Energy-Efficiency Holiday Decorating Tips

This time of the year, we climb up the ladder to the attic or go down to the basement to pull out our holiday decorations. We get excited to decorate our house inside and out, but when is the last time you check if the cost of the decoration was costing your family a lot more than they are worth?

Here’s a few tips on decorating your house “green” without spending all your “green:”

Choose light-emitting diode (LED) lights this holiday season. They’re shatterproof, cool to the touch, long lasting and use approximately 90 percent less electricity than an incandescent strand. They cost more up front, but should pay for themselves in a season or two.
Use timers to limit indoor and outdoor light displays to no more than six hours per day to help you conserve electricity.
To ensure safety, refrain from overloading electric sockets and extension cords. Thoroughly inspect light strands and discard any damaged cords. Verify that outside light strands are rated for outdoor use and follow manufacturer’s recommendations when connecting multiple strands.
Save on electricity usage with decorative lawn-inflatables instead of standard outdoor incandescent lights. These decorations, on average, require one-third of the electricity needed to power incandescent lights.

Are you following these tips? If so and you live in Dallas, you should enter the Reliant Festival of Lights contest here by December 4, 2012! The grand prize is $10,000 home energy makeover to the Dallas homeowner with the most creative and energy-efficient outdoor lighting design, and $1,000 Lowe’s gift card will go to the “people’s choice” winner.