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Save $1000s with LED Christmas Lighting

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Written by Peter Carmel
Thursday, 03 November 2005
With the rising electric and gas rates, those who choose to have Christmas lighting need to brace themselves when the PGE bill arrives. One way to cut your lighting costs is to use durable and energy efficient LED bulbs. LEDs will save about 90% of the electricity over standard lighting and are made to last a lifetime. In normal usage, they will pay for themselves in 2 months by using less electricity (see below). The C-7 sized multicolor LED string lights are a very attractive alternative to conventional energy sucking incandescent bulbs. The soft and steady glow of your LED lighting will be the talk of the neighborhood. Each string typically has 100 permanent LED bulbs which come in orange, red, yellow, blue, and green. There are no bulbs to replace because the LEDs are rated for 10,000 hours and are covered by practically indestructible epoxy lenses. Total length of each string is 67 feet. Total wattage for each string is 8. Three strings can be daisy chained together for a total of 200 feet. Now let’s see what your savings will be. These calculations assume the electric rate is 14 cents per KWH. (KWH means using 1000 watts continuously for 1 full hour). Currently, the cost is 13 cents but it probably will be 15 cents before the end of the year. Assuming you run the lights 8 hours each night, for 60 days each year, the total cost to run two strings of lights is: $1.08…. The same calculation for two strings of standard C7 bulbs (5 watts each) comes to $67.20 per season ($34 per month). So, if you decide to buy two strings of LED bulbs for $58, and use them instead of the C7s you already own, you will in fact have paid for the new LED lights the very first season due to the savings of $66. And profited $9 on top of that. Not to mention that next year, the savings continue. Theoretically, the lights should last for about 20 years if used as above. Don’t believe other LED claims that they last for 100K hours, 10K is more realistic. Remember, the bulbs never need to be replaced. If one should be damaged, the others will keep shining perfectly. Using the same numbers above, you will have saved $1320 in today’s dollars over the life of the lights. The photo shows the approximate colors of the bulbs. It’s not totally accurate mainly because the yellow looks very much like the orange. The true light really looks better than this photo. Each string is visually inspected to be 100% operational before it goes out the door. Thanks, and Happy Holidays!! Discuss (0) There are no comments yet. Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)
Last Updated ( Friday, 20 July 2007 )

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