Soaring energy costs forced 14% of UK households to forgo their Christmas decorations last year, according to a stark finding from comparison site GoCompare. The financial pressure cast a shadow over festive cheer, with many families feeling unable to afford the extra expense of holiday lighting.
The Festive Money-Saving Hack
Help is at hand, however, from the team at MoneySavingExpert (MSE), the website founded by consumer champion Martin Lewis. They have shared a remarkably simple lighting solution that can soften the blow on your winter bills. The key is to switch from traditional incandescent fairy lights to modern LED versions.
MSE experts state that using LED decorations can reduce running costs to just 1p for every 12 hours of use per 100 bulbs. This presents a massive saving compared to their older counterparts. For incandescent lights, the cost is roughly 1p per hour for the same number of bulbs, amounting to 12p over a 12-hour period.
Understanding the Cost Difference
The financial website provides a clear example: if you run a string of 100 LED bulbs, which uses about three watts of energy, for six hours each day throughout December, the total cost would be approximately 14p. The substantial difference in efficiency is a major reason for this price gap.
You can typically identify the type of lights you have by their material. LED bulbs are usually made from plastic, while traditional incandescent lights are often housed in glass. This isn't just an aesthetic choice; it's central to their performance. As reported by Elesi, incandescent bulbs waste the vast majority of their energy, with less than 5% used to produce visible light. The rest is lost as heat, which is why old-fashioned bulbs become hot to the touch.
LED lights, in contrast, remain cool and are far more efficient at converting energy into light. Beyond the immediate savings on your electricity bill, MSE highlights that LEDs can last up to 50 times longer than incandescent bulbs, making them a wise long-term investment for cost-conscious households.
Expert Support and Further Tips
This practical advice has been echoed by other financial specialists. The Afforda team has previously supported MSE's guidance and also recommended that consumers purchase light timers. These devices automatically switch off your decorations at a set time, ensuring they aren't left on unnecessarily and saving you from having to remember to unplug them manually.
"Lots of us still use Christmas lights that are many years old, and these probably aren't LED," the Afforda experts explained. "Buying new LED Christmas lights will be a relatively affordable and worthy investment, as LED lighting is much cheaper to run."
They also suggest applying this logic to the rest of your home, urging homeowners to ensure all household lights use LED bulbs for maximum year-round savings. For those wanting to get a precise figure, MoneySavingExpert provides an online calculator on its website to help you determine the exact running costs of your own festive lighting setup.
