Swap Out Incandescent Lights for LEDs
Old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs use more electricity than newer LED lights, a fact that is particularly pertinent around Christmas. The savings can be significant if you switch from large C-9 incandescent light strands to their LED counterparts.
In fact, the Department of Energy estimates that a 6-foot Christmas tree lit 12 hours per day for 40 days with old-fashioned C-9 light strands uses, on average, $10 worth of electricity. A tree lit with C-9 LED light strands for the same amount of time uses only 27 cents worth of electricity.
Incandescent mini-bulbs cost $2.74 to operate, according to the same Department of Energy report, but running LED mini-bulbs for the same time costs just 82 cents. The figures are based on 50 C-9 bulbs or 200 mini lights per tree.
As a bonus, LED bulbs are safer than their incandescent counterparts because they do not get as hot when lit. Also, LED strands can be plugged into one another in the same wall outlet without overloading the circuit, since they draw relatively little power.
