Decorating homes for the holidays with festive lights is a much-loved tradition that is also inexpensive thanks to energy-efficient LED lights and time-of-use rates for electricity.
LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are almost 95 per cent more energy efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs – resulting in reduced costs for holiday lighting. That, coupled with off-peak time-of-use rates for electricity evenings, weekends and statutory holidays, means holiday lighting will likely cost less than a cent a day.
LEDs offer lots of other benefits:
– they last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs – up to 25,000 hours;
– they are safer since almost all of the energy consumed by an LED is used to create light, not heat, which means they remain cool to the touch and are not a fire risk if they are in contact with trees or other decorations for extended periods of time.
– bulbs are plastic, which means they won’t break, an advantage for households with small children or pets.
– they are designed so that if one light goes out, the rest of the string stays lit. There will be no need to spend time searching for and replacing burned out and broken bulbs.
– holiday lights are available for indoor and outdoor use;
– LEDs come in a variety of colours and styles to meet decorating needs including string lights, rope lights, icicles, net lighting and novelty shapes such as candles and stars. More information about energy efficiency, visit www.guelphhydro.com
