Six Ways to a Green Christmas

Judging by the looks of the local Lowes, Home Depot, and Walmart, Christmas decoration purchases are in full swing.  While its tempting to buy those cheap incandescent lights (which can be purchased for less than 5 cents per bulb), you need to consider the energy costs in running those.  You'll find that LED Christmas lights will save money in the long run, run cooler, and be safer.

But buying LED lights isn't the only way to make energy efficient decisions for Christmas.  I've assembled Six Ways to achieve a Green Christmas.

Buy LED String Lights

OK, I mentioned this in the introduction - you can buy 100 mini incandescent lights for under $4 or $5 at the discount stores, or you can buy 100 LED lights for $9 to $12. If you just look at price along, the incandescent bulbs are the easy decision.

However, LED offers the following:

1. Brighter colors.  Colors will stand out and be more vivid than incandescent.
2. Run cooler.  The LED bulbs will stay much cooler to the touch, reducing your risk for fire.
3. Saves your tree.  Those cooler lights won't dry your tree out as quickly.
4. You can string more together without overloading circuits, since they use less power.

Point number 3 above alludes the the biggest reason to go LED - they use less power.  A 100 watt string  of mini bulbs uses 50 watts of power, whereas LED uses 6 to 8 watts.  At my slightly higher than average (Arizona) power rate, running the string 6 hours per day for 45 days, I save $1.55 in power costs.  That string will pay for itself in five Christmas seasons, and have the other benefits I mentioned above.

Also consider that at Christmas time, many homes use so much more power that they invoke higher usage-based rates, just like in summer.  Many power companies have tiered billing models, where after a certain threshold you get charged more.  moving to LEDs may save you more money than expected by avoiding invoking higher tiered rates.

LED bulbs come in more shapes and sizes than traditional bulbs.  I've linked several Amazon offers here, but note that as of this writing you can get much better deals at Lowes, Home Depot, and Walmart - as much as 50% off compared to what Amazon has.

• Mini-nub Lights - The smallest lights I've seen.
• Mini Lights - Your standard small bulbs
• C-5 Lights - Medium sized bulbs - smaller than C-7
• C-7 Lights - Relatively large (2 inch) bulbs
• C-9 Lights - Large (3 inch) lights

Use CFL Bulbs in Coach and Porch Lights

You can now get red and green CFL bulbs for use in your outdoor light fixtures. Replace your incandescent colored bulbs with these and enjoy the savings - outdoor lights that are left on all night can be some of the most cost effective bulbs to replace with CFLs.

• Red CFL
  
• Green CFL

 

Install In-wall Timer Switches

If you have a switch that controls outdoor outlets, consider an in-wall timer switch. These switches simply replace your existing decora-style switch and can be manually programmed or set to automatically turn on at sunset and off at sunrise.

These wall switch timers were discussed at length in Five Ways to Automate Power Savings, so check out that link for more information.

Use Heavy-Duty Timers for Outdoor Lights

If you do not have a switch to control your outdoor lights, consider using a timer. Outdoor use timers cost a bit more, so if you can run your power cords to an outlet inside a garage, try an indoor timer.

Don't Run Your Lights All Night

If you followed the recommendations above, you have timers at your disposal. Set them to turn off the lights during the "dead times" in the middle of the night - say, from midnight to 4 AM.

If you are using traditional C7 or C9 lights, and have a display of 300 bulbs, you will be saving around 60 cents to 1.50 dollars per day, depending on the wattage of your bulbs and your local utility rate. That pays for that timer pretty quickly!

Make Double Duty of Your Landscape Lights

Low voltage landscape lights can be part of your Christmas display. Simply replace your bulbs with wedge bulbs, available in red, blue, and green.