KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Traditional Christmas Lights Vs. LED Lights

Traditional Christmas Lights Vs. LED Lights

by Kara Sewell (WICHITA, KANSAS)

The closer it gets to Christmas, the less time Roy Trudo will spend on the ground.  Trudo's company has hung lights for over 20 years.

While his methods haven't changed he says the lights have. LED lights are the latest in "green" technology.

"People are really curious about it and wanted to know cost wise what it was, when we told them they either said yeah, lets try it or no way lets stay with what they have," says Roy Trudo of Busy Bee Lawn & Lighting.

LED's can be two even three times the cost of traditional holiday lights. Retailers are trying to change that.  At Lowe's, nearly every LED strand comes with a coupon or is discounted.

John Bever who works at Lowe's says they are selling more this year than ever. Sherii Farmer at Westar Energy says for good reason.

"They're 90% more efficient and it is going to cost them less in the long run to operate these lights," says Sherii Farmer with Westar Energy.

We wanted to see if the difference was really worth the cost. We tested four stands, two traditional and two LED.

First up are the traditional.

"It's one-hundred thirty-three and one-hundred thirty-four watts," says Farmer.

A lot according to her expertise. The LED lights use only four watts.

Smaller lights use ten watts versus one watt from the small LED lights.

On average Farmer says by using large bulb LED lights you can over fifty dollars on your electric bill during the holiday season and eight dollars for small bulbs.

Roy Trudo says if his customer want LED lights he uses them.

Not only are they more energy efficient.

LED lights are safer because they don't get hot.

And the bulbs are plastic so they last longer, up to 20 years.

Another cost to consider if an LED bulb does break, a replacement bulb is three times that of a traditional bulb.

To maximize holiday lighting savings, use timers to limit light displays to no more than six evening hours a day.

Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will quadruple your energy costs.

"Energy Stars" are appliances and electronics with the Energy Star label - the government's symbol of energy efficiency - can cut related home energy bills up to 30 percent.

LED lights last up to 100,000 hours. Assuming you use your Christmas lights five hours a day between Thanksgiving and New Year's, that's only 200 hours of use each year.