Unitil Corporation, (Unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is offering some energy-saving tips as the lights are strung to dazzle revelers this holiday season.
Whether you take inspiration from Clark Griswold or you’re a minimalist whose approach to holiday decor is less extravagant, there are ways to reduce electricity usage – beginning with LED lights.
LEDs, or light-emitting diode bulbs, use up to 90% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, making them a much more efficient way to brighten the holidays and save money.
“As you start dragging out those boxes of old lights from the attic or basement, it’s a good time to think about LEDs,” said Alec O’Meara, media relations manager at Unitil. “When you consider that the string of 100 mini incandescent lights you’ve been using for decades uses about 40 watts an hour compared to a string of 100 mini LED lights, which consumes a little less than 5 watts an hour, making a change this year can make a big difference.”
Hanging lights is a time-honored tradition that has become so popular that NASA has reported nighttime lights shine up to 50% brighter during Christmas and the New Year’s holidays based on satellite data.
As more and more decorative lights are strung around homes and buildings, the selection of LED lighting colors and styles has been greatly expanding over the years. That’s what appealed to Unitil customer Brian Stack, who took steps to lower energy costs inside his Plaistow, N.H., home in the past, but this year found a way to cut costs outside as well.
The Stacks have decided to make the switch to outdoor LED holiday lights for the first time this season. It’s a change that made sense for this family of seven who installed solar panels six years ago, purchased energy-efficient appliances and replaced all incandescent bulbs with LED inside the home after moving in eight years ago.
“We put up the Christmas lights for three or four weeks so it wasn’t on my radar to get rid of them all and replace them with LED lights,’” Stack said. “But there’s always opportunities to be more efficient, and when you have a big family with five kids all the way from a senior in high school down to a second grader, you have to teach them to be conscientious about saving because it’s not always at the forefront of their minds. People have to find ways to be more efficient. It’s just the reality of the world that we’re living in now.”
LED lights have other benefits as well. They’re more shatter resistant because they’re not made of glass, are cooler than incandescent bulbs, and last 25 times longer.
In addition, as many as 25 strings of LED lights can be plugged together without overloading a socket, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The use of timers to automatically control when your lights turn on and off can also help lower costs by keeping them lit only during hours when people would be most likely to see them.
“Timers are a great way to reduce your holiday energy usage. Everyone is so busy at this time of year so it’s easy to forget to turn the lights off before bed, which means they’ll end up running all night long at a time when most people are asleep and few are out enjoying them,” O’Meara said.
Another way to get the most out of your lights is to position tinsel and any reflective ornaments in a way that creates a sparkling effect, giving the appearance of more lights.
It’s also important to remember that when choosing lights, the ones that flash or change colors will use more electricity. And while inflatable holiday decorations can add lots of fun to the front yard, keep in mind that the internal fans that keep these decorations filled with air can be significant electric draws. Depending on their size, inflatables can use an average of 50 to 200 watts per hour with some animated ones requiring significantly more electricity.
“No matter how people choose to celebrate, we hope everyone considers more energy-conscious ways to brighten the holiday season this year,” O’Meara said.
Photo above: Unitil customers Brian and Erica Stack get some help hanging their new LED lights from their children, Brady, Cameron, Liam, Owen and Zoey.
Teaser photo: Unitil lineworker Keith DeCoste climbed into the bucket Monday night to give the Exeter Holiday Lights Committee a hand with a decorative snowflake that needed to be attached to a pole in downtown Exeter. It was in a tough spot, but he got the job done and tested it out before all of the downtown lights are officially turned on for the season during Thursday’s annual Holiday Block Party.
