How to Make an LED Jack-O-Lantern that is Safe and Colorful

Jack-O-Lanterns are nearly ubiquitous at Halloween time. But the traditional method of lighting a Jack-O-Lantern with a candle is a fire hazard. Fortunately there is a modern alternative to candles when it comes to illuminating your Halloween Jack-O-Lantern, the Light Emitting Diode, or LED for short. Light Emitting Diodes are cheap, consume very little electricity or battery power, are available in a variety of fun colors, and create significantly less heat than a real flame. These factors make the LED the perfect solution to the dangers of the traditional Jack-O-Lantern.

Since Light Emitting Diodes use so little power, you can construct a battery-powered LED Jack-O-Lantern that is completely self-contained and portable to be placed anywhere you see fit in your Halloween displays. A small battery pack will allow the LEDs to stay lit for several hours at a time without the need for constant monitoring or supervision. It would be next to impossible to start a fire with Light Emitting Diodes. This is because LEDs are significantly more efficient at converting electricity to visible light than are incandescent bulbs.

To construct an LED Jack-O-Lantern you will need to carve and prepare a Jack-O-Lantern from a pumpkin of your choosing, just as you would for a traditional Jack-O-Lantern. But instead of a traditional candle, you will use one or more light emitting diodes and a small battery pack for the illumination. Light emitting diodes are available from your favorite electronics supply store, such as Radio Shack, in a variety of voltage ratings. You should choose your LEDs based on the voltage of the battery pack you intend to use. A simple battery pack can be constructed from two AA batteries (Lithium AA batteries will last longer than regular alkaline batteries.) and a battery holder such as Radio Shack catalog number 270-408. Since two AA batteries will produce a voltage of approximately three volts, you should choose LEDs that are rated close to three volts.

You will need to construct a series circuit consisting of the battery pack, the LEDs, and perhaps a switch to allow you to turn the LED Jack-O-Lantern on and off to conserve the battery pack's life. The LEDs can be suspended from the lid of the Jack-O-Lantern by some wire or thread, and the battery pack can simply be set in the bottom of the LED Jack-O-Lantern as one would with a candle. There is no proper way to mount the LED lights inside the Jack-O-Lantern, as long as you are careful to wire the circuit properly without shorting out the circuit.

One thing to keep in mind when wiring the circuit for your LED Jack-O-Lantern is that light emitting diodes are polarized, which means that they can only be wired into the circuit one way. If you accidentally wire the LED to the battery backwards, nothing bad will happen, but the LED will simply not light up. Be careful that you have attached the LED light to the circuit in the proper fashion before making any permanent connections with solder or electrical tape.

In addition to the battery pack, AA batteries, switch, and LED lights, you will also need assorted tools and supplies to make your LED Jack-O-Lantern, including wire, soldering iron and solder, wire strippers, electrical tape, and some means of mounting the LEDs inside the pumpkin. The right tools will make the job a lot easier, and your local Radio Shack store or hardware store can help you pick out what you need.

Since LEDs are available in an assortment of sizes, shapes, brightness levels, and colors (including blue, red, green, yellow, amber, and white), the possibilities for your LED Jack-O-Lantern are limited only by your imagination and creativity. Those with increased electronics knowledge will be able to wire up fancier LED circuits, such as blinking LED circuits and rotating color LED circuits. Plans for these fun LED circuits are easy to find online, so do not be afraid to experiment with more complex circuits for your LED Jack-O-Lantern. The end result will be a Jack-O-Lantern that is safe, colorful, and fun for your Halloween celebration.