For most people, Christmas is truly a magical time of year. For a brief, precious time, people are friendlier. They’re happier. Even though Christmas can sometimes be a hectic, sometimes stressful time of year, most of us eagerly anticipate its coming, and regret its passing.
It has been that way for many a century. For generations untold, Christmas has been a special time of the year.
But the argument could be made that for our generation, Christmas is even a little more magical than it has ever been – thanks to the magic of LED Christmas lights.
Technical Advances That Seem Magical
LED Christmas lights aren’t really magical, of course. They just seem that way. That’s because they represent such a huge leap over old-fashioned incandescent Christmas lights.
It’s not really much of a stretch, in fact, to say that LED Christmas lights are nearly as much an improvement over incandescent lights, as incandescents were over candles.
Just consider the following advantages that LEDs offer over incandescents:
Earth-Friendly
LED Christmas lights use far less electricity than incandescent lights. Want some real-world numbers as an example?
Consider this: Let’s say that we’re looking at a two-story home we’ll be decorating for Christmas. And let’s say that we’re going to decorate it as follows:
- We’re going to install about 200 feet of lighting around the roofline
- We’re going to install about 150 feet of lighting outlining the driveway and walkways
- We’re also going to install lots of mini-lights in some of the trees and foliage in the landscape of the home – a total of roughly 2500 mini-light bulbs
Let’s also assume that this light display will be on for a rough average of 7 hours per day.
How much energy will that light display consume? If we’re using incandescent bulbs, we can expect to use about 2,800 watts per day. And for LED bulbs? About a tenth of that.
That’s a 90% savings in energy just by switching from incandescents to LEDs. Good for Mother Nature, and good for your budget!
Cost-Efficient
There’s no denying that LED Christmas lights are more expensive than incandescent lights. In many cases, in fact, LEDs are roughly double the cost of equivalent incandescents.
But that cost differential is a bit misleading. Here’s why…
LED bulbs last far longer than incandescents. On average, LEDs last ten times longer than incandescents. So for twice the price, you’re getting ten times the service life.
Over the long term, obviously, that amounts to considerable savings.
Safer
Incandescent lights burn white-hot – as you’ve probably learned through first-hand, painful experience. But LEDs DO NOT burn hot. You could comfortably hold an LED bulb in your hand even after it’s been on for hours.
In fact, incandescent bulbs burn so hot that they’ve been the cause of many Christmas tree fires – a problem that causes millions of dollars worth of damage every year.
LED bulbs won’t cause that problem. And unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs won’t accelerate the drying-out of your Christmas tree if you still prefer natural trees. So your LED-lit natural Christmas tree will look better, last longer, and pose less of a fire risk.
Prettier
LED bulbs generate true colors: red, green, blue, yellow – whatever the color. That’s because each LED bulb generates the light wavelength of the color it’s designed to create.
Incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, create colors simply by placing a colored bulb over the same bright white that all incandescents generate.
So when you’re comparing the look of LEDs with the look of incandescents, you’re comparing a true, pure color with a ‘dyed’ color. And the true color of the LED is markedly superior.
It wasn’t always that way. The earliest LED bulbs had some flaws that sometimes impacted the appearance. But those days are gone. LED technology has been perfected to the point that the appearance of LEDs easily outclasses the appearance of incandescents.
You’re Not Still Using Incandescents, Are You?
You’re not among the dwindling number of holiday celebrants still using incandescent Christmas lights, are you?
If so, it might be time to consider making a switch.
You can have lights that look better. Lights that last longer. Lights that use far less energy. Lights that will cost you less than incandescents in the long run.
All in all, LED Christmas lights offer so many benefits over old-fashioned incandescents that it really does seem a little bit magical. And that’s entirely appropriate for the most magical time of the year – Christmas.