LED lights are significantly cheaper to run than incandescent lights, with energy savings as high as 90% compared to incandescent lights. The cost savings can be in the hundreds or even thousands over time depending on how many sets you use during the season.

LED Christmas lights are highly energy efficient because of their superior technology compared to incandescent lights. LED lights convert all energy into light through a diode. Incandescent lights are technically designed to generate heat by burning a filament, which then produces light. Burning multiple filaments requires much more energy than to power the set of semiconductors responsible for activating the diodes in in a string of LED Christmas lights.

The energy efficiency of LED lights is magnified over multiple sets of lights. And all of this efficiency adds up in terms of cost savings over multiple seasons.

LED Christmas lights save up to 90% of the energy that incandescent lights use, which means a significant cost savings on electricity. See the lower energy usage of LED Christmas lights compared to incandescent Christmas lights in the tables below.

 

Type of Light Application # of Bulbs Total Watts
LED Conical Light Sets Tree & Foliage Lighting 2450 31.5 Watts
LED C9 Retrofit Bulbs Roofline Perimeter 200 192 Watts
LED C9 Stringer Sets Driveway and sidewalk outline 150 13.5 Watts

 

Type of Light Application # of Bulbs Total Watts
Incandescent Mini Light Tree & Foliage Lighting 2450 1004.50 Watts
Incandescent C9 Bulbs Roofline Perimeter 200 1400 Watts
Incandescent C9 Bulbs Driveway and sidewalk outline 150 1050 Watts

 

The all-LED display in the first table consumes about 237 watts, while the all-incandescent display consumes 2,800 watts. Based on the average price of electricity in a 45-day holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Years, in which Christmas lights run for 7 hours a day, the example LED display costs $10.46 to run versus $123.48 for the incandescent display. This is a huge difference that compounds year-over-year.

You can figure the power consumption of this example display, and for other displays, by plugging in the appropriate values using this electricity cost calculator.

While the upfront of cost LED Christmas lights is more expensive than incandescent Christmas lights, the energy savings makes up the difference in as little as 2 to 3 seasons. Past this, the savings keep adding up, making LED Christmas lights effectively cheaper than incandescent Christmas lights altogether.

And a high-quality set of LED Christmas lights that’s cared for properly can last remarkably longer than incandescent. High quality, professional-grade LED Christmas lights last 25,000 to 75,000 hours, which is approximately 6 or 7 seasons. Incandescent Christmas lights don’t even come close to the longevity of LED, providing only about 3,000 hours of use. The difference in lifespan means that incandescent lights can outlast dozens of incandescent sets. So not only do you save money on energy as previously discussed, but you also save money on all of the sets you don’t need to buy.

Get your savings this holiday season with high-quality, pro-grade LED Christmas lights! Explore our selection of enchanting, energy-saving lights made to amaze in your next display.