Christmas can be an expensive time of year, maybe even more so this year with the rising costs of energy and nearly everything else. We are all trying to do what we can to keep costs down and that could include turning the lights off wherever possible and maybe even ditching the fairy lights. However, you may be surprised to learn that the cost of running modern, LED Christmas lights is surprisingly low.
Running costs will of course depend on the particular lights you have, how many sets, how long they are on for and your energy tariff. LED bulbs are so much more energy efficient compared to traditional filament style bulbs. They are designed to be decorative so generally use much less electricity.
A set of NOMA 480 LED lights can be run at just 2p per day based on 8 hours usage per day using a 6W transformer. This equates to approximately 50p of energy usage for the duration of December, based on the latest UK energy price guarantee electricity rate of 34p per KWH.
There are a few things to take into consideration when buying or putting up Christmas lights which may help you to keep your energy usage and costs down.
Traditional Christmas lights are made with incandescent bulbs. They may be a popular choice but they are very inefficient. Only 10% of the energy they consume is converted to light, the other 90% wasted as heat. LED lights are much more energy efficient and require a lot less energy to run. They have a longer lifespan meaning they can be used year after year and the bulbs are usually unbreakable.
Many modern and new light sets have a time function allowing you to control when the lights turn on and off and how long they stay on for. This way you won’t need to remember to turn them off at night time, they will go off automatically which is a great way to prevent wasted energy. If you have a smart plug you could set a schedule for the lights to come on and go off at certain times. Again, this may help with not having to worry about remembering to turn them off.
On average, lighting your Christmas tree for 30 days at around 8 hours a day will be around the same as one cycle of your washing machine or watching television for 8 hours. An average set of LED string lights suitable for a 7 foot Christmas tree will cost roughly £1.73 for the entire festive period. You can save more energy by switching off your main house lights whilst the Christmas lights are on.
As we said earlier, Christmas lights give a wonderful atmosphere, why not leave a string up all year round, make them a feature of your room and use them instead of main lighting where possible.
Christmas lights add a wonderful festive atmosphere to your home and can make you feel all comfy and cosy. They make a great addition to your decorations and can be used in a variety of different ways; to decorate your Chrustmas tree, displayed in your windows, wrapped around a garland or a bannister or hung around a doorway.
Whether you prefer multi-coloured lights or soft or bright white lights, we all have our own preference, we stock a great choice of Christmas lights from top brands such as Noma and Status. Browse our full Christmas Lights collection here.
