LED X-Mas lights

[bennelson]

I have had my X-mas lights up ever since I bought my house. They are sort of permanently installed, so why bother taking them down. Plus, they make fun party lights in the summer too!

But how much energy do all those lights use running all season?

I plugged in the good ol' Killawatt, to find out.

The traditional lights use 424 watts.



Last winter, my wife's employer (a large furniture retailer) had LED lights for sale as a promotional item. After the season, they were available for dirt-cheap - $2 a string. I had her check to see if they still had any left from last year. Yep, plenty of them, still at the same price.

I had her pick up 5 strings and I hung them up tonight. They only cover about half the length of the traditional incandecent lights. I will get some more later.
Here's what the LED lights look like. (These are the clear ones, colored were also available)



Any guess how many watts this took?

5.

That's it; 5 watts. Even when I double the length, that will be 10 watts as opposed to over 400!

Hows that from festive efficiency!?

And while you're at it, make sure your lights are on a timer! No sense having them on at 4 AM!