Decorate holiday lighting is increasingly being used year-round to brighten homes and businesses.  To reduce energy costs, consider replacing traditional incandescent holiday lights with Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.

LED lights:

• Save Energy. LED lights use just 0.08 watts per bulb compared to 0.48 watts for an incandescent mini-light and six watts for a larger incandescent C7 bulb.
• Last longer. LED's epoxy lenses makes them very durable. They are rated for up to 100,000 hours or more when used indoors, and up to 50,000 hours for outdoor use.  Some manufacturers even provide a limited lifetime warranty.
• Reduce Risk. LEDs do not get hot like incandescent bulbs. This reduces the risk of combustion since the bulbs are cool to touch, regardless of how long they are left on.

To encourage the use of LED technology among commercial customers, such as businesses, cities and counties, Idaho Power offered a pilot incentive program this holiday season. Incentives were paid for each incandescent bulb that was taken out of service and replaced with an LED bulb.

"Commercial applications typically use a greater number of lights that are on longer periods of time than at residential locations," says Patti Best, Idaho Power lighting program specialist. "This year the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise is using LEDs to lights its Alpine Garden during the holiday season and that should save them more than 5,000 kilowatts hours of electricity." One kilowatt hour is 1,000 watts of electricity used for one hour.

When shopping for decorative lighting for your patio, home or business, check out the LED options at your local lighting retailer.

Source: Idaho Power