Do you fall backwards in shock every January when you get your holiday electricity bill?  Don’t worry, you won’t have to face that challenge this coming January!  LED lights used in outside Christmas lights will cut down on your electricity bill so much, that every time you look at them you’ll be humming Jingle Bells, or Here Comes Santa Claus!

LED lights are the green way to get your holiday light displays up and running.  They come in all of the various “old-fashioned” ways you can have beautiful Christmas lights, such as icicles, multi-coloured, rope, or all white.  There are also soft LEDs and bright ones, and clusters too.  They are more intense than the softer older lights and you can think of them as the HD to the before-digital TV difference!  Of all of the outside Christmas lights, these will be the longest lasting ones.

If you’re a senior person or physically challenged, or just don’t like the bother of putting up your own outside Christmas lights every year, then you can get a service to do it for you.  They’ll come back to your house and take them all down when you want, as well!  Whichever method you choose, looping the cords around then fastening them with plastic ties will keep all of your lights in a neat and smooth and safe condition for the offseason.  In a few years, pretty much all of the Christmas lights you see will be LEDs.

If you have bushes in your yard, then a great way to decorate them is with lighting strung onto nets.  Also, if you have a Spring wedding or outdoor party planned for next year, you can buy strings of white lights ahead of time.  They can be difficult to find when it’s not Christmas, that’s for sure!  A lot of people love to string small, coloured outside Christmas lights around the top of a deck and this gives off a lovely, festive air for an outdoor party.

Lights rated for inside may not be rated for outside use, but you just need to check the box first.  Also, see if each light can be changed out if one blows or if the whole string needs to be replaced.  Most these days are single bulb interchangeable.  If you do get LED strings of outside Christmas lights, then replacement bulbs have to be LED ones, the same as if you still use the “old-fashioned” ones.  LEDs tend to last a lot longer than the older-style ones, so this is another added bonus to getting the LEDs.

Do check out your Christmas lights, whether for indoors or out, a few weeks before you (or someone else) puts them up.  String them out along a driveway and plug them in.  See what, if any, are burnt out or defective.  Purchase the proper bulbs to replace those, or buy a few new strings.