LED Christmas Lights Keep the Holiday Green

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has adopted them. Many commercial buildings and malls have followed suit. This year may be the right time for you to consider replacing your decorative holiday lights with energy efficient LEDs. Doing so will save energy, reduce your electric bill and, over time, save you some hard cash.

We might overlook these strings of colored lights as a major source of energy waste. The small glass lamps individually consume only a small amount of electricity. The problem is that we don’t often use just one or two bulbs, but attach hundreds on long strings. If you are of my generation, you remember when strings of lights on trees were made up of large bulbs similar to the ones used in night lights and other small appliances. These are called C-9 bulbs. So when the mini lights came out we thought we were already saving energy. It is true that the mini lights consume only about ½ watt of power for each bulb compared to 3 to 5 watts each for the larger C-9 bulbs. Nevertheless, when compared to the efficiency of LED bulbs, even these mini lights are power gluttons.

The standard LED holiday lights consume about 15% of the power used by traditional incandescent mini lights. This not only saves money, but allows you to safely string many more lights in outdoor displays without the need for extra extension cords and power outlets.

When LED lights first came out some people did not like the fact that the light was a “bluish white” rather than the traditional soft white of a candle. Manufactures have made some great improvements and have lights that appear very much like the traditional warm mini lights.

The initial cost of LED lights compared to incandescent mini lights can be significant, as much as double, so you will not save dollars in the first few years of using them. But, since they are much more durable than mini lights and will last up to 10x longer, there will be savings down the road.

So, this year when you are untangling that green mess and trying to find which one of the bulbs is bad and keeping the entire string from lighting up, save yourself some holiday hassle and extend your “green” Christmas beyond the tree in the family room by investing in LED lights.

LED Christmas Lights Keep the Holiday Green

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has adopted them. Many commercial buildings and malls have followed suit. This year may be the right time for you to consider replacing your decorative holiday lights with energy efficient LEDs. Doing so will save energy, reduce your electric bill and, over time, save you some hard cash.

We might overlook these strings of colored lights as a major source of energy waste. The small glass lamps individually consume only a small amount of electricity. The problem is that we don’t often use just one or two bulbs, but attach hundreds on long strings. If you are of my generation, you remember when strings of lights on trees were made up of large bulbs similar to the ones used in night lights and other small appliances. These are called C-9 bulbs. So when the mini lights came out we thought we were already saving energy. It is true that the mini lights consume only about ½ watt of power for each bulb compared to 3 to 5 watts each for the larger C-9 bulbs. Nevertheless, when compared to the efficiency of LED bulbs, even these mini lights are power gluttons.

The standard LED holiday lights consume about 15% of the power used by traditional incandescent mini lights. This not only saves money, but allows you to safely string many more lights in outdoor displays without the need for extra extension cords and power outlets.

When LED lights first came out some people did not like the fact that the light was a “bluish white” rather than the traditional soft white of a candle. Manufactures have made some great improvements and have lights that appear very much like the traditional warm mini lights.

The initial cost of LED lights compared to incandescent mini lights can be significant, as much as double, so you will not save dollars in the first few years of using them. But, since they are much more durable than mini lights and will last up to 10x longer, there will be savings down the road.

So, this year when you are untangling that green mess and trying to find which one of the bulbs is bad and keeping the entire string from lighting up, save yourself some holiday hassle and extend your “green” Christmas beyond the tree in the family room by investing in LED lights.

Some new information on old subjects

This week I am going to give some updates on topics that we’ve covered over the past six months. If there is one thing that is certain about new technologies, it is that they will change, and change often.

The Ford Motor company announced late last month that they will be the first major auto manufacturer to offer HD Radios in the 2008 models of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. This should be a real shot in the arm for the advancement of HD radio. While there are more than 1500 AM and FM radio stations in the United States broadcasting HD Radio, the number of radios able to receive the signals remains very small. HD Radio, unlike satellite radio (Sirius® and XM Radio® ), is broadcast from towers and serves much smaller local coverage areas. The difference from standard AM/FM broadcasts comes in the clarity of the sound and the capacity to have more than one program simulcast over the same channel. For example, WGUC 90.9 is a classical music station. If you have a HD Radio you can get both classical programming and a jazz service with the flip of a switch.

In August I mentioned that before February 2009 you would be able to buy DTV adapters for your analog TV sets making them able to receive digital programming after the analog transmissions cease. The federal government has authorized the first company to manufacture and sell these adapters. Digital Stream Technology got approval last month. The adapters will retail at about $70 each. Plans call for the federal government to provide each US household up to 2 - $40 coupons good toward the purchase of the adapters. Look for them in stores in mid 2008.

Last May I wrote about the money you can save installing compact fluorescent light bulbs in your home as replacements for the energy hogging incandescent bulbs. Duke Energy sent coupons to customers making the purchase of the new bulbs a real bargain. Not only will you save on the purchase of the new lights but the dollar savings over the year can be as much as 75%. Even without the coupons, switching out the old incandescents will save you money. The only places you may wish to use traditional bulbs are in areas that get high traffic with lights being turned on and off often. Rooms like bathrooms or hallways with the constant on and off cycles will reduce the life of compact fluorescent bulbs.

Are you planning to buy a new HD television? According to a recent survey of about 3500 Road Runner™ subscribers in the Cincinnati area by Time Warner Cable, about ½ of respondents said they either already had an HD set or planned to buy one shortly. With the prices dropping and more programming available in HD, look for the sales of HD sets to really take off during the holidays and peak right before the Super Bowl.

Some new information on old subjects

This week I am going to give some updates on topics that we’ve covered over the past six months. If there is one thing that is certain about new technologies, it is that they will change, and change often.

The Ford Motor company announced late last month that they will be the first major auto manufacturer to offer HD Radios in the 2008 models of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. This should be a real shot in the arm for the advancement of HD radio. While there are more than 1500 AM and FM radio stations in the United States broadcasting HD Radio, the number of radios able to receive the signals remains very small. HD Radio, unlike satellite radio (Sirius® and XM Radio® ), is broadcast from towers and serves much smaller local coverage areas. The difference from standard AM/FM broadcasts comes in the clarity of the sound and the capacity to have more than one program simulcast over the same channel. For example, WGUC 90.9 is a classical music station. If you have a HD Radio you can get both classical programming and a jazz service with the flip of a switch.

In August I mentioned that before February 2009 you would be able to buy DTV adapters for your analog TV sets making them able to receive digital programming after the analog transmissions cease. The federal government has authorized the first company to manufacture and sell these adapters. Digital Stream Technology got approval last month. The adapters will retail at about $70 each. Plans call for the federal government to provide each US household up to 2 - $40 coupons good toward the purchase of the adapters. Look for them in stores in mid 2008.

Last May I wrote about the money you can save installing compact fluorescent light bulbs in your home as replacements for the energy hogging incandescent bulbs. Duke Energy sent coupons to customers making the purchase of the new bulbs a real bargain. Not only will you save on the purchase of the new lights but the dollar savings over the year can be as much as 75%. Even without the coupons, switching out the old incandescents will save you money. The only places you may wish to use traditional bulbs are in areas that get high traffic with lights being turned on and off often. Rooms like bathrooms or hallways with the constant on and off cycles will reduce the life of compact fluorescent bulbs.

Are you planning to buy a new HD television? According to a recent survey of about 3500 Road Runner™ subscribers in the Cincinnati area by Time Warner Cable, about ½ of respondents said they either already had an HD set or planned to buy one shortly. With the prices dropping and more programming available in HD, look for the sales of HD sets to really take off during the holidays and peak right before the Super Bowl.