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Save Money with LED Holiday Lights

U.S. Department of EnergyWashington, D.C. – As we make preparations for cold-weather energy savings in our homes, many Americans are also preparing for the winter holidays putting up strings of holiday lights (also referred to as Christmas lights or decorative light strings). Light-emitting diode—or “LED”—holiday lights offer a quality alternative to incandescent lamps, enabling families to save energy and money this holiday season.

Electricity bills can grow during the holidays if you decorate with strings of lights. Light-emitting diode, or “LED,” holiday lights offer a quality alternative to traditional lights and save both energy and money. The Department of Energy estimates that if every household switched to LED holiday lights, the country would save approximately $410 million in electricity costs.

Advantages of LED Holiday Lights

LED holiday lights have many advantages over ordinary incandescent lights:

  • Running LED holiday lights on one 6-foot tree for 12 hours per day for 40 days can save 90% or more energy when compared to traditional incandescent holiday lights:

 

Type of Light Electricity Cost *
Standard C-7
(125 bulbs, 4 watts each)
$25.13
Mini incandescent lights
(300 bulbs, 0.4 watts each)
$6.03
LED holiday lights
(280 bulbs, 0.04 watts each)
$0.56

 

*Assumes an electricity price of 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour (Annual Energy Outlook 2008 Residential Average).

  • LED holiday lights last longer; they have an operational life span of roughly 20,000 hours, enough to last for 40 holiday seasons
  • LED holiday lights are cooler than incandescent bulbs, reducing the risk of fire and personal injury
  • LED holiday lights are made in the same shapes and varieties as typical incandescent holiday lights, but LED holiday lights are more durable than incandescent bulbs, with the lamp shape typically made out of a solid plastic rather than glass
  • Because they use less power, it is safer to connect multiple strings of LED holiday lamps end-to-end without overloading the wall socket.

Find manufacturers and brands of ENERGY STAR®-qualified decorative light strings, which have been tested for both energy efficiency and quality standards. 

Potential Savings with Widespread Use of LEDs

DOE estimates that if every household switched to using LED holiday lights, the country would save approximately $410 million in electricity costs. If both residential households and the commercial sector switched to LED holiday lights today, the savings would be equivalent to the output of almost one large (1000 MW) electric power plant or the annual electricity consumption of almost 500,000 households.

In addition to holiday lights, LEDs are also used in traffic lights, exit signs, large display screens (like those in Times Square), signal and interior lights in automobiles, desk lamps, under-cabinet lights, porch lights, and street lights.

Widespread use of LEDs in these and other applications has the potential to provide tremendous overall energy savings for the United States; by 2027, widespread use of LEDs could save about 348 TWh, compared to a scenario with no LEDs. This represents the following potential savings:

  • The equivalent annual electrical output of about 44 large electric power plants (1000 megawatts each)
  • More than $30 billion in savings at today’s electricity prices 
  • A 33% decrease in total electricity consumption for lighting, compared to a scenario with no LEDs. The amount of electricity saved would be greater than the total amount of energy used to light all U.S. homes today.

Find out more about potential uses of LED lighting in your home on DOE’s Solid-State Lighting site.

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