Shining a New Light on the Holidays

With the holiday season fast approaching, now is the time to consider switching out your old incandescent holiday lights for modern light-emitting diode (LED) lights. LED technology has been used for years as electronic indicators and as easily adjustable signs. However, as higher output LEDs develop, they are being used more frequently in conventional lighting applications as well. From automotive headlights to mobile flashlights, more lighting is beginning to use LED lighting including holiday lights, as LED lights become more assimilated into society.

LEDs Are More Energy Efficient

When compared to old-fashioned incandescent lights, LED Lights are much more energy-efficient. While the old lights are somewhat brighter, LED Lights consume much less electricity. This can amount to actual savings. Most holiday incandescent lights use between 12 to 105 kilowatt hours of electricity, but comparable sized LED light strings use between 1 and 3 kilowatt hours. In real terms this means that by changing to LED lights, you can potentially save between $ 1 and $ 11 on your electricity bill for every month that your lights are turned on this holiday season.

LEDs Are More Durable

Beyond the savings on your electric bill, LED lights can also save you money because they are much more durable and do not have to be replaced as frequently as incandescent holiday lights. Unlike incandescent lights that get extremely hot, LED lights also stay much cooler, which allows them to be encased in plastic as opposed to glass. The result is LED lights being more durable and nowhere near as fragile. LED lights will also burn longer than incandescent bulbs. Most incandescent light strings lose at least one bulb after about 1,000 hours of use, whereas LED lights tested by Consumer Reports managed to go for more than 4,000 hours without any of the bulbs burning out.

LEDs Are Also Safer

In that LED holiday lights burn at a much cooler temperature than incandescent ones, they also represent much less of a fire risk. There are some cases of LED recalls due to potential fire hazards, but they had more to do with wiring than the LEDs themselves. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the LED lights you purchase have been tested and certified by a legitimate testing laboratory like Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or Intertek (ETL). That being said, all the major insurance companies and product testers agree that LED lights represent much less of a fire risk than incandescent holiday lights.

Look for Incentive Programs

The current trend toward greater energy efficiency has also resulted in two types of incentives meant to encourage you to buy LED holiday lights and both may save you even more money. The first type of incentive is getting offered by some retailers, like Home Depot. These incentives offer discounts to people purchasing LED holiday lights and allows the store to capitalize on the trend by actively supporting more energy-efficient options. Some communities have aggressively taken on energy efficiency also are offering incentives. In Anaheim, California, for example, people who buy LED holiday lights get a free gift certificate to other businesses (Starbucks, Borders, etc.) as an incentive initiated by a local public utilities administration.