The Bite:
Aren't you just dying to know? Easy: LED holiday lights. Switch to this heavenly little bit of technology to light things up using very little energy.
What are the holiday lights at the end of the tunnel?
12.09.2008
Submitted by tmeronek on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 1:07am.
The Benefits:
- Flatlining energy bills. LED bulbs use 90% less electricity than traditional holiday bulbs.
- More cash on the other side. Burning 10 strands of lights with 100 lights per strand, 8 hours per day for a month costs an average of $175 for incandescent bulbs vs. about $1 for LED minibulbs.
- Killing off holiday hassle. With their 20-year lifetimes, you don't have to replace LED light strings as often as conventional ones.
- Seeing the light, not heating it. Incandescent lights give off as much as 90% of the energy they consume as heat, so they're more likely to cause fires. LEDs are touch-ably cool.
Personally Speaking:
Jen picked up LED Christmas lights at Home Depot for her family's tree trimming a couple years ago. Because she has tree-OCD - repositioning each ornament just so - her fam finally put her in charge completely while they drank spiked eggnog and shouted words of, um, encouragement.
Wanna Try:
- Crystal Mini-LED Christmas Lights - multicolored, small-bulb, 24-foot strands; also in white ($19-$25).
- Holiday Creations Lights - 17 inches of pineconeesque-shaped, colored bulbs. Also: a white version ($14-$17).
- Christmas Light Source and Holiday LEDs - recycle your incandescent holiday lights by mail, and get a discount on new LED ones.
Shellie Gardner
Cocktail Fact
Despite complaints, police officially declared that RI resident Joe Moretti's Christmas display, consisting of 38,000 lights illuminating giant cutouts of Paris Hilton, was legal.
Bang For The Bite
If 10,000 Biters use LED holiday lights rather than conventional ones, we'll save almost $35 million on energy bills over the next 20 years.
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