Many people put up holiday lights, and the choice of lights can noticeably affect winter electricity bills. Scott Dunning, a professor in Virginia Tech’s Bradley electrical and computer engineering department and a certified energy manager, offers practical advice to reduce energy use and save money.
His first recommendation is to swap incandescent bulbs for LEDs. A typical strand of 100 incandescent lights costs about $3, while a strand of 100 LED mini-lights costs $6. If lights run six hours a night for six weeks, incandescents cost $84 for the season, compared with $10.50 for LEDs. LEDs also last 16 times longer and reduce the need to replace bulbs.
Dunning adds that LEDs allow longer chains — you can safely connect 42 strings of LED lights, compared with only five strands of incandescents — which helps with larger displays. He also recommends solar-powered lights for sunny sites, cleaning solar panels regularly, and using timers for energy-hungry outdoor inflatables.
Difficult words
- incandescent — a bulb that produces light by heatincandescents
- LED — a small, efficient electric lightLEDs
- strand — a long string of connected lightsstrands
- season — a period of the year for holidays
- solar-powered — uses energy from sunlight to operate
- timer — a device that turns things on and offtimers
- inflatable — decorations filled with air for outdoorsinflatables
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Discussion questions
- Have you used LED holiday lights before? What difference did you notice in cost or brightness?
- Would you consider solar-powered lights for your home? Why or why not?
- How could using timers change the way you put up outdoor decorations?
