A Green Solution for Your Holiday Lighting

Incandescent lighting has been the standard in holiday and Christmas lighting since it replaced candles over 100 years ago. However, in the last 3 years LED holiday and Christmas lighting has become increasingly available to consumers through the internet and retail stores. Although LED technology has been around since the seventies, until recently its use was largely limited to applications in commercial instrument display panels. Recent improvements in LED technology have made LED lighting viable in other applications such as LED Christmas lights.

LED lighting is preferable to standard incandescent lighting for several reasons:

Environmentally Friendly – Because LED lamps use so little energy and are longer lasting they environmentally responsible choice in Christmas or holiday lighting.

Energy Efficiency – LED lamps use approximately 90% less energy than standard incandescent lights.

Safety – LED lamps operate at approximately 1 degree Fahrenheit above room temperature and are safer than incandescent lights which are responsible for over 300 home fires each holiday season.

Longevity – LED lamps will last for 50,000 hours or more compared to about 2,000 for standard incandescent lamps.

Durability – LED lamps are more durable because they do not contain a fragile filament and are covered in hard plastic not glass like incandescent lamps.

Although LED holiday and Christmas lighting is more expensive than standard incandescent string lighting, LED lights will pay for themselves in a few seasons. A household which illuminates an average size Christmas tree with LED lights will save approximately $12 per year in electricity compared to incandescent mini lights. The savings jump to over $70 per year for those who like to use the larger C9 model lights. The cost savings can be even more significant for those Christmas lighting fanatics out there.

A 2003 report conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the U.S. consumes about 2,220,000 KWh of electricity each year to illuminate miniature holiday lights. (*2,220,000 KWh is enough electricity to run approximately 200 homes for an entire year.) Based on these figures, the EPA report concluded that a 20% market shift to LED holiday or Christmas lights would reduce annual electricity consumption in the U.S. by 400,000KWh. These figures are especially compelling when one considers that this report only took into consideration miniature holiday lights used for a period of approximately 30 days.

HolidayLEDs.com offers LED holiday and Christmas lights suitable for general home use and a professional grade suitable for larger installations. Both types can be purchased online through HolidayLEDs’ website at www.holidayleds.com.