4 Dazzling Home Holiday Light Shows: They Cost HOW Much?!

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Published: December 29, 2010
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HouseLogic calculates the electricity costs of four very ambitious home Christmas light displays—using conventional lights and then electricity-saving LEDs.

40,000 and counting

The Lagerstrom family’s obsession with Christmas lights started back in 2002 with 4,000 lights. This year they plan 45,000. And the Lagerstroms, from Canada’s British Columbia, don’t plan to stop there, with an ultimate goal of 250,000 lights. They also are in the process of switching to LEDs, which will lower their costs as we estimate here.

Estimated cost (this year, if all incandescent): $17/hour; 4 hours a night for 30 days comes out to $2,040.

Estimated cost using all LEDs: $2/hour or $240 for the month.

Possible electric bill savings: $15/hour or $1,800 for the month.

Next: Green alternatives

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copied from someone else with knowledge of electricity that far surpasses mine. I call shenanigans. Let's just assume they are all typical mini-lights. A 100 bulbs string is 37 watts, so... 1,000,000 / 100 = 10,000 10,000 x 37 = 370,000 or 370 kW 370 x .14 = $51.80/ hr $51.80 x 4 = $207.20 / night $207.20 x 30 = $6216.00 Still a ridiculous amount of money IMHO but no where near $82,0000.
Posted by Jonathan on December 12, 2010

5W x 1,000,000 = 5 megawatt!!! Total rubbish Even at 0.5W that is 500kW(0.5megawatt) which is still way too high for a house
Posted by FAILlogic on December 12, 2010

It seems more that the Faucher's use the 0.5 watt mini bulbs over the C7. Still expensive but about a 10th of your estimate.
Posted by Dain on December 12, 2010

They’re lush, green, and all-American. They’re also water-hogging, time-sucking nuisances. In fact, some are saying ‘no’ to turf. Should we get rid of our lawns?

What are lawn alternatives?

Turf grasses

Ground cover

Fake grass

And, yes, lawn paint!