As Christmas decorators, we have a lot of choices when it comes to lighting up our holiday displays. Read on for a guide to LED vs. Incandescent Christmas lights and make an informed decision this season.
Whether you’re a holiday purist who doesn’t start thinking about Christmas decorating until after Thanksgiving, or a Christmas fanatic who prepares their display in August, one thing is certain: you’re going to need Christmas lights, and likely a lot of them.
But with mounting pressure from retailers to switch your display over to LED lights, how can you know if it’s really the right choice for you and your Christmas tree? Read on as we clear up the myths and lay out the facts about LED Christmas lights vs. incandescent Christmas lights.
LED lighting is exploding in popularity all over the world, and for good reason. The main reason many consumers are switching the bulbs in their home to LED technology is simple: these bulbs are extremely energy efficient. In fact, LED bulbs use about 90% less energy than their incandescent counterparts, which adds up to significant savings for you over time.
Incandescent bulbs function by creating heat which in turn causes the inner filament to glow, whereas LED lights have inner conductors that create light without heat. In fact, incandescent technology is basically designed to self-destruct, as the inner filament burns and burns until it eventually blows out. LED lights don’t have this problem, and are rated to last thousands of hours compared to incandescent light’s hundreds of hours.
Though there is undoubtedly a higher cost upfront with LED Christmas lights, you’ll soon see a much better return on your investment as the strings last much longer and are more resilient to rough handling. Perhaps the greatest benefit of switching over to LED Christmas lights is no longer being forced to take the annual angry trip to the store to replace burnt out light strings.
Since incandescent lights create heat to make light, it makes sense that the bulbs get hot as well. Hot bulbs all over your Christmas tree, a known source of fascination and entertainment for kids and pets, can lead to burned fingers or paws and a lifelong skepticism of all things Christmas.
Since LED lights don’t create heat to make light, they are cool to the touch no matter how long they are left on. This difference is especially important to consider if you typically use string lights alongside ribbon, garlands or other types of flammable decorative items, as the heat created by incandescent lights can spark a fire inside your home.
Any serious holiday decorator knows how important color payoff is when it comes to their lights. There’s nothing worse than meticulously hanging light string after light string on your home or tree, expecting a glorious display of light and color, only to plug it in and be disappointed with dim colors and weak light output.
For a while, LED light strings were considered inferior to incandescent strings because of their dimmer light output, but technology advancements have made the two nearly indistinguishable from one another in terms of brightness.
When it comes to color payoff, however, LED is the clear winner. Incandescent lights appear multicolored due to the colored glass that surrounds the bulb, but LED strings actually put out different colors of light. This makes for a much more intense, true color payoff on your tree or home when all is said and done.
So when the Thanksgiving leftovers are finally gone and it becomes time to think about your Christmas display, remember these tips and get ready for your most beautiful display yet.
