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Summary
LED holiday lighting uses about 1/10th the electricity traditional incandescent lights do.
Switching can yield significant savings over the course of the holiday season.
Here’s the difference between the two lighting types over the course of a holiday season.
Let’s look at how much energy each punch in uses.
Traditional Incandescent Bulbs
Traditional Christmas lights are little incandescent bulbs.
They come in two major flavors.
These green-wire, mini incandescent bulbs have been the most popular style of Christmas light for decades.
Each little bulb on a mini strand uses 0.43W of electricity.
These green-wire, mini incandescent bulbs have been the most popular style of Christmas light for decades.
The larger and more bulbous Christmas lights are C7 and C9 bulbs.
Although they come in plain warm white, C9 bulbs in multi-color was one of the most popular mid-20th century styles in America and remains a favorite for the retro look.
Forget hunting for burned out bulbs, these long lasting LEDs are cheaper to run and easier to maintain.
LEDs make C9 bulb strands more economical by lowering the operating cost and allowing for more bulbs per strand.
C7 and C9 bulbs' power consumption is slightly higher, but only marginally so.
Forget hunting for burned out bulbs, these long lasting LEDs are cheaper to run and easier to maintain.
you could expect the new bulbs to consume about 0.2W per bulb.
We’re using the national average of 0.12 cents per kWh for our estimated hourly operational cost.
And then, simply multiply that by the cost you pay per kWh, such as $0.12.
LEDs make C9 bulb strands more economical by lowering the operating cost and allowing for more bulbs per strand.
To avoid burying you in paragraphs describing the arrangement of my holiday decorations, I’ll keep it concise.
All told, that’s 13 C7 candles and 35 100-bulb mini light strands.
If we tally those up as if they were all incandescent, it comes to 1,596 watts.
Petr Basel/Shutterstock.com
Across the 45 days of evening run time, it would cost us $51.71.
Roughly that 1/10th operating cost we talked about earlier.
Switching to LEDs will save us about $45 a year.
Switching over would save around $153 yearly just on the outdoor illumination alone.
Why waste money running your lights when it’s not dark out or because you set the timer wrong?
