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Energy Saving Tips for Holiday Lighting

Did you know that holiday lighting can add more than $100 dollars to your electric bill in less than 30 days?

This is the time of year to place a few candelabras in the windows, string a hundred bulbs inside the home and several hundred outside, plug them in and watch your electric meter spin.  Standard holiday lights consume between 4 and 7 watts of electricity per bulb.  It’s festive, but, not very efficient.  You can be festive and energy efficient by replacing standard holiday lighting with LED (light emitting diodes), compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, mini-lights and fiber optic holiday displays.  They will provide the same level of holiday cheer, at a significantly lower cost.
Mini-lights are very popular and consume 0.4 watts per bulb, come in long lengths for in and outdoor use, with many colors to suit any festive need.  You will also find CFLs, with a mini-base, to fit into candelabras and small holiday displays providing bright, warm light.

Strings of LED type mini lights are becoming more widely available. They consume much less energy than even the standard mini lights using just .04 watts per bulb compared to .4 watts per conventional mini-lights.  They come in a wide variety of colors, can be strung in long lengths and when one bulb burns out, the entire strand keeps working, making replacement easy.  They cost a little more to buy but last many years longer than mini-lights and use much less energy.

More information about holiday lighting, and other energy-saving tips for your home and business can be found by visiting the New York Energy $martSM website, www.GetEnergySmart.org or by calling 1-877-NY-SMART.