How many Christmas lights do I need for my house: outdoor lights calculator
It is the first evening the house is lit, and someone pulling into the drive says, oh, look. Measure what you want to light, and get how many lights and strands to buy for the roofline, windows, railings, bushes and trees, with the clips, cords and the order to hang them. Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
Your house lights plan
Hang them in this order
Sources: The Christmas Light Emporium (C9 bulbs 12 inches apart, one per foot of roofline; 10% extra; window perimeter; a 4 by 6 ft net covers about 24 square feet; trunk wraps), Angi (strand lengths, one 16 ft strand per window, one 100-light strand per 7 ft of column, a timer with a light sensor), Christmas Lights, Etc (2 to 3 inches between trunk wraps; how many strands connect) and the U.S. Fire Administration (inspect strands, follow the box for connecting them). Door, bush, railing-wrap, clip and cord numbers are our own estimates; houses vary, so measure.
Little Lights: try it free
Twelve Christmas adventures with Pip for ages 4 to 10: a read-aloud story, a picture hunt in a snowy village and a small real-world mission. No timer, no score.
Free tool: 12 days of Christmas activity picker, one family activity a day for your kids' ages and time.
Make lights night a tradition
Hanging the lights is one evening of the season. The Christmas Countdown and Family Traditions Planner gives every day to Christmas its own small tradition, with who leads, what you need and a line for the memory. Opening the lit house to friends? The Holiday Open House Planner works out your busiest half hour and how much food to have out.
25 dated days of family traditions: who leads each one, supplies to get, and the memories.
See it on Etsy Details
When guests arrive, your busiest half hour, and the food and drink for each part of the day.
See it on Etsy Details
More: the free Christmas tree lights calculator for the tree inside, the 12 days of Christmas activity picker and 12 days of Christmas countdown ideas for families.
Outdoor Christmas lights questions
How many Christmas lights do I need for my house?
Measure each part you want to light and add about 10% for corners and reaching the outlet. A 40 ft gutter line takes about 44 ft of lights: two 25-light C9 strands or two 100-light mini strands. As a rough guide, the front of an average house takes about 200 mini lights or 100 C9 bulbs along the roofline. Windows, doors, railings, bushes and trees come on top of that, and the calculator adds them up for you.
How many C9 bulbs per foot of roofline?
At the usual 12-inch spacing, one bulb per foot of gutter. Measure the gutter line, add each sloped side of every peak, and add 10% for corners and overlaps.
How many lights do I need for a window?
Measure around it: (width + height) × 2. A 3 by 5 ft window is 16 ft around, so one 16 ft strand frames it; with a 14 ft or 32 ft mini strand, count one strand per window so nothing has to stretch.
How many net lights do I need for my bushes?
A 4 by 6 ft net covers about 24 square feet. Multiply the width by the height of the side you see, add the bushes together, divide by 24 and add 10%. Most bushes take one or two nets.
How do I work out lights for wrapping a tree trunk?
Wrap about every 2 to 3 inches. The length of lights is the trunk's distance around times the number of wraps: a 6 ft trunk that is 30 inches around, wrapped every 3 inches, is 24 wraps of 2.5 ft, or about 60 ft of lights.
How many light strands can I connect together?
It depends on the strand, so read the box: the U.S. Fire Administration advises following the manufacturer's instructions. Incandescent mini sets often allow only 5 to 10 end to end; LED sets usually allow many more. Throw away any strand with frayed or pinched wires.
Do you store what I type in?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing is sent or saved; print the list or copy it before you close the page.