Do you dread getting your December electric bill? Holiday lights and decorations can be a drain on your wallet, as well as the environment. However, new technology can help you save money and lower your carbon footprint.
LED holiday lights:
- Are safer (they don’t heat up like normal incandescent lights)
- Use less electricity (40 watts for a 100 light incandescent strand, versus approximately 8 watts for a similar LED strand)
- Last longer (average expected life is 25,000 hours)
- Can be strung together in larger amounts (up to 25-75 strands in one long string, versus 3-5 for incandescents)
Sounds great, huh? But, as I discovered, there may be some hidden issues with LEDs.
While doing an internet search on how LED holiday lights work, I found only one entry, which surprised me. But, the entry is a good one. If you are not an electrical engineer, it can be a bit technical, but it has some interesting things to say about LED light strings.
The page was written in May of 2007, so it is a bit dated. It provides a very technical overview of how LED strand lights work, and don’t work. All the benefits I listed above are detailed, and some hidden dangers are exposed.
Bulbs Do Burn Out
I had been told that one of the main benefits of LEDs was their long life and the fact that the bulbs almost never need replacing (as evidenced by the fact that spare bulbs are not usually included in LED packages). However, it seems that bulbs do burn out, generally due to faulty wiring or bad connections. Luckily, the bulbs are easily changed, much like standard light strands. But, because spares aren’t provided, this requires purchasing extra strings.
Manufacturing Issues
The author of the page detailed several problems with sockets being installed backwards. Due to the way LEDs work, there is a “right” and “wrong” way to install a socket and a bulb. As the author says, it is surprising that these issues were not noted and handled by the manufacturer. Luckily, he was able to repair the reversed sockets, but not all of us are trained electricians.
Outside Lights Rust
Based on the author’s experience, it appears that the LEDs he purchased were not rated for outdoor use (if there is such a rating for LEDs). Rain caused the leads of the bulbs (the wire prongs coming out of the bulb) to rust, thus causing a short circuit. He recommends rope LEDs for outdoor applications to prevent this from happening.
I am no electrician, nor an expert on holiday lights, so a lot of this went over my head. But I was surprised to learn that as little as a year and a half ago, there were so many issues with these lights. My intention with this article was to praise this new technology and its benefits for the environment. My hope is that improvements have been made since this page was written, because otherwise LEDs are a great investment. They are available almost everywhere this year, and their pricing is closer to that of incandescent lights. Not to mention all the great options in bulb shapes and novelty designs.
I’d like to hear from our readers. What has your experience with LEDs been? Have you had issues similar to those listed above?
Photo courtesy of Jonathan McIntosh on Wikipedia, through a Creative Commons License.
Thank you for this incredibly useful information. There has been so much buzz about LED holiday lights recently but when it comes to buzz, it is sometimes hard to dissect ‘popular trend’ from ‘sustainability.’
I myself have not purchased LED holiday lights yet but am really curious as to peoples’ experiences with them.
Thank you for this incredibly useful information. There has been so much buzz about LED holiday lights recently but when it comes to buzz, it is sometimes hard to dissect ‘popular trend’ from ‘sustainability.’
I myself have not purchased LED holiday lights yet but am really curious as to peoples’ experiences with them.
I have been using solar and wind for 35+ years.
I also use LED’s for my interior lighting.
Some I have had over 20 years and they still work fine.
Unlike incandescent lights, I can hold mine while it is on against my skin and I dont get burned (Christmas trees?) I use the flat type now, like is used on the space station. I have 2 right now, one is like those and the other is the miniature ‘bulb’ like shown in the second image above (the red LED).
The flat type puts out more lite, and uses under 1 watt (0.97) of power to light 25 of these (as one fixture).
The other also has 25 tiny lights (like the red one in your picture but white) but uses 2.7 watts of power.
The ones I have had 20 years that I still use are red. I was not able to easily find “white” LED’s until around 6 years ago.
I have no incandescent nor florescent lighting, it is all LED’s that are DC (direct current) and you can “burn them out” by giving them more than their rated power input.
I dont know about the currently available decoration type lights. I live in semi-remote Alaska and dont have access to stores very often (nor need to).
(and off topic, but when I do go, its normally on horseback I have not driven my car in several months)
But they also make LED headlights.
The power to run electronics in your car comes from your alternator, so the greater your electric demand for headlights etc, the more your alternator needs to work, which requires more gasoline if that’s your cars power source.
I recommend LED’s But also as you note, pay attention to the quality of any product you purchase.
I have been using solar and wind for 35+ years.
I also use LED’s for my interior lighting.
Some I have had over 20 years and they still work fine.
Unlike incandescent lights, I can hold mine while it is on against my skin and I dont get burned (Christmas trees?) I use the flat type now, like is used on the space station. I have 2 right now, one is like those and the other is the miniature ‘bulb’ like shown in the second image above (the red LED).
The flat type puts out more lite, and uses under 1 watt (0.97) of power to light 25 of these (as one fixture).
The other also has 25 tiny lights (like the red one in your picture but white) but uses 2.7 watts of power.
The ones I have had 20 years that I still use are red. I was not able to easily find “white” LED’s until around 6 years ago.
I have no incandescent nor florescent lighting, it is all LED’s that are DC (direct current) and you can “burn them out” by giving them more than their rated power input.
I dont know about the currently available decoration type lights. I live in semi-remote Alaska and dont have access to stores very often (nor need to).
(and off topic, but when I do go, its normally on horseback I have not driven my car in several months)
But they also make LED headlights.
The power to run electronics in your car comes from your alternator, so the greater your electric demand for headlights etc, the more your alternator needs to work, which requires more gasoline if that’s your cars power source.
I recommend LED’s But also as you note, pay attention to the quality of any product you purchase.
I think YOU are over hyping the downsides. It’s just like regular lights, but more efficient, and safer. Everything wears out, everything has mistakes made on it. This article is fear mongering.
I think YOU are over hyping the downsides. It’s just like regular lights, but more efficient, and safer. Everything wears out, everything has mistakes made on it. This article is fear mongering.
This is a little off-topic, but when I made a hurried trip out to buy Christmas tree lights this year, I was at a CVS store which had only conventional (not LED) lights available. They were amazingly inexpensive ($4 for a string of 100 colored lights made in China) but I searched in vain for any information on power consumption. Let’s make SURE that next Christmas any products like this have that information for consumers!
This is a little off-topic, but when I made a hurried trip out to buy Christmas tree lights this year, I was at a CVS store which had only conventional (not LED) lights available. They were amazingly inexpensive ($4 for a string of 100 colored lights made in China) but I searched in vain for any information on power consumption. Let’s make SURE that next Christmas any products like this have that information for consumers!
To jrc: I understand how you feel. As I said in the article, I planned to do a very positive article on the pluses of LEDs (I think they are great). But, in doing my research, I found that there may be some issues as well. I thought it was my duty to present these issues so that readers could make a fair judgement. As with any emerging technology, there are bugs to work out. I didn’t mean for the article to scare people away from LEDs, just go in with their eyes open.
To jrc: I understand how you feel. As I said in the article, I planned to do a very positive article on the pluses of LEDs (I think they are great). But, in doing my research, I found that there may be some issues as well. I thought it was my duty to present these issues so that readers could make a fair judgement. As with any emerging technology, there are bugs to work out. I didn’t mean for the article to scare people away from LEDs, just go in with their eyes open.
Many of the downsides you refer to in this article are what happens to nearly every early adopter of new technology. You may or may not be screwed over by the manufacturer. LED’s, are inherently much more efficient than CFL and incandescent bulbs. However, as they are a new and emerging lighting technology, there will be problems.
Just as was the case with early CFL bulbs, cheap, off brand Chinese manufacturers started to sell products that promised rewards, and never delivered. GE, on the other hand, has built a quality and reasonably priced low power LED bulb, using modern drivers, and high power LED’s.
Needless to say, the LED’s that are found on Christmas tree lights use low power LED’s (the 3,5,8, and 10mm varieties.) and don’t seem to drive them properly. LED’s will, in fact last 50K hours, but not if they are overdriven to produce more light.
Overall, LED bulbs will eventually come down in price, and go up in reliability, just as CFL’s did years ago.
hi guys,
we are a LED factory in China. Main product is LED string, LED large vines lights, tree lights. Call me if you are interested. Tks.
Cell Phone: 0086-13728747789
Email: szeight@ledkam.com
@ledkam:disqus
B.regard,
Rebecca Young
Many of the downsides you refer to in this article are what happens to nearly every early adopter of new technology. You may or may not be screwed over by the manufacturer. LED’s, are inherently much more efficient than CFL and incandescent bulbs. However, as they are a new and emerging lighting technology, there will be problems.
Just as was the case with early CFL bulbs, cheap, off brand Chinese manufacturers started to sell products that promised rewards, and never delivered. GE, on the other hand, has built a quality and reasonably priced low power LED bulb, using modern drivers, and high power LED’s.
Needless to say, the LED’s that are found on Christmas tree lights use low power LED’s (the 3,5,8, and 10mm varieties.) and don’t seem to drive them properly. LED’s will, in fact last 50K hours, but not if they are overdriven to produce more light.
Overall, LED bulbs will eventually come down in price, and go up in reliability, just as CFL’s did years ago.