How we compare

Where the specs come from

Every spec on a product page (model / sku, length, lights, lights per foot, brightness per light, led type, warmest white, coolest white, weather rating, weather rating, longest run from one controller, can be cut to length, matter, apple home, alexa, google home, home assistant, local control, wled, app, warranty, rated led life, installed cost per foot, fits) is a claim we recorded with its source: the page it was read from, how it was read, and the date. The product page shows the source next to each value, so you can check it in one click.

Sources rank in this order:

1. The brand's own material: its product page, spec sheet or product feed.
2. A store's listing of that exact part number, when the brand doesn't publish the figure.
3. Anything else, such as a search result or a figure worked out from the source's own numbers. These values are marked with an asterisk.

Within a rank, a page read directly beats an archived copy of it. When a store blocks automated reading, we read the copy the Internet Archive keeps instead, and the source says "archived".

Of the 836 spec values shown on the site right now, 98% come from the brand, 0% from a store and 2% from other sources. Another 0% are carried over from the original catalogue and haven't been re-checked yet. Those are labelled not re-verified wherever they appear.

When sources disagree

The highest-ranked source wins, and among equals the newest reading wins. A value carried over from before we kept sources ranks below everything, so any checked reading replaces it.

When two good sources disagree by more than measuring noise (half an inch or 3% on a dimension, 5% on a weight), we look at both and mark the wrong one rejected, with the reason. Rejected claims are kept rather than deleted, so the next check doesn't pick the same wrong number up again. 7 claims have been rejected so far.

A few conventions make products comparable:

• Dimensions are length × width × height in inches. Length is the longer side of the footprint, because brands disagree about which side they call length. Height is measured with any handle folded down.
• Load capacity is what the product is rated to carry. A lid's standing load is a different figure and isn't recorded.
• Material uses a short shared vocabulary (polypropylene, ABS, steel and so on), so a brand's marketing name for its plastic doesn't hide that it's the same plastic.

Confirmed, inferred, unconfirmed

Every product carries a confidence label. It's computed from its sources, never typed in by hand:

• confirmed (40 products): the part number and every shown spec were read from the brand's or a store's own page, spec sheet or feed, or an archived copy.
• inferred (49): read the same way, but at least one value rests on a search result or a figure worked out from the source's numbers, or the product has no part number to pin it to.
• unconfirmed (1): at least one value hasn't been re-checked since the catalogue began. The product page says which.

Prices

Prices are re-checked every week. Each price shows the date it was seen and the store it was seen at. The headline price is the cheapest store that has the product in stock. If no store has a price, we show the brand's list price, labelled as such. A price we haven't been able to re-check reads "recorded <date>, not re-checked since", never as current.

Some large stores refuse automated price checks. For those, we look the part number up by hand and record the price the store's own listing shows. When we can't do that, the store is listed without a price rather than with a guessed one.

Size tiers

Brands name sizes differently: one brand's "large" is another's "medium". The size filter (compact, medium, large, XL) places each product by its size within its own line. We use the brand's own size word when the name has one. Otherwise we rank the product by outside volume against its line-mates, or an editor places it. Tiers are for narrowing a list, not a claim that two boxes are the same size, so the measured dimensions are always shown next to them.

What fits what

Extensions, power supplies, splitters and controllers usually fit one generation of one brand, and sometimes only some kit lengths within it (Govee's Lights 2 extension fits the 50 and 100 ft kits, not the 150 ft). An extension or part is listed as fitting a kit only when the brand names that kit on its page or in the part's title, and the product page quotes it. Where a brand says something does not fit, we say so in the notes. A fit claim without a source isn't published.

Discontinued products

Products a brand no longer sells new stay in the catalogue, because people already own them and need to know what still fits. They're kept out of every comparison, listed under legacy & discontinued, and each one names what replaced it. 7 products are listed there now.

How the site makes money

Some "buy" links are affiliate links: if you buy through one, the store pays PermanentHolidayLEDs a commission at no cost to you. Those links say so right next to the button. Affiliate status never decides what we list, the order things appear in, or which store a price comes from. The headline price is the cheapest in-stock store, whether or not we earn from it. No brand or store pays for placement.

What we don't do

• No scores or "best" picks. A single score hides whose priorities set the weights. We show the numbers and the sources, and you decide.
• No hands-on testing. Specs are the brand's or store's published figures. A rated load is the brand's rating, not something we measured.
• US market only. Part numbers, prices and availability are for US stores.
• No guessing. A value nobody has published is left blank, not estimated.

What the terms mean

Length

The run of lights in the box, in feet, as the brand states it. Lead cables to the first light are not counted where the brand says so.

Lights per foot

The kit's light count divided by its length, both as the brand states them. It's computed by us, not a brand figure. A denser kit looks more like a continuous line from the street; a sparser one reads as separate dots.

Brightness per light

The lumens one light puts out, as the brand publishes it. Reviews disagree with brands and with each other here (one Govee model is quoted anywhere from 26 to 50 lm), so we take only the brand's own figure and show the source. Brands don't say whether it's measured in white or colour, or at full power.

LED type

How each light makes colour. RGB mixes red, green and blue, and its white looks bluish. A W adds a separate white LED for a cleaner everyday white, and WW adds two (warm and cool) so the white can be tuned. IC (independent control) means each light can show a different colour at once, which animated scenes need. We use the brand's own term.

Warmest white

The warmest white the lights can show, in kelvin. 2700 K is a household bulb; lower is more amber.

Coolest white

The coolest white the lights can show, in kelvin.

Weather rating (lights)

An IP code from the IEC 60529 standard. The first digit is dust (5 = dust-protected, 6 = dust-tight); the second is water (4 = splashing, 5 = low-pressure jets, 6 = powerful jets, 7 = brief submersion, 8 = continuous submersion). Most kits rate the lights higher than the controller box, so we show both. No rating shown means none was published.

Weather rating (controller)

IP code of the control box or power supply. Usually lower than the lights; mount it under cover.

Longest run from one controller

The longest total length of lights the brand says one controller (or controller plus its own power add-on) can run. It decides how many kits a roofline needs: a 180 ft roofline on a kit capped at 150 ft needs two controllers and two outlets.

Can be cut to length

Whether the brand says the string may be cut and resealed. 'No' usually means you plan the run with extensions instead.

Matter

Matter is the shared smart-home standard. A Matter light can be added to Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings or Home Assistant without the brand's cloud. Matter usually exposes on/off, brightness and one colour, not the brand's animated scenes. Firmware updates add and remove support, so every claim here is dated.

Apple Home (HomeKit)

Can be added to Apple Home, natively or through Matter, as the brand states it.

Home Assistant, local control

Whether Home Assistant can control the lights on your own network: through an official Home Assistant integration that talks to the controller over the LAN, or through Matter. Cloud-only integrations don't count. Sourced from the brand or the Home Assistant integration page, and dated.

WLED

WLED is open-source firmware for addressable LEDs, popular with Home Assistant users. 'Yes' means the brand ships or documents WLED; strings that people rewire onto a separate WLED controller aren't counted.

Warranty

The brand's warranty in years on the lights. A 'lifetime' warranty is noted on the page, not shown as a number.

Rated LED life

The brand's rated life for the LEDs, in hours. 50,000 h is about 11 years at 12 h a night.

Installed cost per foot

What a pro-installed system costs per foot of roofline, installed, from a published price list or dealer page with its date. Quotes vary by region.

Size tier

Short, medium, long or extra long: a kit's length within its own generation, so lineups can be lined up across brands. Two "long" kits from different brands aren't the same length; the lengths say how they differ.

Confirmed, inferred, unconfirmed

How a product's data was sourced; see above.