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How Much Electricity Do Your Christmas Lights Use?
It’s no secret that between gifts, food, and perhaps having a few friends or family stay over, the holiday season can get pretty expensive. But how much are all those festive strings of lights going to up your electric bill this year?
While we can’t give you an exact number, by using a simple formula and by providing some examples, we can give you a solid idea of what to expect.
The Merry Math
How much energy do your holiday lights use, exactly? To figure that out, we’ll need to do some math. But don’t worry. We’ve already made the formula for you. All you have to do is plug in your own numbers.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of electricity as of September 2017 was 13.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). To figure out your kilowatt-hours, first find out your wattage for each of your strings of lights, then multiply that by 0.001.
Next figure out your kilowatt-hours per day by multiplying your kWh with the number of hours per day you plan to run your lights.
Now to calculate your kilowatt-hours per season, simply multiply your kilowatts per day by the number of days you plan to use your lights this season.
Finally, multiply your kilowatts per season by the average cost per kilowatt-hour (0.133) or your specific cost per kilowatt-hour to find out your total cost for a season of running your holiday lights.
Confused? That’s all right. If you’d rather not do the calculations yourself, you can still get a pretty good idea of how much you can expect to spend on electricity this season by looking at the three holiday decorator profiles we’ve created below.
Note: These profiles include figures for both LED and incandescent lights. For the purpose of these examples, we’re assuming 100 bulbs per basic string of incandescent lights and 70 bulbs per basic string of LED lights.
Holiday Decorator Type 1: Merry and Bright
We define this type of holiday decorator as the “economical” decorator. You fit this profile if you’re not looking to hang anything too big or fancy. Just enough to show your holiday spirit and make kids’ eyes light up when they pass by your home.
Holiday Decorator Type 2: Deck the House
You’re a holiday decorator type 2 if you’re a little more enthusiastic about your lights. You don’t necessarily want to go “all out,” but you definitely want to turn some heads when people drive by your house. Maybe make the neighbors a little jealous.
Holiday Decorator Type 3: O Holy Lights!
You’re a show-stopper, not to be outdone. People come from miles around to see your jaw-dropping holiday display, and it’s totally worth the drive. People may even look up at your lights and shed some tears. Not just tears of joy, either, but tears caused by bunches and bunches of bright blazing bulbs burning their retinas.
Save on Your Energy Costs This Holiday Season
As you can see from the above examples, LED lights may require a larger initial investment, but they are far more energy efficient than cheaper incandescent bulbs and will, therefore, save you a great deal over time. Not only do they use fewer watts to run, but LED lights last tens of thousands of hours longer than incandescent bulbs, so you can use them year after year … after year.
If you’re looking for more ways to save on your electric bill for the holidays, make sure to use timers to avoid accidentally leaving your lights on. And instead of connecting multiple strings of lights together, you can use extension cords in less-visible areas to help you get more “mileage” out of your display.
