Selecting Christmas lights is like walking through a minefield.  Sure, these lights output relatively low amounts of light, but it’s 2016 and harsh low-frequency flicker in Christmas lights is inexcusable.

For those looking to purchase string lights, brands to avoid seems to include Martha Stewart Living, Home Accents Holiday (LED) and a number of other Christmas decorations sold at Home Depot.  Our casual measurements indicate these flicker at an uncomfortably low 60 Hz.  We sincerely hope that Home Depot will carry more products in coming years that don’t exhibit harsh low-frequency flicker.

Some credit to EcoSmart (retail brand of the Lighting Science Group) for using a rectifier to achieve flicker at a more comfortable higher frequency of 120 Hz, though still far from perfect.