How to Save Energy (and Money) on Your Holiday Lighting
You likely know that you can save energy and money during the warmer months by using a whole house fan, but you can also save money and energy on your holiday lighting.
When you’re stringing up your lights and putting out your decorations, chances are you don’t realize how much energy and electricity you’re using. Many people love to decorate for the holidays, but don’t realize their energy consumption. This can really spike your energy bill.
Instead of enjoying your holiday at the expense of your energy bill, try these holiday light ideas to help save energy and money this holiday.
Use LED Lights
Light up your home this holiday with LED lights. Not only are they more resistant to breakage and are sturdier, LED holiday lights also consume 70 percent less energy than the traditional incandescent light strings and last longer. It will only cost you around $0.27 to light up a 6 ft. Christmas tree for 12 hours daily for 40 days when you use LED lights compared to the $10 for incandescent lights.
Use a Light Timer
Install a holiday light timer. When your holiday lights are flickering on your tree and nobody is there to see them, you’re wasting money. By installing a light timer, you can turn your holiday lights on and off at certain times. This means, your lights won’t be left on driving up your energy bill when you’re not home.
Use Holiday Lights in Place of Porch Lighting
LED holiday lights are a lot more efficient than conventional incandescent lights to light up your porch. While the initial price of buying LED light strands is higher, you’ll want to consider the cost of keeping each type of light strand running for 12 hours daily for 40 days.
Here are the costs, according to Energy.gov:
Standard C-7 (125 four watt bulbs): $25.13
Mini incandescent lights (300 0.4 watt bulbs): $6.03
LED holiday lights (280 0.04 watt bulbs): $0.56
LED light strands last longer as well and they’re safer than conventional incandescent light strands.
Use Holiday Lights With Rechargeable Batteries
Instead of using the electrical mains to plug in your holiday decorations, use battery-powered decorations instead. Using rechargeable batteries are more cost-efficient than standard batteries, meaning you’re not relying on electricity.
For a while now, LED lights have come a long way in becoming better quality and cheaper and are a more efficient alternative. This holiday season, you should make the switch and see for yourself.