Energy Efficient Holiday Lighting Now Available

Two energy efficient options now offer consumers better ways to decorate their homes and businesses.

Two energy efficient options now offer consumers better ways to decorate their homes and businesses.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) holiday lights and fiber optic artificial trees and decorations are the most recent additions to the growing selection of alternative holiday lighting. A new fact sheet detailing options and advantages is now available though Western Area Power Administration's Energy Services Clearinghouse at http://www.es.wapa.gov/pubs/files/03_WAPA_holiday.pdf.

"Many Americans love to decorate with strings of lights during the holidays, and most people use standard incandescent lights," said Michael McSorley, Energy Services Clearinghouse Energy Specialist. "However, these use a significant amount of energy and regularly involve costly bulb replacement. LED holiday lights offer a better alternative."

LED holiday lights are a new application for a mature technology. LED lights boast many benefits over traditional holiday lighting. First, they are up to 100 times more energy efficient. They also have a longer life span, are sturdy and easily strung. LED lights are safe. And, if a bulb burns out, the other bulbs will stay lit so that identifying and replacing
the bad bulb is easy.

Fiber optic lighting in artificial trees is also growing in popularity among consumers. These trees use an incandescent bulb ranging from five to 50 watts, depending on the size of the tree. There is only one bulb to replace, since light is transmitted from a single bulb though hundreds of
tiny fibers and emitted along each branch of the tree.

For more information about LED lights, fiber optic trees, and other energy efficient technologies, visit the Energy Services web site at: http://www.es.wapa.gov.

The Energy Services web site is a comprehensive technical resource for Western utilities and their commercial and industrial customers to implement energy technologies and practices. The Energy Services Clearinghouse and Power Line are managed by the Washington State University Extension Energy Program, http://www.energy.wsu.edu/, and funded by the Western Area Power Administration, http://www.wapa.gov.