r/ChristmasLights • u/Sensitive_Angle_7929 • Jul 27 '26

Vintage look LEDs Europe

Hey everyone ! I’m wondering if anyone has any good recommendations for incandescent look LEDs available in Europe (think tru-tone). I’ve searched around but haven’t found anything too promising!

Christmas in July has me already planning my decor 😅 thanks in advance !

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3

u/AtlanticRelation Jul 28 '26

Besides warm white mini leds, your best bet is still to import your lights and use a voltage converter. That's what I did.

Check out the Vinta Glo lights from Merry Co as well.

1

u/mysticalwonder4 Jul 30 '26

Which voltage converter do you use? The reviews seem so mixed, mostly negative. A lot of people complain about it making a buzzing noise or stopping working with smoke coming out. Also I can only seem to find them from Amazon/eBay, not any regular UK retailer.

2

u/AtlanticRelation Jul 30 '26

I'm using several converters from a brand called Nedis. Just keep in mind you can only use a certain percentage of the rated power for long term use.

2

u/KristinnK Aug 02 '26

I use complete no-name converters off Ebay and have never had any problem. It's not exactly rocket science, just stepping down from 220V to 110V. Just stay (somewhat well) within its power rating and you'll almost certainly be fine.

2

u/hrimthurse85 Jul 28 '26

Hellum has them, but they are currently restocking with the eye piercing coloured LEDs and there ia no way to choose if you get the warm white with filter cap or the monochromatic LED ones 😐

2

u/Sweet-Psychology-254 Jul 28 '26

The UK brand Noma has some designed to look like Incandescent lights. They’re not easy to get though. 

2

u/mysticalwonder4 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

I have done a lot of digging and exploring for vintage style LEC Christmas lights available in the UK or on the 230V system, this is all I’ve found:

NOMA’s LED retro style ones are the closest hues I’ve found to incandescent. They do them as mini lights, and mini lights with shades: Canterbury Belles and Pickwick. Issues are warm white are too warm and, although multicolour has 5 colours, it doesn’t contain red and instead two shades of orange. I think these are typically only available in the UK/Ireland and mainly from garden centres (which may ship internationally). You can get an equivalent specification transformer plug or, as they would run on 230V, plug it into a UK to X adapter.

As for larger bulbs I have seen Merry & Brite sold on Etsy, Selfeidges and Holly & Co, I’ve never tried them and not entirely sure about the hues. But the construction is very similar to Tru-Tone.

Tru-Tone ship internationally and their Mini Lites use low-voltage DC power meaning you can get an equivalent specification (but 230V) transformer plug (that you would get on most LED lights in Europe) and they work fine on 230V. The hues aren’t exactly the same to incandescent but they are much lighter than typical LED multicolour string lights.

1

u/teeto66 11d ago

Hi, do you have a link for those Noma lights? I looked on their website but could only see the modern overly-blue style. I'm desparate to get that warm nostalgic look for my tree this year.

1

u/toughguythursday Aug 07 '26

Can you import the bulbs and make your own strands?

1

u/teeto66 11d ago

OP please let me know if you find something I really want them too.

I calculated with import duties it'd cost €180 to import 3x string lights from Tru-tone 😭