Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year for many reasons, but your electricity bill might disagree with that sentiment. Between your Christmas tree’s lights and the lights for your outdoor decorations, you can run up quite the bill during this festive season. If you’re trying to cut down on the amount of electricity you use for your Christmas decorations this year, consider these tips from a home electrician.
Get Newer Lights
If you’ve been using the same lights for years, it may be time for an upgrade. Newer technology, especially LED lights, is designed to be more energy-efficient than older models. This will help you cut down on the amount of electricity your lights use up and save you money on your bill in the long run. Your local home electricians and electric contractors also recommend switching your normal lights from incandescents to LEDs to help save energy year-round.
Use a Timer
If you find yourself forgetting to turn off your lights at the end of the night, getting a timer for your lights is a good idea. Not only will this help you avoid the possible fire hazard of having too many lights on your Christmas tree, but it will also help you cut down on the cost of your electricity bill. Some light strands may come with timers built-in, but there are also many different options for power strips that have timers on them. Program your lights to turn off around the time you usually go to bed and turn back on after sunset and you can enjoy your beautiful Christmas lights without wasting extra energy!
Think About Battery Operated Lights
If you’re really worried about the cost of your energy bill, it could be a good idea to switch some of your regular strand lights and other light-up decorations to battery-operated versions. With batteries, you will have to pay to replace the batteries once they run out of energy, but you won’t have to factor that cost into your monthly energy bill during the holiday season. You can opt for LED battery-operated decorations to really make sure that you’re using as little energy as possible so you’re less likely to need to replace the batteries during this holiday season.
Any home electrician will tell you that it’s likely your energy costs will go up when you have all of your holiday decorations and light going, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save where you can. These tips can help you cut down on the amount of energy you use and therefore cut down on your electricity bill and even take your home below the average energy expenditure of 11,000 kWh of electricity every year. Use these ideas this Christmas season without worrying about your energy bill!
