How Do LEDs Compare With Traditional Christmas Lights?

LEDs are the best way to save energy on holiday lighting.

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are the best way to save energy on holiday lighting, or any lighting for that matter. Here’s why:

• LEDs use only about 2 percent of the electricity that is needed to power regular painted or ceramic-coated colored holiday lights.
• LEDs are harder to break than traditional glass bulbs because they’re encased in plastic.
• And because the LED is electronic—electron movement in semiconductor chips lights them up—they last up to 10 years. So you will replace them far less often.
• LEDs generate much less heat than your traditional incandescent holiday lights, which produce more heat than light.
• If you decorate your Christmas tree with LEDs, you’ll pay 13 to 17 cents for electricity all season, says the Electric Power Research Institute. That compares with $6 to $10 for incandescent lights. If you use LEDs for your outdoor decorations, too, your savings will be even greater.
• If everyone switched from incandescent mini-lights to energy-efficient LEDs this Christmas, carbon emissions would be reduced by 400,000 tons per year.

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