How to have a brighter and cheaper Christmas with LED lights

Holiday lights surely brighten neighborhoods this time of year, but they can come with consequences – high energy bills.

In an effort to cut the amount of electricity used to decorate homes and trees, a local energy consortium is offering to trade energy-efficient LED holiday lights for old, incandescent bulbs.

LED lights, along with energy efficient starter kits, will be available at five community events over the next two weekends in Hemet, Murrieta, Canyon Lake, Wildomar and Norco.

The Led wall lighting exchange is in its third year. In that time, more than 450 households have exchanged nearly 1,000 strands of incandescent lights, according to Tyler Masters, program manager with Western Riverside Council of Governments, which is coordinating the program along with the Gas Company, Southern California Edison and others who form the Western Riverside Energy Partnership Leadership.

Incandescent LED Bulbs are identified by the thin wire filament that glows when it is charged by electric current. LED – light-emitting diode – lights contain an electrical device that is activated by electric current.

Matt Kronquist, owner of the Lake Elsinore-based The Christmas Kings, which install lights throughout Southern California, said LEDs are becoming the standard for holiday decorating.

When the company was founded 13 years ago, everything was incandescent. He expects in four more years, they will be 100 percent LED.

Holiday celebrants not need to worry about the lights – which can be used indoors or out – not matching what they’re used to seeing.

“The LED lights have similar color changing abilities as your traditional incandescent lights,” Masters said. “They are vibrant, they are colorful, they make for a very enjoyable Christmas.”

Kronquist said incandescent lights “still give that classic warm feel people want,” but LEDs are brighter and use much less energy.

“It looks better, it’s brighter, it looks more vibrant,” Kronquist said. “And the service calls are less intensive.”

According to the Energy Department, LED lights are safer, as they are cooler than incandescent lights, reducing the risk of combustion or burnt fingers; sturdier, made with epoxy lenses, not glass; longer lasting; and easier to install, as up to 25 strings of LEDs can be connected end-to-end without overloading a wall socket.

LED lights also will leave more money to pay the electric bill that comes in January. According to the Energy Department, the estimated cost of electricity to light a six-foot tree for 12 hours per day for 40 days is $10 with traditional lights and 27 cents with LEDs.

Fred Mason, electric utility director in Banning, said the city has seen huge savings since switching to LED holiday lights.

“The cost is like a tenth of the incandescents,” he said.

In addition to the lights, residents can get Energy Efficiency “starter kits” – which include a low-flow shower head and three low-flow faucet aerators.

The light exchange is just one of the efforts WRCOG is doing to shift consumers to LED lights.

Different styles of LED street lighting have been set up throughout Hemet to see which would be best for cities in western Riverside County so they can cut both energy and maintenance costs. The council has been giving tours of the lights in an effort to get feedback on which ones residents prefer.