The holiday season brings joy, togetherness – and of course, lots of twinkly lights! Holiday lights create a beautiful, cozy atmosphere to get us through the long nights. Depending on the type of lights you have, you might struggle to power all of your strands. In this article, we learn how to meet the electrical requirements of your holiday lights without tripping a breaker or adding too much money to your electrical bill.
How Much Power Do They Use?
String holiday lights with incandescent bulbs give off a warm, homey glow. They require more watts than LED bulbs, though. Each strand of 100 incandescent lights uses about 40 watts of power, whereas 100 LED lights use about 7 watts. LEDs are the way to go for longevity and power conservation, but incandescent bulbs are much less expensive.
How Many Can You Connect?
You should always check the box your lights came in to see how many strands you can safely string together, as it varies depending on the strand length, bulb type, number of bulbs, and brand. On average, though, you cannot safely connect more than 4 or 5 strands of incandescent lights at once. Though this is well below the maximum wattage provided by a circuit (a standard household outlet emits 1,800 watts), the strand itself has a maximum wattage capacity that it can handle. While this likely is not an issue for your Christmas tree, it may mean you need to get creative when it comes to decorating the outside of your house. With LED lights, on the other hand, you can connect many, many strands together! Unless you go all-out with your holiday lighting, it’s unlikely you will ever need to attach that many – but the option is there, and that’s the beauty of LED lights.
When plugging holiday lights in an indoor outlet, remember to consider everything else drawing power from the circuit. The circuit provides 1,800 watts total, but if you have other light fixtures, sound systems, televisions, etc. plugged into the same outlet, you have fewer watts to draw from for your lights.
Saving Electricity and Money
Studies show that the average household sees a rise of at least $10-20 in their electric bill during the holidays from lights alone. While this may not seem like much, it can add up when you account for other holiday electric expenses (i.e., more hours with the heat on, more baking and cooking, more loads of laundry if you have family staying with you). It is worth it to try and save where you can. Making the switch to LED lights and using timers for your strands is a great way to cut back on the length of time your lights are left on and use electricity. In the past few years, laser projectors have become popular as a way to light your home’s exterior without having to hang lots of lights. Plus, the projectors are dynamic and create moving patterns on the walls. You could also use some solar-powered lights for your outdoor decorations to reduce the number of lights you need to plugin.
Be sure to follow all safety tips and keep your home and family protected this season. If you need help with electrical power issues, give us a call!
Promise Electric is a residential and commercial electrical services company based in Sarasota, Florida.
