Monthly Energy Wise Tips
Monthly Energy Wise Tips is a page dedicated to bringing you a new energy tip each month of the year. The tips are designed to save you energy and money.
November 2008 EnergyWise Tip: “LEDs can help brighten your Christmas.”
Christmas lights help make the season special. But they certainly don’t help brighten your mood when they are a source of frustration. Are you tired of trying to find the lone burned out bulb in a set of Christmas lights? Ever dropped a set of Christmas lights only to discover some of the filaments were broken inside the bulb? Ever put up an entire string of lights only to discover the set does not work?
An answer to this seasonal frustration can be found in Light Emitting Diode (LED) Christmas Lights.
LED Christmas lights are superior to strings of lights using old,
incandescent bulbs in several ways.
• LED Christmas lights have an extremely long life. Some manufacturers
state their LED strings will last 100,000 hours, or approximately 100 Christmas
seasons! This should all but eliminate the need to spend hours trying to
replace burned out bulbs
• LED Christmas lights are a solid state device, which means they are very
durable and can better withstand being knocked around than conventional
Christmas lights.
• LED Christmas lights are a proven technology used in hundreds of thousands
of Christmas displays throughout the U.S and come in many different styles,
colors and sizes.
• LED Christmas lights are safe – cool to the touch and eliminate most
fire concerns.
Energy efficiency means you save money in the long run.
LEDs produce more light per watt than other types of lighting. Each bulb
uses only 0.04 watts and is up to 90 percent more efficient than its
incandescent counterpart. For a household that displays 10 strands of
lights for eight hours a day for a month, LED Christmas lights would
cost only $7.20 for the season (at about 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour).
Compare that to $127.67 the homeowner would spend to hang 10 strands
of large, incandescent bulbs. Bottom line, although they may cost more
up front, because of their long life and low-cost to run LEDs can save
money over time.
Let LED Christmas lights put a new joy into the Christmas season. Save your energy dollars for other items that may be on Santa’s list.
For more information on steps homeowners can take to improve the
efficiency of their homes, contact your local public power utility, or
visit the ENERGY STAR® Home Advisor at http://www.energystar.gov/homeadvisor.
Perennial wants you to get the most energy value for your money. It costs far less to save energy than it does to build a new power plant to generate additional power.