How Many Lights Do I Need On My Christmas Tree?

Putting enough lights on your tree can make it a stunning showpiece

Ridgedale Infinity tree, detail (pictured above)

Putting the right amount of lights on a Christmas tree can really make your decorations come to life and sparkle. Not enough and they will look dull and lack-lustre. If you can’t face the thought of putting all those lights onto the tree and, even worse, taking them off again, then go for the pre-lit option. Just remember, with Christmas trees you get what you pay for, the cheaper trees are going to have larger gaps between the branches and not enough lights for the height of tree.

The ideal number of lights to give you a festive flicker would be around 100 per foot of tree, so a 7’ (210cm) tree will need a minimum of 700 lights. Our very top of the range of our luxury artificial Christmas trees is the Snowy Dorchester Pine which is mix of Feel Real PE (polyethylene) and PVC for an authentic natural tree look. 

Ridgedale Infinity pre-lit artificial tree; 8' with 4,750 lights (featuring Archie the Golden Retriever)

f you buy a pre-lit with not enough lights it is easy enough to add a few more around the outside. Why not try putting some decorative lights to match your decorations around the outside. Physallis lights look fantastic if you have a natural woodland theme, or the red cherry lights teem up beautifully with a red scheme. White lighted snowballs or icicles can look especially effective on a flocked tree or with a white or blue colour scheme. To add depth to the tree try adding a different colour of lights to the centre, red or blue really make the tree look alive in the centre, then just use white around the outside.

Frosted pre-lit tree showing depth of tree with lights inside, frosted trees have really taken off in the last couple of years, lending themselves to lots of different decorating styles, from the classic Scandi, to woodland, to minimalist and the Arctic palette.

Using LED lights really is a no-brainer; they are low voltage so much safer than the old-fashioned filament lights. They are cold to the touch so much more child-friendly and being cold you can put them on the tree when they are lighted so you can see the effect as you go along. Being low voltage they also cost next to nothing to run and most of the good quality strings should last about 10,000 hours, which makes them incredibly great value for money. So not only can you use them for Christmas but also around the garden in summer enabling you to make the most of your outdoor space in good weather.