Do you know how much extra your Christmas lights can add to your electricity bill? In a survey conducted by Gocompare.com, 52% of the participating households were planning to display outside lights through the festive period yet 85% were not aware of how much extra electricity these consume [1]. The comparison site estimates that a display of 100 five-watt bulbs, switched on for a six hour period every day of the festive period, will consume 207kWh. The is the equivalent of 22.8 days of the average household electricity consumption, and leaving them on for 10 hours a day will produce enough CO2 to fill five party balloons every day [2]! With around 25 million households in the UK, this can quickly add up to a significant amount.
Although the statistics are shocking, there’s no need to be a Scrooge over the festive period as there are plenty of alternatives to the energy sapping traditional lights. There has recently been a surge in the availability of energy-saving Christmas decorations which generally use LED bulbs rather than incandescents and are suitable for indoor and outdoor use. It is estimated by the Energy Saving Trust that switching from conventional to LED Christmas lights can reduce your energy consumption by 90%, and because they don’t generate as much heat you could also be making your tree safer. Although LED technology is generally more expensive than the traditional methods, in the long term it will consume far less energy, which will lead to lower energy bills for you and a reduced impact on the environment.
Other than LED technology, there is the opportunity to use fibre optic decorations which can light a whole tree from a single bulb without being less effective than a string of bulbs. Turning off some of your room lights can not only save you energy but will make your Christmas lights look more attractive. Make sure you turn your Christmas lights off when you go out or to bed, you won’t be benefiting from them so the energy used to light them is wasted. Doing any, or all of these tips, will help reduce the number of days electricity you waste over the festive period.
Christmas isn’t all about the lights and decorations though, with the pressures of cooking and preparing the Christmas dinner it is often the time when new appliances are bought. You don’t want to run the risk of your oven breaking on Christmas day, but if you really need a new appliance try to choose one with a good energy efficiency rating. It has been estimated by the Energy Saving Trust that if everybody who was planning to buy white goods this Christmas and New Year bought an Energy Saving Trust Recommended appliance, they could reduce their electricity bills by £8 million by next year – this is enough to watch the Queen’s speech 4.7 billion times!
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the presents and millions are exchanged every year. Consequently, putting a little thought into your gift buying can have a huge difference on the environment. Try and think about what you are buying (how and where it was made) and whether the recipient will really want it. Choose presents that have minimal packaging and try to choose recycled wrapping paper or even use children’s drawings and papers. You could even reuse wrapping paper from gifts you receive and use ribbon to tie up your presents – this makes it easier to reuse the wrapping paper afterwards. For gift tags, you can cut up old Christmas cards that you have received and look for recycled Christmas cards if an email won’t do. If you’re unfortunate enough to get a present that isn’t for you, donate it to a good home or charity where it’ll be appreciated.
Just changing a few of your habits this festive season can have a significant impact on the environment and your wallet so you won’t just be dreaming of a green Christmas, you’ll have one!
