The holiday season is upon us. How do I know? From the sudden appearance of dazzling lights and displays everywhere I turn - and from the non-stop Christmas music on the radio.
Decorating for the season is one of the long-loved traditions in our country. But as we begin making changes to reduce the negative environmental impact of our lifestyles, do we need to change our traditions as well? Christmas lights burning brightly for hours on end in store windows, on houses and on trees seem to be an obvious culprit for energy waste.
Traditional incandescent bulbs are highly inefficient, only turning about 5-10 percent of the energy they use into light; the rest of the energy is emitted as heat. Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) are a popular alternative, but like regular bulbs, CFLs contain mercury, which means trouble when they are disposed of improperly.
A popular new option is Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). They use 80-90 percent less energy than traditional bulbs do, which means not only are you saving energy, but you’re saving quite a bit of money on your electric bill as well. LED lights don’t contain mercury, and they have a much longer ‘life’ than traditional string lights - which means you will throw out less and have to buy less replacements.
According to tests done by the Department of Energy, an LED string of 280 bulbs running for 12 hours per day for 40 days would use .04 watts of energy each , costing around $.56, depending on your own energy bill costs per kilowatt hours (1000 watts).
Compare that to a string of 125 standard C7 incandescent bulbs running for the same length of time, and the bulbs would use four watts of energy each, costing you over $25.
Basically, LEDs are four-watt bulbs compared to standard incandescent 40-watters. See how much your own home’s lights are costing you with the energy cost calculator. The formula is (watts/1000) x Time Used x Cost = Total Cost to run lights.
It’s clear that the bulbs will definitely cut down on energy use, especially in homes with multiple strands of lights, or large displays. They also seem to be more durable and longer-lasting than traditional bulbs. Bonus: some LEDs are even solar or battery powered!
However, we have to look at the big picture here. Although LEDs are energy-saving utilities, we also must consider the energy used to manufacture the lights.
If you’re looking to help out the environment this season, don’t do it by throwing your old lights into a landfill and buying yourself some shiny new LEDs. But if you are investing in new lights, buying LED strands is definitely a smarter choice.
