By: HouseLogic.com
Published: December 29, 2010
HouseLogic calculates the electricity costs of four very ambitious home Christmas light displays—using conventional lights and then electricity-saving LEDs.
For many home owners, decorating for the holidays is a chance to share holiday joy with their neighbors, friends, and anyone else who drives by—or flies over in an airplane. But it also can be quite a costly undertaking. Safety concerns notwithstanding, holiday lights are notorious power leeches that take a toll on your electric bill.
To demonstrate, HouseLogic used the average price per kWh in each home´s region to roughly calculate the dollar damage sustained by some of the more extravagant Christmas light displays (assuming each bulb was the average 5 watt C7 bulb). And just for fun, we did rough estimates of energy bill savings if all the lights were LEDs. While LEDs are more expensive than traditional bulbs to purchase, they use up to 90% less energy and last a lot longer.
To demonstrate, HouseLogic used the average price per kWh in each home´s region to roughly calculate the dollar damage sustained by some of the more extravagant Christmas light displays (assuming each bulb was the average 5 watt C7 bulb). And just for fun, we did rough estimates of energy bill savings if all the lights were LEDs. While LEDs are more expensive than traditional bulbs to purchase, they use up to 90% less energy and last a lot longer.
Noel, times a million
In Delaware, 1,000,000 twinkling lights signal the start of the holiday season. You read that right—one million! The Faucher family has been slowing traffic to a crawl with their home Christmas display for about 25 years with this ambitious and breathtaking endeavor.
- Estimated cost: $686/hour; keeping them lit for 4 hours a night over 30 days (about a month) adds up to $82,320.
- Estimated cost using only LEDs: $89/hour; $10,680/month
- Possible electric bill savings: $597/hour; $71,640/month.
Next: A wired wonderland
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