Tips for Staying Energy Efficient During the Holiday Season
It is beyond me that we are already half way through the Holiday season and soon we will be celebrating the new year! However, before we can welcome our friends and family into our beautifully decorated homes to celebrate the season and to welcome the new year, we have to finish decorating our homes! Yes, I did say finish, because it seems that for the last few weeks that’s all we been doing around here, yeah, we really enjoy this season and we show it by decorating our indoor and outdoor spaces.
The Holidays brings lots of reasons to celebrate and staying on our budget track is just part of it. Today I want to share our Tips for Staying Energy Efficient During the Holiday Season. We recently partnered with Florida Power & Light (FPL) Company, our local energy company to implement some of this year’s ways to save energy and money this holiday season. Each year we make an effort to ensure our decorations are as energy efficient as possible. After all, every little bit helps every single day of the year but especially around the festivities, right? And plus, just because it is the holidays doesn’t mean that our energy conscious efforts have to end up frozen! The tips below are just some of the ways we are staying energy efficient during the coldest months of the year and the way we get to enjoy decking our home for the holidays.
Tips for Staying Energy Efficient During the Holiday Season
Use LED lights
Tip number 1: Use LED Lights. Yes, LED lights. These twinklers are my husband’s favorite light sets. But, did you know that LED holiday light strands consume 70% less energy than incandescent ones? That’s right! According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it only costs $0.27 to light a six-foot tree for 12 hours a day for 40 days with LEDs compared to $10 for incandescent lights. Meaning some extra money in your pocket because you know that we can all use the extra savings.
Limit the use of inflatables
Tip number 2: Limit the use of inflatables. Incredible but true, inflatables can take a bite out of your energy bill. These adorable festive lawn decorations can cost anywhere from $2-$9 each per month. Consider supplementing your holiday displays with ornaments such as wreaths, ribbons and other decorations that don’t consume energy. This year we decided to implement some battery-operated lights and only had one inflatable, as a request of the kids.
Use automatic timers
Tip number 3: Use automatic timers. The best way to enjoy your lighting displays is to make sure you don’t forget to turn them off when not in use. After all, they don’t have to be on 24 hours a day to enjoy them. So, don’t leave your lights on and decorations inflated all night; set them to timers so they turn off when you’re asleep.
Use extension cords
Tip number 4: use extension cords. FPL recommends that instead of using light strings to add length to your holiday displays, utilize extension cords when decorating. Which is exactly how my husband does it, but don’t tell him that he was right! Just kidding, everyone should know this.
Maintain an Energy-Efficient Home
Tip number 5: Maintain an Energy-Efficient Home. This tip is an overall assessment of your home, especially when hosting your family and friends. Start by making sure you cover drafty windows, adjust your thermostat, maintain your heating and A/C systems, turn down the temperature on your water heater to warm instead of hot, select energy-efficient appliances and finally, use small appliances to prepare your side dishes instead of your oven.
Your turn now! Share with us, what is your best tips for staying energy efficient are during the holiday season? by dropping us a note in the comment section below. Before you go, do enter our giveaway below, good luck!
Happy Holidays!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Florida Power & Light (FPL) Company. All expressed opinions are 100% mine and not influenced by anything or anyone.
keep lights on a timer
I use lots of solar lights
Love to win
Yes, use automatic timer
We are staying energy efficient this holiday season for sure. We are decorating with minimal lights and turning them off when we are not around.
I would defiantly say to use Automatic Timers!
Turn off porch lights when you have Christmas lights on the lawn.
Mi mejor consejo es usar más decoraciones que no sean eléctricas, si no solares o sin luces. Aunque amo los inflables y no puedo evitar poner un par en la entrada. Me gustaron los tips de usar AUTOMATIC TIMERS para los inflables y las luces. Muy buenos consejos en la página de FPL.
We use automatic timers.