Leds are one of several ways to trim the cost of flaunting

Gary Kammer and two of his neighbors have a thing for twinkling Christmas lights that dazzle the eyes.

It all started 14 years ago, when Kammer bathed his front yard with enough twinkling lights to make the most stout-hearted Griswold turn green with envy.

A year later, Dan Bagby and Brian Postma followed suit with a holiday glitz that could make the most irritable Scrooge smile.

Admiring motorists by the carload creep along each year to take in the multicolored lights. Sunglasses are optional.

“A lot of people say it’s a competition between us,” Bagby says. “It’s not.”

Few would fault any of them if they had visions of cutting back the number of decorative illuminations that garnish their homes.

Powering up

Bagby, 4788 Paramount Drive, says he purchased 25 strands of LEDs for $500 to hang in two pine trees because his C7, C9 and miniature lights - with a required 200-foot extension cords - overloaded his electrical circuits. Circuits in older homes carry a maximum of 1,800 watts each. Those in most newer homes can handle 2,400 watts each, according to the Energy Department.

That’s a plus, since Bagby’s growing pine trees usually require more lights every year to reach the top.

Bagby says he occasionally checks his electric meter to see if it no longer is spinning like a hamster wheel.

“I’m looking forward to after-Christmas sales,” Bagby says. “I’ll be ramping up LED lights.”

While most C7 and C9 lights use 5 to 7 watts per bulb, some of the older strings use up to 10 watts per bulb.

New miniature lights use about 70 percent less energy and last much longer than the larger bulbs, the Energy Department says.

If you prefer the brilliance of the larger lights, switch to 5-watt bulbs, which use about 30 percent less energy than 7- to 10-watt bulbs. Although the new bulbs will cost money initially, energy savings will be noticed immediately.

Kammer, who lives at 4776 Paramount Drive in Plainfield Township, says he spends an average of $500 on his electrical bill in December.

That’s why he started integrating led light fixtures into his C7, C9 and miniature lights this year.

Light-emitting diodes use about 80 percent less electricity than standard light strings, says Timothy Pietryga, senior public information director for Consumers Energy.

That alone sold Kammer on the idea to add them to his cast of lighted Christmas characters, which takes about 120 hours to set up.

“I hope to save $200, possibly more this month,” Kammer says.

More ways to save

Leds are one of several ways to trim the cost of flaunting all that yuletide glow and curtail the carbon footprint a tad.

It cost about 56 cents to burn 600 LED lights five hours daily for 30 days. Over the same time, it costs about $2.40 to burn incandescent bulbs.

Other reasons to sing LEDs’ praises include they are shatterproof, shock-resistant, safe to touch and don’t burn children’s hands. Plus, they present no fire hazard, and last an average of 100,000 hours, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

But you can expect to dig a little deeper in your wallet to buy them.

A strand of 30 decorative LED lights will set you back about $15, compared to $8 for a string of 100 miniature lights.

The added cost is worthwhile over the long run, Pietryga says.

“It becomes a question of investing in LED sets and saving money later on,” he says.

Leds are one of several ways to trim the cost of flaunting