By Chris Duffy When you find them on store shelves, energy-efficient LEDs are more expensive than standard Christmas lights But the LEDs can make more financial sense for people in the long run. We made it our mission to find out the real difference in cost between the traditional Christmas lights and the newer LEDs. Starting at Menards in Ashwaubenon, we purchased 350 regular, big Christmas light bulbs. Our total was $82.37. Then we went back and filled our cart with 350 LED Christmas lights
The total was $94.84. But that was quickly shaved down to $63.19 thanks to a $3-per-box discount sponsored by Wisconsin Focus on Energy. That was $19.18 less than the regular Christmas lights Menards isn t the only store that offers the instant reward. True Value, Mills Fleet Farm, ACE Hardware, and Reinders all give the same three dollar discount per box to promote energy efficiency. But the money saved in the store is only the beginning.
After you plug them in, the difference in savings is staggering. According to Wisconsin Public Service, lighting up a home for six hours a day with the regular lights we purchased would cost us $38.14 a month. Lighting up the energy-efficient LEDs would cost just 34 cents a month — a difference of almost $38.
“December is usually the month that the light displays are on, and then those don t hit your bills usually until around January, after the holidays,” Paul Bredael of Wisconsin Public Service noted. When it s all said and done, someone who buys LED Christmas lights and took advantage of the Wisconsin Focus on Energy discount would have an extra $57 to spend on after-Christmas sales.