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Some genius elf out there finally came up with the idea of making holiday lights energy efficient! You can now choose LED lights as opposed to conventional incandescent ones to bring cheer to your neighborhood this season. In fact, you can even get yourself solar powered light strands. I also recommend plugging these eco-friendly lights into a programmable timer so you don’t have to worry about wasting energy by forgetting to turn them off (especially useful on nights you go for that extra cup of eggnog).

At first, I was a little turned-off by the price tag on LED lights. LEDs definitely amount to a greater initial investment than conventional incandescent lights, but, like choosing any energy efficient light, you’ll save money over the long-term. You’ll certainly see a difference in your electric bill since they are about 90 times more energy efficient than incandescent lights. Ninety times more efficient! They also last 100,000 hours, or about 20 years. And in case you would like to avoid having to invite the fire department to your holiday party keep in mind that LEDs emit hardly any heat, unlike their fire hazard cousins.

So let’s review: LED holiday lights are eco-friendly, cost you less to run, and won’t burn down your house. Plus we’re talking about holiday lights here; energy efficient lighting is great but energy efficient Christmas lighting is just plain awesome. I LOVE having my Christmas lights on and now I get to do so guilt-free.