Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like dusting off the old ladder and covering your house with thousands upon thousands of sparkling little lights.  Unfortunately your power bill will light up as much as your home.  An increased power bill has been accepted as part of the holiday season, but it doesn't have to be that way.  This year you will notice an energy efficient alternative to your old fashion mini lights.  Light-emitting diodes, more commonly known as LEDs, consume as little as 0.04 watts and can be up to 90 percent more efficient than their incandescent counterparts.

     I'll do some math for you. Rocky Mountain Power currently charges $0.075 per kilo-watt hour. Lets assume that I have 1000 bulbs of those really old large incandescent holiday lights and I have them on for 4 hours a day.  When I receive my bill at the end of the month, those lights would increase my energy consumption by somewhere around $50.00 worth of electricity.  Talk about bringing in the new year with an empty wallet.  Luckily for me those bulbs have been outdated for years. Currently traditional incandescent “mini-lights” are the popular choice.  These lights are much more efficient and would cost a much more affordable $3.60 if left on for the same amount of time. However, if I decide to purchase these new LED lights (which I will) I will only see an increase $0.36 on my power bill. I’m serious, only 36 pennies per thousand lights.

     Saving electricity is just one of the great benefits of LED lights.  The reason why LEDs are so efficient is because the majority of the electricity they use is transformed into light energy, and very little is transformed into heat.  So you won’t have to worry about burning down your house with your holiday spirit.  Also LEDs are very reliable, they are used in the cockpits of jets, these LEDs can last upwards of 20 years and are rated for roughly 100,000 hours.  Never replace a bulb for 20 years, what a relief.  They come in all of your favorite styles and colors and are relatively inexpensive.  They can be found for as little as $5.99 for a strand of 50.  'Tis the season for light-emitting diodes.