LED Lights Are a Welcome Holiday Energy Saver

It probably wasn’t very long after George Westinghouse and company began installing alternating current electricity grids throughout the country before some homeowner said “I have got to get some Christmas lights put up.” And thus began a long-standing holiday tradition of climbing ladders, “honey, they still aren’t straight,” much cursing, falling off of ladders, and more cursing. And as joyous as Christmas lighting makes the season, it also burns a lot of energy, something that, in our throwaway, wasteful culture, we should be looking for ways to conserve. All is not lost; for thanks to the ingenuity of LED lights, you can decorate your Christmas tree and your house and save energy.

“What exactly are LED lights,” you ask? They look just like the standard incandescent holiday lights that you’ve grown used to, only better. For one thing, they last longer with a 50,000 hour bulb life, they are safer – due to burning at a lower temperature, and are practically unbreakable. But most importantly, the LED lights are more efficient – they use 90% less energy than the lights your neighbor Phil leaves up year-round. According to the website getwithgreen.com, an average Christmas tree decorated with incandescent string lights will use 75 KW per 30-day period. The same tree using LED lights will burn only 7.5 KW, a savings of 68.5 KW per Christmas tree. Consider if you will, the sheer number of Christmas trees in your neighborhood, your town, or your city. Throw in the amount of outdoor lighting that we see this time of year as well, and that’s a significant amount of energy being used – energy that could be saved merely by everyone switching to the more eco-friendly LED lighting.

Ah, but you say you don’t care for all that tree-hugging stuff. You say, “leave that for all those dope fiend, free-loving hippies.” Well, even if you aren’t too worried about the environment, then consider doing it for something more near and dear to you – your wallet. Getwithgreen.com says that same Christmas tree burning incandescent lights will cost you $9.00, as opposed to only .90 cents with LED lights. Again, consider the use of outdoor lights as well, and the savings can be fairly substantial. LED’s are easily obtainable through several specialty websites, and cost pretty much the same as traditional lights.

There’s nothing quite as peaceful as strolling through a neighborhood full of holiday lights and decorations at night, all rosy-cheeked, with mitten-covered hands holding cups of spiked steaming hot cider. It would make the moment even more enjoyable knowing that no display was needlessly wasting energy due to old fashioned incandescent lighting. LED’s are the future in Christmas decorations. Just take care not to fall off the ladder this year while putting them up – it’s considered bad form to curse in front of the children, especially so close to Christmas.