LED Christmas lights have been popping up everywhere and they're being pushed as the future. Sure, they might use a fraction of the energy of conventional lights, run cooler, last longer, and shine brighter, but are they worth the huge price increase? Find out what your extra holiday dollars buys you!
LED lights use less energy than traditional incandescent lights. A typical C7 incandescent bulb in a strand of holiday lighting uses 6 watts, while an LED bulb uses only .8 watts. What does less wattage equate to in actual dollars? About.com puts it very nicely, explaining that with 10 strands of lights you'd save almost $40 over a month.
A typical strand of 50 lights utilizes 300 watts (.3 kilowatts). At the national average of 9.81 cents per kWh, that equals 3 cents per hour, per strand. Running these lights 5 hours a day for the entire season of 30 days, the total cost for one strand of holiday lights equals $4.50. Multiply this by however many strands of lights you are using and you can see that lighting costs add up.On the other hand, a strand of 50 LED lights uses 4 watts (.004 kilowatts). Using the same formula as above, the total cost to run a strand of LED holiday bulbs for the season would be less than 6 cents. So running 10 strands of these lights would cost less than $6.00 for the holiday season.
But does this actually save you money considering the extra cost of the LED lights? While it's difficult to directly compare lighting strand to strand, a quick browse of Home Depot's incandescent Christmas light offerings shows a typical 50 light strand costs a couple of dollars for budget options. LED lighting options run several times the cost of a traditional set.
If you consider the long term investment of LED lights, the energy savings will make up for the purchase price. But also consider each year you pull out your old strand of lights and how many are broken, not working, or lost and you'll need to question whether you'll properly store and take care of your new fancy lights. LED lights are supposed to last quite a bit longer though, with a projected lifespan of 50,000 hours compared to 1,200 for an incandescent bulb.
An additional side effect of using less energy is that LED lights traditionally run cooler, which loosely translates to safer. Property damage and death are real tragedies.
Based on data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), an estimated 240 home fires involving Christmas trees and another 150 home fires involving holiday lights and other decorative lighting occur each year. Together, these fires result in 21 deaths and $25.2 million in direct property damage.
So are LED Christmas lights worth the extra cost? We say so, especially if you put up a lot of lights each year and are careful to store and re-use your lights each year. With the safety considerations and energy savings over not a very long run, they're actually quite affordable and a good idea for the holidays.
MORE ON CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON APARTMENT THERAPY
• Merry & Bright: Holiday LED Lights
• Upgrading to LEDs? How to Recycle Your Old Lights
• The Do's & Don'ts of Holiday Lights
• Energy Efficient LED Christmas Light Decorations
• Green Ideas: Solar Christmas Lights
(Images: Shutterstock/mitzy)
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I dunno- I have two outside sets that haven't worked this year and I have only had them for three years. There is no fixing them! And one small inside set. So far seems like a false economy to me. Although we don't use bazillions of lights and only turn them on for a couple of hours. Now what do I do with them- is it off to landfill?
My dad has had two strands die on him in only one year of use (and only used at Christmas!). I do like that they run cooler, but otherwise...meh
I personally don't like the light of the LEDs, it's too intense. The blue is awful.
I agree with Julie. We got a set to go around the balcony door in our apartment, and it's like looking at a really fast strobe light, kind of hurts the eyes...I'm sure they're fine from a distance, but not in the house...
As it so happens, when I pulled our lights out this year, they had stopped working so we decided to go ahead and invest in some new ones. After some discussion, we decided to try LED's. I bought some larger red lights for my tree and some that are "warm" white for outside. I agree with Julie, some of them are too intense, so I stayed away from the cool whites, blues, etc. I paid $8.50 a box which is about double the price of the incandescent multi lights I saw for the same length. Two boxes worked for my tree, so not a huge investment. So far, we are pleased with them. The red is really warm at night and not too harsh, which is what I feared. The white lights on the front of the house look warm and pretty from the street. They do stay cool, too. We keep checking them and they are not even remotely warm to the touch, which does allay my maternal fear of burning Christmas trees. I guess the real test will be when we pull them out to use next year. If we get the kind of lifespan they claim, they would be worth it, I guess. My heart still belong to the multi-colored blinking incandescents of my childhood, though ;-)
I have two LED strands that both only lit halfway when I pulled them out of storage this year. I thought I could simply replace the first bulbs that were out but so far that hasn't worked--if anyone has any ideas on how to fix this, I would appreciate it!
My issue with LED is that they do not have the warm glow that incandescent have. They seem buzzy to me, like they're flickering (as mentioned by elspethdawitch). I really dislike looking at them. For me, it's like taking the sugar out of hot chocolate. Sure they're better on energy, but I'd just rather not have christmas lights that look so terrible.
I don't have any christmas lights up in my house. Just a small norfolk pine tree with some small decorations. Reason being that I can't find any regular ones around. I might ask my mom if she has an extra string I can have for next year!
Huh. My LED lights have worked great for several years now. I have 350 of the warm white ones inside on the tree and about 150 or 200 outside--no issues.
I still have the two strands of mini lights I had when I was single 30 years ago. Here we can only by LED lights now . Some have lasted us only one year some a couple of years until the whole strand dies. I do have one set that has made it 3 years but that is it. Is there some type of quality control?
A big benefit that has been left out is that you can run more light strings together with LEDs than with traditional incandescent strings. For example, I used to wrap my huge live oak with the big c9 bulbs. I could only run three-four strings per outlet, which isn't much. So the lights only went up 5-6 feet up the trunk.
This year, I'm using soft white LEDs that look wonderful. None of that blue lighting. I was able to connect 25 strings if I wanted to. I have light all the way up 7 feet and then down a branch another 25-30 feet.
- The "soft white" LED's have come a LONG way.
- Like anything else, if you buy cheap, poorly made strings of lights - don't expect them to last long. 3 years ago I spent $17 per strand of lights and they are still going strong, opposed to spending roughly $5/yr per strand of incandescents which invariably had to be tossed out by the next season.
- You can't put a price on safety IMO and LED's are far and away safer to use, especially indoors.
A lot of the incandescent lights have lead warnings on the box, which freaked us out because we have a toddler and knew she would end up touching stuff on the Christmas tree. We switched to LEDs this year because they were the only lights we could find that claimed to be made without lead. I know we all touched the incandescent lights as children and turned out fine, but I'm a little surprised that nobody else has mentioned this point in the handful of posts on LEDs I have seen this week.
Yep, agreeing with all the other reviewers, the cool/bluish light is hideous, too dim, doesn't give off that warm & cheery feeling traditional lights do. In Chicago the past couple years, they've been trying to use LEDs to decorate the trees on major streets, and it doesn't seem any brighter at all & kind of makes you FEEL colder when you're around them) LEDs are way too expensive & honestly my non-LED lights seem to last longer (LEDs do not last nearly as long as they say on the box - 1 year/season seems pretty standard). $40/mo savings in electric bills SOUNDS great, but for 10 strands, the month of December, you'll end up spending MORE than $40 just to "upgrade" to LEDs!
I'm fairly happy with some of the newer warm-light LED light bulbs I use in my lamps - my electric bill ends up running only $20/mo - but I bought old fashioned xmas lights this year because I learned my lesson last.
We've had a few strings of LED lights, and will buy nothing else from now on. I like that I don't have to worry about making sure they are off--if I accidentally leave them on all day it's not such a big deal and I'm not going to burn down the house.
They are also useful for "general" lighting. When we were remodeling our kitchen a few years ago we had the light plugged into an outlet and they provided some light in our kitchen that was missing due to re-wiring of the official lights. We still have that string and they are running as strong as ever now for Christmas. We don't buy the nicest ones either.
After buying 5 expensive LED strands a couple years ago, and replacing 2 of those last year, and this year only having one of the 5 turn on, I bought old school glass-bulbed C-9 strands. I'll happily pay the extra $$ in electricity to keep a few strands a year out of the landfill and save myself the hassle of running to the store in a panic each year trying to match last year's lights.
I bought two sets of Martha LED strings this year at Home Depot. They are shaped like the old fashioned bulb of my youth, but slightly smaller. The colors are beautiful and bright, I'm hoping to snag some more in postholiday sales. Actually shocked at how pretty they are.
I appreciate the article that so nicely breaks down the cost of the LED versus the incandescent lights to the nitty gritty, but it does not help like LED lights more. I don't like their colours (even the supposedly warm whites are a bit icecle-y to me) and I sure don't like the cost. I do try to live as green as possible, but I simply draw the line when it comes to Christmas lights.
So far, the LED lights proved to me that the incentive about their longevity is pointless (two strings of LEDs died within 3 years - one of them developed the same disease one of the previous posters described - the first two feet of the strand worked fine, and then it was down the hill from there). Also, why should have I pay three times as much for them?
Somebody said "don't buy cheap lights and expect to work for many years". All LED's are expensive in Canada (yes, I did pay about $17 plus 15% tax (or maybe that year it was 14% tax) for them - that's not cheap in my opinion).
I do realize I am paying more for the traditional lights, but Christmas is only once a year. I never leave the lights on my tree on when I leave the house (because I have two dogs and the idea of a fire freaks me out beyond belief). On weekends, I typically have them on all day, but it's about 150 lights on my 4 ft tree so again, not that terrible.
I did adjust the outside lights (two string of 50 lights each) to be only 6 hrs a day (the previous setting on the timer was 10 hrs).
Can anyone link to warm white LEDs that they like? I'd be willing to try some out, but I hate the icy blue and bright white ones shown in the picture--if there were really a warm white one I'd be all over it in a minute. Now if only they could make them solar powered and with light sensors to go on and off at dusk/dawn....
I ordered LED C7 "look" ceramic lights 3 years ago and am very pleased with the outcome. The white bulbs read a little gray, and with the real ceramic cover, they're actually dimmer rather than the blinding white light of regular LED's. With so little energy used, you can really layer them on for a great retro look. I run a single string of real C7's up the tree for added light, and have a couple of twinkling bulbs in that string.
I bought two strings of LEDs at $35 per 24-foot string, three years ago; now they're going for $24 on white wires, $21 on green wires. They were expensive but totally worth it, because we're the kind of jerks who like to have twinkle lights strung up in the kitchen and the living room. We turn them on every evening, for as long as six hours every night, and even during the afternoons in winter, which is to say that we've put them through some pretty hard use, and they're all in perfect condition. They're a very warm white, almost a pale yellow, without any flickering or buzzing problem that I can perceive. I got them from Environmental Lights:
http://www.environmentallights.com/led-christmas-lights/premium-led-christmas-lights/g12-mm-globe-12-mm-dia/14078-34694r.html
Perhaps the flickering issue is only perceptible to certain people. I've seen the new LEDs that are "warm", but the flicker is still there for me. That's my biggest issue. Even the warm white looks hollow and vacant to me, and leaves me with a cool feeling.
I'm sure that sounds weird to people who like the LEDs just fine, but I'd rather just not see them at all. It doesn't read as "christmas" to me...
Here in Germany you can only buy LED lights. It seems like a good long-term energy policy to me. I just use lights more sparingly.
The video shows the ignition point in the poly wadding at the base of the tree, not in the tree itself.
MythBusters did an episode on lights and trees and they couldn't get their dry as tinder tree to ignite. Even with 2500 lights (take THAT Griswald!), the temperature on the tree didn't get above 250F, not enough to ignite the tree. They surmise that electrical arcing, overloaded extension cords would be the cause of tree fires.
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/christmas-tree-lights-and-house-fires.htm
Thanks for the link--that warm/soft white does look pretty nice!
I have 60 light strands of LED's from Target. They're in a green box and about $8 a box. I've had them for several years now, and they are gorgeous as ever. Multicolored. The blues are more intense than incandescent multi-colored lights, but they's gorgeous, rich colors, not cold at all. I haven't had any strands stop working, from the 10 or so on our indoor tree, to the two I use outside. This year I bought a slew of boxes of the warm white. Our neighbors thought they were incandescent, so they must be coming a long way. I could plugged FORTY THREE strands together if I'd wanted to. Awesome.
I'm sold.
A quick Amazon search for "warm white LED Christmas lights" revealed 10m strands for less than $9 a pop. They're not the highest quality, build-wise, as the wires themselves are a bit flimsy, but they're decently warm and yellowish (though nothing compares to incandescent) and completely worth the minimal investment. I've got them surrounding the windows in my loft and I'm very happy with them. For anyone looking to save a few bucks or wanting to decorate in bulk, I'd recommend them wholeheartedly. And, for those of you with a cheesy streak, each strand has a controller that allows for eight different highly festive chasing, sparkling, and fading routines. Oh, and Prime eligible means free shipping and speedy delivery. I sound like an Amazon plant, but man, Prime rules.
I bought some "warm white" LED lights (Phillips brand) at Target and when I compared them to the existing incandescent Christmas string lights we already own, the warm white LED's were still heinous. So off they went back to the store. I rather pay extra in electricity than have such awful looking lights. My neighbors across the street has LED lights on their bushes and the lights are an eyesore every night. The lights have the hue of prison yard lighting. That said, I'm not that familiar with colored LED's (I prefer white lights), are they comparable to colored incandescents?
I got some LEDs specifically for my tree, mainly because of fire safety. but also since decorating a small tree doesn't take all that many strands. I avoided multicolor, since the blue definitely kills me to look at, but a strand of red, one of green, and blinky white ones look awesome and weren't prohibitively expensive.
It's funny, this is the first and only place I've heard people complain about the blue hue of LEDs. All I can think is that the street lights in Chicago are SO heinously orange -- they're like the heating coils inside toaster ovens, ugh. So maybe it's just that they help counterbalance that in this neck of the woods?
I have white lights I bought at Target to use outside my house in Arizona. I'm on the fourth year of using them with no issues. They have little plastic covers (they snap on and off) that make the individual bulbs look bigger and also serve to diffuse the light. Huge impact for little money in my case.
"My issue with LED is that they do not have the warm glow that incandescent have. They seem buzzy to me, like they're flickering (as mentioned by elspethdawitch). I really dislike looking at them."
LEDs come in different temperatures for white. LED also do not flicker in any way. That would be luorescent lighting that does that.
I should have made more clear my post on LEDs not flickering. LED lights themselves do not flicker. It is only the type and quality of power source that drives them that can cause flickering. A simple battery powering an LED, for example, will have no flickering.
"I should have made more clear my post on LEDs not flickering. LED lights themselves do not flicker. It is only the type and quality of power source that drives them that can cause flickering. A simple battery powering an LED, for example, will have no flickering."
You're right, but since most people plug their strings of LED's into an AC outlet (not battery powered) the current alternates which means that the LED is actually off more than half the time. Imperceptible to people when they're looking at them straight-on, but you can see it if you wave your hand in front or, for me, if I'm moving while looking at them (i.e. walking). There are apparently devices that can minimize or eliminate this, but I'm guessing most people aren't using it, and it doesn't come standard with christmas lights.
Either way, it bothers me a lot! I hope they figure out how to bring back the warm glow and sparkle of incandescent lights!
We went with LED icicle lights this year and though I like the lights themselves, they are so bright that they are projecting colored circles on the sides of the house. Disco Christmas.
Eh.