How much (or little) Christmas lights cost at home

There’s nothing cozier than lighting up your home with Christmas lights. Electricity has become more expensive over time, but with the right kind of bulbs, you can light up your Christmas star and candelabra without feeling guilty about your wallet or the environment.

It can be quite dark outside during the winter, especially in Northern Europe. So it’s no surprise that we love lighting advent candelabras, Christmas stars, and other decorations during the holiday season. But how much does it actually cost to keep the Christmas lights on? That’s what we’ve tried to find out.

LEDs are ten times more energy efficient

The ban on manufacturing traditional incandescent light bulbs in 2012 has led to a minor revolution in energy consumption. An LED bulb is up to ten times more energy-efficient than an incandescent bulb. Therefore, as long as you use LEDs, you don’t need to worry about skyrocketing electricity bills.

We’ve conducted two calculations using different electricity prices per kilowatt-hour to show the difference in energy costs between LED lights and older incandescent bulbs.

At an average electricity price of 3,05 SEK per kilowatt-hour, keeping an LED Christmas star or candelabra with a 3.5-watt bulb on 24/7 costs about 8 SEK per month. By comparison, an older incandescent bulb, which consumes significantly more energy, would cost approximately 57 SEK per month under the same conditions. This is based on a calculation by Smålandsposten.

If the electricity price were instead 0,81 SEK per kilowatt-hour, the cost for the same LED bulb drops to just 2 SEK per month with constant 24/7 usage. For an older incandescent bulb, the cost would then be around 15 SEK for the same period.

How much does it cost to keep your advent star or candelabra lit?

To calculate the cost, use this formula:

Power of the light (W) × hours it’s on (h) × your electricity price per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Read more from the Swedish Energy Agency

If you want to update your electric candelabra to an LED version, replace all the bulbs at the same time. Do not mix LED and incandescent lamps in the same candelabra.

Swedish Energy Agency

Older Christmas lights are common in homes

There are many different types of electric lights in Swedish homes around Christmas time, including candelabras and stars. If you purchased these kinds of lights a few years ago, when the price of electricity was not very high and LEDs were not as widespread, they may very well contain ordinary light bulbs.

So how do you know if you have LED lighting in your home or another type of lamp? Today, LED bulbs are available with different bases, in many different sizes and shapes. Unlike ordinary light bulbs, however, LEDs have no filament. With some LEDs, the LEDs are on a flat circuit board, while others have the LEDs on vertical wires.

Sustainability at every stage

Did you know that you can also save money by switching to a modern and energy-efficient heat pump? At CTC, we try to think about sustainability in everything we do, and we work tirelessly to develop the most environmentally efficient products possible.

LED bulbs are not as hot as incandescent or halogen bulbs. This makes them ideal for advent stars and candelabras made of cardboard, wood shavings or other natural materials. LED bulbs also have a longer lifespan than standard incandescent bulbs.

Published: 2022-11-30

Updated: 2024-12-05