Shipping in peak season: planning receiving and inspecting cases on arrival
The weeks installers are busiest are also the weeks parcel networks carry holiday volume. A little receiving discipline keeps a late or damaged box from idling a crew.
September 2026 editionFor professional holiday-lighting installers
Christmas Light News
PlanningProductsLogistics
Planning · Lead
The installer's season calendar: a month-by-month plan from summer prep to spring storage
Holiday lighting is a short season built on a long runway. This calendar lays out what installers typically work on in each month so the busy weeks are spent hanging lights, not chasing parts.
June through May, in order: inventory, pricing, bids, first order, installs, service, takedown and storage. Read the full calendar.
LED vs incandescent C9 power planning: circuits, the 80% rule and the bulb label
Power is the part of a bid that customers never see and crews cannot improvise. The math is short, and the key input is printed on every bulb.
More explainers
All products coverageOrdering timeline for installers: from signed bids to cases on the shelf
A material order is only as good as the footage behind it. This walk-through turns measured rooflines into spools, bulbs, clips and plugs, then sets a buffer and a reorder plan.
Color temperature explained: the warm-white family and keeping a job matched
Warm white is not one color. The Kelvin number on a label separates amber-leaning whites from crisp ones, and mixing them on one roofline is one of the most visible mistakes in the trade.
SMD vs faceted LED C9 bulbs: what the terms mean and how each reads on a roofline
Two words show up constantly in LED C9 listings. One describes how the light is made; the other describes the shape of the lens. Here is what each means for a finished roofline.
About this edition
Editorial standardsThe September 2026 edition of Christmas Light News is built around the run-up to install season. It covers the planning calendar most lighting businesses work to, the power math behind every bid, the product terms that show up in bulb listings, and the logistics of ordering and receiving materials when delivery networks are at their busiest.
Every piece here is an evergreen explainer. We do not publish rumors, invented figures or promotional claims, and we do not report on individual companies. Where an article mentions products or prices, those come from the current public listings at Christmas Light Supplier, which ships same day with free shipping on every order, no minimum and no fees. Prices are dated so readers know when they were checked.
Browse by section: Planning for calendars and power, Products for bulbs and color, and Logistics for ordering and shipping. Installers looking for materials can start at the installer supply desk.