Earth Day Tips for Energy Efficient Holiday Lighting

Decorating your home for the holidays does not have to put a strain on the environment. There are a number of ways to keep your house beautifully lit and festive for each holiday, while not using too much energy.

In honor of Earth Day, here are a few tips for energy efficient holiday lighting.

Reduce your energy consumption by switching to LED Lights

Reuse your LED lights every year, instead of purchasing new Incandescent lights

Recycle your old incandescent lights

Reduce

Decorating your home with LED lights will use up to 90 percent less electricity, than when compared to standard incandescent lights.

Incandescent bulbs are not very energy efficient, because when lit, they produce a lot of heat. LEDs use less electricity, because more of the energy used is actually converted to light. For example, if you replace 100 standard C7 or C9 7W incandescent bulbs with LED retrofit bulbs, you would reduce the power needed to light those bulbs from 6 amps down to 1 amp.

Switching to LED lights will help reduce your overall energy consumption, helping both the Earth, and your electric bill.

Reuse

LED lights last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs and won’t need to be replaced each year.

LED bulbs are made of a hard acrylic material, leading to greater durability. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs have no filaments that can break or burn out, so they stay brightly lit for longer.

The colors seen in an LED, are produced by a chemical process. For example, a blue LED light would actually have a blue LED in it. Incandescent bulbs on the other hand, have a clear light with a bulb cover that has been dipped in whatever color the light is supposed to be. The colors of the incandescent bulbs often fade, chip, or go dull. LEDs won’t, so you can keep reusing the same lights year after year.

Recycle

When replacing your incandescent lights, you don’t have to throw them away. There are now a number of Christmas light recycling programs available nationwide.

Take advantage of these opportunities, because recycling your old lights allows for many of the materials to be reused or repurposed, and most importantly, keeps them from filling up landfills.

Holiday LEDs has its own Christmas Light Recycling Program that will recycle your lights and also give you a coupon towards the purchase of new led lights.