Christmas lights are a decorating staple this time of year, and many building owners go to great lengths to impress their neighborhood with colorful lighting. However, homeowners are often afraid of receiving a higher electric bill after the holiday season due to the extra lighting energy. This is especially true in Northeastern states like New York and New Jersey, where kilowatt-hour prices are well above the national average.
As Christmas lighting is a temporary electrical installation, the same recommendations given by electrical engineers for permanent lighting systems apply here:
- Ensure installation is safe, minimizing the risk of electric shock or fire.
- Consider energy efficiency, especially if you live in a state with expensive electricity.
- The capacity of the wire must be taken into consideration: connecting too many sets of lights can melt the insulation and cause an electrical failure.
LED Christmas lights are much more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs, while also being safer and having a much longer lifespan. LED lighting has many promising applications, including Christmas decoration.
Upgrade your building with energy-efficient lighting.
Advantages of LED Lighting in Christmas Decoration
We've discussed the benefits of LED lighting in previous articles, and some of them apply to Christmas lighting as well. For example, consider that LED bulbs produce much less heat than older bulb types, which makes them safer for occupants: the risk of burns from accidental contact with the bulbs is eliminated, and they are also less likely to cause burns. a fire.
The energy savings of LED lighting in conventional applications also apply to Christmas decorations. LED lights achieve electricity savings of over 80% compared to incandescent lamps, and even greater savings are possible with lighting automation.
LED products also offer a unique advantage for Christmas lighting: because each set of lights draws a much lower current, more of them can be connected without overloading the wires. For comparison, incandescent Christmas lights consume 5 to 6 times more current – when many of them are connected, the first light placed on the wire can easily burn out due to excessive current. Many fire incidents during the Christmas season are caused by careless use of light fixtures.
Comparing Incandescent and LED Christmas Light Sets
As you might expect, LED Christmas lights have a higher initial cost than their incandescent counterparts. For example, you can expect to pay between $20 and $40 for a 300-bulb LED set, while a 300-bulb incandescent set can be purchased for less than $10. However, the power consumption of those 300 bulbs Incandescent bulbs are around 72 watts, while LED bulbs consume around 15 watts.
Assuming 1,000 hours of use during the Christmas season and an electricity cost of 20 cents/kWh, the operating cost of each light set would be as follows:
- Operating cost of 300 incandescent bulbs (72W) = US$14.40
- Operating cost of 300 LED lights (15W) = $3.00
- Savings = $14.40 – $3.00 = $11.40
While electricity savings of $11.40 may seem small, consider that these are just the savings from a set of 300 bulbs. For example, if a home uses 10 of them, the difference in electricity cost between incandescent and LED lighting is $114 for the entire Christmas season. Keep in mind that power consumption may change depending on the manufacturer, and operating hours also change depending on user habits. However, this example gives a general idea of the savings you can expect with LED Christmas lights.
Also consider that 1,000 hours of use represents the full lifespan of incandescent bulbs, while some LED Christmas lights are rated for up to 20,000 hours. In other words, LED lights are useful many Christmas seasons without the need for replacements.
LED Christmas lights allow for more creativity
In addition to performance benefits, LED Christmas lights offer decorative advantages. Unlike older bulb types, which have a fixed color, LEDs can be manufactured with an adjustable color output.
- This functionality is normally used for indoor spaces where multiple activities are carried out, defining the most appropriate lighting color for each task.
- However, in the case of Christmas lighting, color-tunable LEDs can be used creatively.
Because LEDs are compact, they also have manufacturing flexibility that is not possible with older bulb types. A wider variety of Christmas lighting products have been available since LED lighting became commercial, since individual LED chips can be arranged in almost any shape. On the other hand, incandescent bulbs are larger and their heat production limits their applications.
Note that Christmas lighting has gone directly from incandescent to LED. Fluorescent lamps have limited applications in Christmas decoration for two main reasons: they are susceptible to cold temperatures and their slow response is unsuitable for flashing patterns. On the other hand, LED bulbs respond quickly and suffer little degradation with frequent changes, which makes them ideal for flashing patterns.
