With the rising cost of just about everything, the sagging economy and the growing interest in “green” energy and materials across the country, it’s no wonder that LED Christmas lights are becoming more and more popular each year. This year a number of cities and companies have boasted how “green” they were by switching to LED Christmas lights instead of incandescent Christmas lights that they’ve used for years.
LED or Incandescent Christmas Lights?
The big question: are LED Christmas lights really that much better in the long run? Will switching to them save you money and save the environment? The answer isn’t quite as clear-cut as you may think. Because there are thousands of different Christmas light configurations and options, both in LED Christmas light and regular Christmas lights, I decided to focus on two similar light strands, both made by the same company. They are:
The GE 100 LED Christmas light set
versus
The GE 100 Mini Light Christmas light set
Both sets are from Amazon.com, both sets are made by GE and I chose them because they had the exact same number of “bulbs” and because these two particular sizes of bulb are generally very popular.
Cost to Buy LED Christmas Lights vs Regular Christmas Lights
In our example the LED Christmas lights cost just about double that of the regular lights. The LED lights are selling for $26.99 and the regular Christmas lights are selling for $13.99 (which seems high in my experience). If you go to different stores you’ll see a wide range of prices. In some of my shopping around I found a strand of 60 regular Christmas lights for $2.99 and a strand of 70 LED Christmas lights for $9.99, which is nearly three times as much.
In our example six strands of LED Christmas lights would cost $161.94 to buy. It would only cost $83.94 to buy the regular Christmas lights, which means there is a savings of $78 when going with the regular Christmas lights.
Clearly, LED Christmas lights cost more initially, but the big difference in costs come in paying for the electricity to run them.
Cost to Run LED Christmas Lights vs Regular Christmas Lights
Let’s take a look at how you can calculate how much it will cost to run your Christmas lights. To do this we’ll compare the two above sets and we’ll need to know a couple things. We’ll need to know the wattage of each set, we’ll need to know how much we pay for electricity and we’ll need to know how long we’re going to run them. To get your approximate electricity price, check your electric bill. To figure out the wattage of your Christmas lights, or anything else, you can often check the original packaging or pick up a Kill A Watt Energy Meter
I’m going to keep this basic and not get into the millions of details with wattage, energy and power measurement. Essentially our calculation will look like this:
Watts x Time x Cost = Total Cost to Run Christmas Lights
Let’s think about using a 60 watt light bulb for 1 hour. My electrical bill lists my cost for 1 Kilowatt Hour (1000 watts) at approximately 19 cents.
(60 watts/1000) x 1 hour = .06 Kilowatts
.06 Kilowatts x $.19 per KWH = $.0114
So it costs me a little over 1 penny to run a 60 watt bulb for 1 hour. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you start considering lots of 60 watt bulbs run for multiple hours it all adds up pretty quickly. One 60 watt bulb costs 11 cents to run for 10 hours.
Now let’s do the same electricity cost comparison with our Christmas lights. We’ll use the same cost of electricity and we’ll use the specifications from the Amazon page to see that the LED Christmas lights use 8 watts and the incandescent Christmas lights use 48 watts.
LED Christmas Lights: 8 watts x 1 hour x $.19 per KWH = $.00152 After 10 hours it would cost about 1.5 cents to run LED Christmas lights.
Regular Christmas Lights: 48 watts x 1 hour x $.19 per KWH = $.00912 After 10 hours it would cost about 9 cents to run regular Christmas lights.
So the regular lights cost 9 cents to run an hour and the LED Christmas lights only cost 1.5 cents to run an hour. That’s a big difference but still not much money. Let’s now assume we have 6 strands of lights and we run those lights 5 hours a day for about 30 days in December. The result:
LED Christmas Lights: $.00152 x 6 strands x 5 hours x 30 days = $1.37
Regular Christmas Lights: $.00912 x 6 strands x 5 hours x 30 days = $8.21
So it our example it cost $6.84 cents more during the holiday season to run our regular lights. But remember our regular Christmas lights cost us $78 less to buy. If everything were to magically stay the same that means we’d have to use the same LED Christmas lights for about 12 years to actually make up the money in energy costs that paid out in our initial purchase (12 x $6.84 = $82.08).
| Regular Christmas Lights |
LED Christmas Lights |
|
| Initial Cost (6 strands) |
$83.94 | $161.94 |
| 1 Strand, 1 Hour Cost to Run |
$.09 | $.015 |
| 30 days/5 Hours per day Cost to Run |
$8.21 | $1.37 |
| Total Cost for 1 Christmas |
$92.15 | $163.31 |
The Durability of LED Christmas Lights vs Regular Christmas Lights
LED Christmas light packages often advertise how much more durable LED Christmas lights are over the small incandescent bulbs and that claim in largely true when it comes to the bulb. You can hit an LED pretty hard and not break it, but those regular Christmas lights can crunch like potato chips if you aren’t careful. Beyond that, both types of Christmas lights are still mostly composed of similar thin wires thin rubber insulation. You can just as easily cut or nick the wire in a strand of LED Christmas lights as you can with regular Christmas lights.
I’ve also noticed that newer LED Christmas light packaging mentions that you can connect together many, many more strands of LED Christmas lights off one another than with regular Christmas lights. Some older LED Christmas light boxes still advise only connecting “3 or less” strands together. Unfortunately, I don’t think many people actually follow that advise very closely.
LED Christmas lights also like to advertise their long life. In our example the LED Christmas light set advertises a “20,000 hour average life”. Let’s go back and assume we’re using our Christmas lights for 30 days at 5 hours a day. That’s 150 hours in a single Christmas season. That means that the LEDs on your LED Christmas lights will last 153 Christmas seasons.
That’s a bit ridiculous and clearly a meaningless advertising ploy. I’m guessing that the wires between the LED lights will disintegrate in that time and in 150 years there will probably be some new Christmas light technology that you’ll want to take advantage of. So while 20,000 hours sounds great, it’s a bit overblown. Overall, though, LED Christmas lights will have a tendency to last longer than regular Christmas light strands.
The Look of LED Christmas Lights vs Regular Christmas Lights
This is purely a subjective measure but it’s an important one. Cheaper LED Christmas lights tend to be a little less bright than their incandescent counterparts, though some people actually prefer that. A lot of the new LED Christmas lights are actually very bright now and give regular Christmas lights a good run for their money when it comes to visibility. Many people like the colors of LED Christmas lights, but a lot of people think the “white” Christmas light version of LEDs is a “cool” color compared to the warmth of a white mini incandescent Christmas light bulb. That makes sense, given that LED lights are actually cool to the touch while regular Christmas lights, even the mini ones, can actually get quite hot.
LED Christmas lights also have an issue with “flickering” due to the way they are designed. It gets a little complex, but basically plug-in LED Christmas lights in the US appear to flicker because they are really blinking on and off very quickly, like a strobe light. Regular LED Christmas lights here in the United States flicker 60 times per second. Some people can notice this more than others. Some people complain of getting headaches while looking at LED Christmas lights while some people can’t see an discernible flicker at all.
You can get around the LED Christmas light flicker by buying LED Christmas lights that are advertised as “flicker free” or sometimes “full wave.” They still flicker, but they flicker much faster (120 times per second) than the human eye can detect. This is often done with something called a rectifier, which is sometimes used in stores to hide any potential flickering in the LED Christmas lights on display. Almost all commercial and professional LED Christmas light sets are “rectified” to remove any trace of a flicker.
These rectified LED Christmas lights are flicker free and appear a little bit brighter than regular LED Christmas lights. They also use a little more energy, but they are still much more energy efficient than incandescent Christmas lights.
Some people think the LED colors are actually a bit “richer” and really like way they stand out. There are lots of online debates about the color of LED Christmas lights when compared to regular Christmas lights. It’s all personal preference, really.
The “Green” Factor of LED Christmas Lights vs Regular Christmas Lights
So which type of Christmas light is more green? It’s hard to say for sure, and here’s why: LED Christmas lights certain use less electricity and using less energy (and burning less carbon) is always a good thing from an environmental standpoint. A lot of environmental websites like to claim that LED Christmas are good for the environment, but I’m a little skeptical when you look at the big picture. LED Christmas lights are basically made of plastic and that newly manufactured plastic, like almost everything else, they will eventually end up in a landfill one day. I have no idea how “green” the manufacture process is for LED Christmas lights. I can’t imagine it is much different from any other plastic product. And those old but perfectly functional incandescent Christmas lights you’re replacing with your new LED lights? Where are they going to end up?
I’m personally taking the middle ground: as my incandescent Christmas light strings fail I’m replacing them with high quality LED Christmas lights or doing without them. I’m not a big fan of mixing light types, so I’m also moving some lights around as my lights go bad. This year I had one of the two strings of lights that I normally use for my windows go bad. So I skipped lighting my windows and I moved that remaining strand to a small bush that didn’t normally get any lights at all. I could also move some of those lights into other areas of my home if I really wanted to use my Christmas lights for alternative uses.
Final Cost Analysis of Christmas Lights
Yes, LED Christmas lights use less energy and cost less to run, but their cost savings are negated by their much higher price. It’s difficult to make up that cost just in energy savings unless you’re going to use your Christmas lights all year. LED Christmas lights are more durable than regular Christmas lights, but they’re still made of the same cheap plastic parts and cheap wiring as regular incandescent lights.
If you are really serious about Christmas decorations and want to buy some professional Christmas lights that you can’t find in the local Wal-Mart, then you’ll want to probably look online. There are some specialty stores, but many of them actually sell through Amazon.com which now offers a pretty reasonable selection of commercial grade LED Christmas lights
Ultimately using LED Christmas lights is a personal decision which may not necessarily save you any real money, but will indeed save some energy when using them. Have a great time decorating your home this year and putting up those Christmas lights, whatever kind they are!
“A lot of environmental websites like to claim that LED Christmas are good for the environment…”
As you point out, making new lights takes plastic, energy, etc. so replacing existing good lights would be a waste. The only Christmas lights that ‘good for the environment’ are no lights, unless they invent some that create energy and/or absorb carbon. At best, Christmas lights are likely to be ‘less bad for the environment’ than some other lights.
I am sure that the savings are great for the LED lights, but I am seeing some in my neighborhood and they just plain look strange. The only way I can describe them is “plasticky” or fake looking. They aren’t as pretty as the traditional lights and I don’t know that I believe all the hype about the “green” movement anyway. Someone is getting rich off of all the transition. I am saving A LOT of money by not switching. Has anyone determined how much it would cost to go out and replace the bulbs that you use for 1 month, with the lights you have had for the past 2-5 years that cost you NADA!? Then determine the savings. Maybe $8.00 per month for pretty lights compared with $100.00 to go out and buy 10 news sets of LED lights is better savings for todays economy.
Excellent post. Thanks for quantifying the payback – I knew it was bad, but hadn’t taken the time to figure it myself. It’s hard to go against the “Green” movement these days, but the only legitmate “geen” savings here are electricity savings. But even those are not what you think. Take a look at the overall or “lighted” length of your LED string. It will be less than the standard mini-light one. If you are using a lot of lights, you will need to by more LEDs to get the same coverage. Less electricity, more plastic, no reasonable payback. Until the cost comes way down, there is no reason to go to LEDs. I wonder what the profit margin is on a string of LEDs?
Thanks for the comments! Hmm, I don’t know if I have two Christmas light boxes around to compare “lighted length”… it’s an interesting point. Driving around my neighborhood tonight I saw a lot of different decorations and while the LED Christmas lights might be “bright” I noticed they don’t really “glow” or give off any light around them. I noticed this while driving around looking at lights from inside my car:
If you cover a bush with regular Christmas lights it will be bright enough to actually see the leaves and branches. If you use a similar LED Christmas light strand you just sort of see a bunch of glowing dots floating in darkness.
I don’t know why the LED lights are so much more expensive. Sure, the LEDs might be a little more costly, but they’re showing up in just about every electronic device and even toy on the planet, so you’d figure their real cost to produce and manufacture has got to be pretty darn low by now.
Think straight lines with lighted length. Bushes are one thing, but if you’re outlining windows, a porch, roof lines, etc. lighted length is pretty important. It’s an issue with mini-lights between manufacturers – they’re all different. You replace a set and all of a sudden you can’t get there from here. . .
Part of it also has to do with length between lights. That usually varies at 4″ 5″ or 6″ – But – When’s the last time you bought a true half gallon of ice cream? Everyone’s downsizing but keeping the price the same to hide the price increase. It’s a real pain with Christmas lights – what you once could cover with 300 lights now takes 500. . .
I thought I would try the GE LED bulbs this year. It turned out to be a big mistake. These things are crap! About ten percent of the bulbs had the plastic covers/lenses fall off. I’m going back to traditional lights.
I bought LED lights to replace my halogen MR16 bulbs the other day from a website called Eaglelight.com that I would recommend enthusiastically. They had good service (good phone and email support), great FAQs so I knew what I needed, and competitive prices; also, their shipping was fast and the LEDs were as good as advertised. http://www.Eaglelight.com. Excellent online shopping experience.
Thanks for your review and comparison. Currently weighing out whether to go LEDs or incandescents. You make a good point in regards to the durability of the lights. In my experience with incandescents, it’s not the lights that give out after a few seasons of an Alberta winter, but the wiring of the lights. This forces me to throw out the lights after 3-4 years, regardless of the bulb quality (ie., lights would still work, if not for the wiring failure). Would get pretty expensive if you had to do this with LEDs (likely the very same quality of wiring….).
Thank you for doing the research to my question! With recent store promotions to exchange regular Christmas lights for a discount coupon off new LED Christmas lights, I was tempted to turn in my perfectly functional regular Christmas lights for LEDs. But I thought like you, what a waste and addition to the landfill. Plus, generally consuming less “stuff” is a green way to go anyways. Thanks again!!!
Two years ago when we had all regular Christmas lights my electric bill went increased by about $40. Last year, I replaced all of our lights with LED’s – indoor and outdoor and my electric bill went up only about $5. The LED lights I purchased were only 2 dollars or so more per comparable box than the regular lights. BUT – They definitely aren’t as bright or glowing as the old lights. Our tree with the old lights used to light up the room. But with the LEDs I have to turn a lamp on or it’s dark in here! LEDs also don’t make tree ornaments sparkle as nicely as the old lights either. I like the $$ savings for sure, but I do miss my old lights on the tree. I think this year I’ll get regular lights for the tree and use LEDs for everything else.
We have had our old strands of lights for years and finally started replacing them last year when we noticed some wires were looking a bit frayed. The Home Depot here runs a recycle promotion that you can receive a coupon for $3.00 for every incandescent strand of Christmas lights that you turn in towards the purchase of a LED set, up to 5 sets.
Yes, the initial up front cost is twice as much, so then to break even the LED lights would have to last twice as long. If they did this, then anytime they lasted after this time, they would saving you money. (not to mention the price to run them is less as well). So the ultimate question is, “What are the average life spans of the LED lights and the traditional lights?” If the LED lights last at least twice as long, you have your answer.
Thanks for doing all the math for me, i was going through this same analysis. I decided to not spend the extra money on LEDs right now.
Sorry this article is full of misinformation.
First. Who only uses their lights for 5 hours a day. If that’s all you are using them for why bother. 8-12 hours is more typical. Also 30 days? Some people have lights up as long as 45 days.
So someone using LEDs 12 hours a day for 45 days would save $25 per season based on your example.
Second. You have the price difference being double but the LEDS will last at least twice as long so isn’t the cost the SAME?
Thirdly brightness. We have a tree with 600 pre-lit LED bulbs. It’s so fricken bright we don’t need any other light on in the room. So much for the “less bright” theory.
Also if you have little kids, guess what, sometimes they want to touch the pretty lights. Or even stick them in their mouths. You people rather have your kid stick a GLASS bulb that is very HOT in their mouths? Burns AND glass cuts. What a nice trip to the ER that will be.
I never get the pro-incandescent people. It’s like they hate saving money. They don’t see that dispite the higher upfront costs they will save money in the long run. These same people are mostly broke and have no savings because of their failure to see the “big picture” in things.
I am so frustrated with the incandescent lights going out so quickly, I am ready to try LED lights. I end us throwing away 1/2 my lights every season. The worst is the $300 pre-lit tree I bought a couple of years ago that now has 1/2 the lights out. It is all driving me so crazy that I am starting to think it’s a plot by the Chinese (who manufacture these lights) to make us all give up on Christmas and become atheists while they make enough money on all the lights we keep buying to take over the world!!!
So I am ready to try the LED lights. The question is whether the connections on the LED lights are so poor that those light also have a high failure rate.
Regarding the “green” analyses above, don’t forget to consider the huge difference in the environmental impact caused by folks re-buying their lights yearly. If LEDs prevent that they will be much more green friendly than the incandescent lights!
Brian,
Thanks for the bitter and angry reply! ‘Tis the season! :-) Sorry I didn’t do a cost analysis for your specific Christmas light usage and needs.
Most of my neighbors use timers for their lights. Ours go on at around 5 or 6 pm and go off around 10 or 11pm. That’s approximately 5 to 6 hours. Also, we put our lights up usually a weekend or two after Thanksgiving. That’s about 25 days until Christmas. Another week or so to New Years. About 30 days. It sounds like you’re one of those people who has his lights on until February.
If you have your lights on for 12 hours a day then you are wasting a lot of electricity for lights people don’t see or use.
As for brightness? That’s kind of a matter of preference, but Consumer Reports has stated that incandescent bulbs are often brighter. There are too many brands, bulb sizes and configurations to do a “real” analysis of that. I do know that you usually spot the LED Christmas lights on outside decorations. They’re the homes that are not as bright as their neighbors.
We have little kids. We say “No” when they put light bulbs in their mouths. I guess you don’t do that.
If your one primary concern is saving money over a 12 year period then maybe you should not buy or use ANY Christmas lights at all. That SAVES THE MOST MONEY!!!
For the rest of us? There are lots of things to consider with LED Christmas lights… Cost is just one of the many factors.
I was in this situation this year as well and decided to go for the LED’s to give them a chance at surviving the year. Also as a first time home buyer we needed to buy lights to start out so there was no wasting of old lights (a reason that seems to be completely lost on many of the green crowd when considering buying a new car etc). I was thinking similarly to Brian as we would have to replace fully half the lights every year when pulling out the old strings at my parents house (perhaps the lights we bought were too cheap to begin with, unknown). Reading a little info it seems that the cause of failure of the smaller lights is that when the light bulb goes out there is a little metal shunt that is meant to bridge that gap (assuming this string of lights is in parallel) that very often fails because of bad manufacture or what have you. My thought was that hopefully the LED bulb would not fail in the first place making the shunt relatively unneeded. I didn’t buy a ton, and the lights were a little cooler than I’d like even after careful selection. I have a timer but we left our lights on until my wife leaves in the morning so our time of use was longer than yours by at least 2x. I will say that the lights themselves didn’t seem as bright and twinkly, but there is nostalgia for that yellow glow playing into that as well. Hopefully LED’s come down in price and up in brightness which seems likely enough with all the R&D being put into LED tech in general. Ultimately, more options, competition: consumers win. Good luck to us all.
Well, we replaced all of our outdoor lights this year with LEDs. We liked the look better, actually, and used less lights than last year. Just got the utility bill from SDG&E. What a rip off! It was almost exactly the same as the same period last year when we didn’t have LEDs and had the lights on more often! We only saved 10 kwh! What? We did not use our power more on anything else, if anything, we used less. I called them to complain and make sure they didn’t estimate. They said it was an actual reading. Bah hambug! I told them what was the point if our bill was going to be the same? How stupid! I think maybe this LED thing is a scam? My husband just had to have them…I’m thinking this was a costly mistake. Could it be because they were plugged in all the time and “bled” a little after we ‘turned them off’ at night? They still glowed a bit–my husband said this was ok. I’m thinking it wasn’t…and we should pull the plugs out when we switch them off? Help!