The first string of LED lights I bought was a bargain box of icicle lights, and within one season half of them had gone a dull blue grey instead of white, while the other half stayed crisp and clear. That taught me that not all "white" lights are the same white, and if you mix sets from different years, you will see it the moment it gets dark.
These lights suit almost any home, which is part of why I like them so much more now than I did years ago. They work in a porch window of a rented apartment just as well as they do strung along a farmhouse railing, and they are kind to small rooms because they don't throw off heat the way old bulb sets did, so you can leave them on for hours near curtains or a dry Christmas tree without worry. In a cold climate they hold their color and brightness through weeks of freezing nights outside, and indoors they are forgiving of being tucked behind furniture or wound through a banister where older lights would have gotten hot and strained. When you're choosing a set, check the color temperature written on the box or tag, warm white and cool white look nothing alike once it's dark, and if you're adding to an existing string, bring one old light with you to match it against. On delivery or in the shop, run your hand along the full length of the wire before you plug anything in, feeling for any bulb that sits loose in its socket or a section of wire that feels thinner or more brittle than the rest, and plug the set in right there if you can, since a dead section is far easier to send back on day one than after you've already wound it through a tree.
Over the years, the main thing that wears out isn't the bulbs themselves but the little clips and plug connections, so I look those over every single November before anything goes up, and I store the lights wound loosely around a piece of cardboard rather than balled in a box, because a tight coil is what cracks the wire casing over time. If a single bulb goes dark, most sets now let the rest stay lit, which was not true of the strings I grew up with, and that alone is worth paying attention to on the packaging. Keep connections dry, unplug before you touch anything, and wipe dust off clear bulbs with a soft cloth rather than water, since moisture is what gets into a socket and ends a whole string early.
This kind of lighting suits any home where someone wants the glow of the season without fussing over bulbs that might not survive the trip back into storage.
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