December 11th's Tip
Holiday Lighting: I mentioned last year that one of our neighbors keeps their outdoor Christmas lights and lighted decorations on 24/7 during the holiday season, which seems like a huge waste to me. Christmas tree lights alone left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough carbon dioxide to inflate 12 balloons. Add into that all the lighted decorations many people use outside their homes and all the other electricity running through homes at this time of year... it's a wonder our homes don't take to the air and fly away.
Try turning on your decorations only when it gets dark out, and then turning them off before you go to bed. If you're in the market for new string lights, consider LEDs - they last longer and use 80-90% less power than conventional mini bulbs.
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December 11th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
we never use any Christmas lights in our house. Only decorations but not the lights.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
We don't do lights either but I am not one to say nobody should do lights. People like them and you can't take that away but I agree, lets be reasonable and turn them off sometimes.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Christmas lights on 24/7 does not only consume too much energy, it's too dangerous also. We should really keep this kind of things in mind during this season. Thank you for sharing this.
December 13th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Christmas lights consume too much energy and it seems dangerous. Thanks for the helpful tips though will be telling friends.