Do LED Lights Use a Lot of Electricity?
Traditional lights and light strings can use a surprising amount of electricity. However, an alternative to traditional incandescent bulbs emerged with incredible savings. LED lights are brighter, better, and even spread cheer to your wallet.
LED light strings have come a long way since their introduction and come in a wide spectrum of vivid colors. If you’re planning a Griswoldian winter wonderland, keep reading to learn about the cost and energy savings of LED lights and light strings.
How much Electricity do LED Lights Use?
In general, LED Lights use less electricity and last longer than incandescent or CFL bulbs. This EarthEasy chart breaks down the electricity usage and cost savings of LEDs, and shows thousands of dollars of savings over 25,000 hours when you switch from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs.
LED lights also use very little electricity in comparison to traditional incandescent bulbs. The Washington Post investigated LED lights as compared to incandescent lights. Their researchers found that a string of 25 incandescent bulbs used 175 watts of electricity, amounting to $15.12 over the Christmas season. However, a comparable strand of LED lights used only 2.4 watts and cost $0.21 — less than a quarter!
Are LED Lights Cheaper to Run?
LED lights are definitely cheaper than their counterparts. Not only do LED’s consume less energy, but the bulbs also use energy more efficiently, which saves a lot of money. The Indiana University of Pennsylvania found that LED lights convert 80-90% of their energy into light, whereas incandescent bulbs only convert about 10-20% of their energy into light.
According to the Department of Energy, “LED lights consume 80% less energy than their traditional counterparts and last 25 times longer,” making them cheaper to run. The Department of Energy also compared the estimated cost of lighting a six-foot tree for 12 hours a day for 40 days, as you can see on the following chart:
| Type of Energy | Cost |
| Incandescent C-9 Lights | $10 |
| LED C-9 Lights | $0.27 |
| Incandescent Mini-lights | $2.74 |
| LED Mini-lights | $0.82 |
That’s a huge cost savings! They also compared that same cost over 10 holiday seasons.
| Type of Energy | Cost |
| Incandescent C-9 Lights | $122.19 |
| LED C-9 Lights | $17.99 |
| Incandescent Mini-lights | $55.62 |
| LED Mini-lights | $33.29 |
Over the years, switching to LED’s can save a lot of money on your electric bill, which gives you more money to spend on other things.
Do LED Lights last longer?
Anything can last for a while if you take care of it, but light bulbs only have so many hours of light. LED lights last far longer than incandescent holiday lights. Much of LED lights’ durability is due to the way LED lights are made.
Incandescent holiday lights burn like an ember due to the heated filament in the bulb that an electric current passes through. As more electric current flows through the filament, the light will burn brighter and burn out the filament. This breaks or opens the circuit in which electricity flows. As a result, it’s not difficult to burn out your incandescent lights.
LED bulbs, on the other hand, use a sophisticated diode and semiconductor to create a current that moves electrons from the negative to the positive side. The resulting reaction is light, which is why they’re called Light-Emitting-Diodes. The United States Department of Energy predicts that a single string of LED lights “could still be in use 40 holiday seasons from now.” Talk about long-lasting!
Where can I find LED lights and light strings?
If you would like high quality LED lights that perfectly match your decor, look no further than LED Lights Unlimited. We offer custom energy-saving LED light strings, perfect for your decoration needs.
Have any questions about LED lights? Give us a call at (800) 321-2547.