for indoors--not too distracting and "Vegas--like". This strand of a dozen stretches out over about 15 feet. The transformer has a base of approximately 2 1/2" by 2" and is heavy (probably because it is also made for the outdoors), but we fortunately had a ledge to rest it on. You may need to screw it into the wall).
Things to consider . . . before you judge them, let them run for a while. They start off in unison, but soon after become staggered for that "falling snow" effect. It may not work for you indoors if you like having everything hidden and neat because of the transformer and green wiring. We have ours strung up along our stretch of windows. I'm not sure what it would look like up against a wall. What worked for us may not work for you. (One minus--the box it came in was pretty flimsy.)

When I first plugged them in all the tubes "dropped" at the same time and it looked dreadful - I was about to return them. You need to let them run for a while. They are kinda cool...