Decorating for Christmas with strands of lights is a tradition for many Texas families. The type of lights, as well as how many strings of lights you put up, determines how much electricity you will use over the month. To help you stay within your budget, we are going to break down the cost of having Christmas lights. Pogo customers get pay-as-you-go electricity to help control their spend by making adjustments based on their daily usage.
The real savings between incandescent and LED lights
The most common types of Christmas lights used today are incandescent and LED lights. If you are like me, you are big time into recycling and reusing what you can. Unfortunately, recycling incandescent lights may not be saving you money in the long (or short) run. Let’s say that you are an Ebenezer Scrooge and only put up one string of lights. One 100-count string of incandescent mini lights runs at 40 watts. One 70-count string of LEDs run approximately 4.8 watts total. Reusing incandescent lights can cost 90 times more than LEDs.
Manage your electricity usage and bill increase
Most people use more than one string of lights to show their Christmas spirit. A household that uses 10 strings of lights will spend $10.00 to $15.00 over the course of a month (if using mini incandescent lights). That same household would spend $1.50 to $2.50 with the same amount of LED lights. If you are like one of Pogo Energy’s Christmas obsessed employees who’s houses can be seen glowing from outer space, the savings is even more dramatic. She uses 7 strands of icicle lights, 4 strings of lights to cover the fence in her front yard, 2 strings on the porch, 25 strings to wrap the trees in her front yard, 10 strings draped from the branches, 5 strings to outline flower beds, 4 strings to outline the roof of her house, a big inflatable Santa, and light up candy canes (we might need to plan an intervention). With incandescent lights, her electricity cost increases $250.00 to $305.00 for the month. The same amount of LED lights would cost her $35.00 to $42.00.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that incandescent lights will cost you more money year after year when compared to LED lights. All we are trying to say is that Christmas lights are awesome, but decorating with Christmas lights can end up costing you. Stay in control and save money this holiday season. Learn the truth about how much your Christmas cheer is costing you. Simple adjustments and changing your everyday habits can help you save money during the winter months.
Happy Holidays from everyone at Pogo Energy!