How Do I Make My Vintage Lights Last Longer?

The best way to safely burn all of your vintage Christmas lights, including bubble lights, is to use a table lamp dimmer with them. The dimmers are available at many stores and are surprisingly inexpensive. The dimmers are self contained units, made to sit on an end table, and have a convenient slide control. Simply plug your light sets into the dimmer unit, and set the brightness at about 80% of full. Your bubble lights will still boil merrily away, and all of your lights will burn much cooler. Running lamps at this level will extend their lives by at least three times, and most often longer than that. When I had a shop, I burned all my display vintage lights with a dimmer. I actually rewired an old six plug socket strip and replaced the switch with a dimmer switch.