LED CHRISTMAS LIGHTS FOR A GREEN HOLIDAY SEASON

This is the year that LED Christmas lights have finally taken root. George W. Bush has decided that the White House gets the green light when it comes to LED lights around the National Christmas Tree.

LED Christmas lights are said to consume only one-tenth the energy of regular incandescent bulbs. The LED lights around the National Christmas Tree, however, use one-sixtieth the energy, from 125 watts last year to 2.5 watts this year.

One aspect that makes LED Christmas light more efficient than incandescent lights is that incandescent lights use colored glass or plastic to determine the color of light emitted. LED lights, however, are more efficient in that they determine the color of light emitted at the atom level on the chip.

And, the White House is not the only high profile government building using LED Christmas lights. For the second year in a row, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver have lighted up the State Capitol Christmas tree in Sacramento, California powered by hydrogen fuel cell.

What is different this year, however, is that the Sacramento State Christmas tree has switched from incandescent lights of last year to LED Christmas lights this year. The 65,000 LED lights cut the cost of energy 98-percent over last year.

Now, that LEDs have been given the green light on Christmas trees, expect to more of these energy efficient sources flooding market over the next couple of years.

Filed under: Energy Conservation