Ask a Local Electrician: How Much Electricity is Used by My Christmas Lights?

Nothing quite gets a person in the mood for the holidays as a beautiful Christmas light display. However, some homeowners are starting to wonder: just how much electricity are we using by running our lights? Whether worried for eco-friendly reasons, monetary reasons, or both, check out this guide to learn how much you might be spending on Christmas lights.

There Are Many Factors That Affect the Answer

We cannot give you a specific price and move on because there are so many variables that can affect the answer. For example, the following factors will affect how much you pay to run your Christmas lights:

• How big is your home? A larger home is likely to have more lights and ergo will have higher bills.
• What type of Christmas lights are you using? Not all lights are created equal when it comes to energy usage. A typical strand of 100 mini lights will use 40 watts, while LED use much less. In fact, you could light more than 7,000 LED lights for the cost of running just 25 C9 bulbs.
• How long is it on? If you are a family that leaves the lights on all day and night, then you will spend more than if you turn them on when it’s dark and turn them off before you go to bed.

As you can see, these issues will affect how much you spend on running holiday lights this year.

The United States Uses a Lot of Power on Christmas Lights

Those bulbs may seem tiny, but they can have a big impact on energy usage. It is estimated that we use more than 6.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity every year to power holiday lights. That could run 14 million fridges. However, there are some ways you can reduce the amount of power you use for your light bulbs.

Know the Differences Between Incandescent Christmas Bulbs and Energy-Saving LED Lights

There are actually quite a few differences between the two. First, incandescent bulbs are hot to the touch while LED lights are not. This is because incandescent lights use 90% of the energy they use for heating – not lighting. An incandescent bulb will last about 2,000 hours while an LED bulb could last as long as 200,000 hours. Finally, incandescent bulbs require an electric outlet for each strand while you can plug in several LED strands to one outlet.

We Can Help with Your Lighting Needs

At Sonner Electric we cannot come string your holiday lights for you, but we can help you save money all year by installing low-voltage exterior lighting. Call us today at 661-728-0126 to talk to your local electrician for help.