If you are scurrying around in the last minute trying to put up Christmas decorations and make your home or business property look as festive as possible than slow down for just one second and read this. Christmas decorations are really what gets the festive mood going, and it can really turn any glum old place into a winter wonderland. But how much energy does it use up to make your property look like Santa’s Grotto?
Wasted Electrical Energy Annually in the US
According to the US Department of Energy, more than 6 TWh per year is wasted due to holiday lighting which is equal to approximately 500,000 homes monthly consumption. A lot of this is because people don’t understand that just because some of the lighting is very small doesn’t mean it uses up very little energy. Well here are some tips from an experienced electrician in Clearwater, FL that will allow you to keep that festive cheer but also keep money in your wallet.
LED Solar Holiday Lights
LED solar holiday lights are an amazing way to decorate the outside of your home without it costing you a cent! These stunning lights only need to be put up once with a solar grid attached at the bottom. Through the power of the sun they don’t need to be hooked up to any electrical system. The lights are durable and made to last in the outdoors, so you should get years out of them. And best of all is that the majority produced have sensors that will automatically turn them on at night, so you don’t have to worry about turning them on and off again.
LED Rope Lights
LED rope lights appear as a bendable skinny tube with LED’s attached in the middle. Like the LED solar lights mentioned above, they can be powered by the sun if there is an attachable solar grid connected. The great thing about rope lights as opposed to string lights is that they don’t build up heat as much through their design, so a lot of the energy that powers them is not used to keep them cool at the same time. According to the US Department of Energy, LED rope lights consume approximately 1 watt per foot of lighting. In contrast, an incandescent rope light uses 3 watts per foot. LED rope lights also have longer working lives, roughly four times the life span of their incandescent counterparts. Rope lights differ slightly between the outdoor and indoor variation, with the outdoor type sacrificing flexibility for durability, and vice versa with the indoor.
Fiber-Optic Christmas Tree
The centerpiece of the Christmas decorations in many households, the tree really is one of the main symbols of the holiday (excluding the big man in the red suit). But as adults we all know the pain of untangling all of those strings of light and placing them back on the tree. Nowadays there are artificial tree’s available that have lights internally installed to protrude slightly from the tips of the branches. Not only does this save you time in untangling and adding the old string lights to the tree, but it also has the lights automatically evenly placed around it. No more dark patches or constant rearranging. As it is only one power source needed throughout, it takes up far less energy than multiple strings of lights that we have become accustomed to.
Put Your Lights on Timers
The holidays can be a hectic period for everyone. From getting gifts for little ones, socks for the elderly, visiting friends and family, and just being flat out exhausted after all of the celebrating, it can be easy to forget to turn your lights off. That is where energy saving timers come in. We have already written about the benefits of home automation and with holiday lights it is the exact same. There is an excessive waste of energy throughout the holiday period because people have their minds on so many other things. But installing energy saving timers just like the LED solar sensor lights means you only have to worry about what date you will be taking them all down again.
Read our Holiday lights 101 guide here.
Holiday Energy Savings Tips from a Clearwater Electrician
As experienced electricians in Pinellas County we know how important using efficient energy systems is in saving you money. These simple tips will allow you to enjoy the festive period without worrying about the energy wasted. If you would like to speak to a Clearwater electrician about other ways to save on your electric bill you should call us at (727) 771-9403.