Save Money While Decorating Your Home This Holiday Season

MINNEAPOLIS (WJON News) -- Lighting up your house for Christmas doesn't have to mean a massive electric bill. Xcel Energy has some tips for how to save money and energy while you adorn your home.

Xcel says one of the best ways to save money and energy usage is by using LED lights. On average, customers who use a strand of 100 LED mini-lights for five hours a day will save about 70 cents a month per strand, when compared to a strand of incandescent bulbs. 

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Each strand of 25 LED standard C7 lights used for five hours will save about $2.75 per month, while each strand of 25 LED standard C9 lights can save about $3.85 a month.  Other energy-saving and safety tips from Xcel Energy include:

• Use only Underwriters Laboratories-approved lights and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
• Keep holiday lights, ladders, and extension poles more than 10 feet away from any overhead power lines.
• Check the cords, socket connections, and plugs on strings of lights. If these are worn or damaged, replace the lights.
• Plug-in lights before stringing them to determine whether any bulbs are burned out.
• Unplug lights before hanging them as well as when asleep or away from home.
• Avoid attaching too many light strings together and plugging them into one outlet.
• Keep lights away from combustible materials, including draperies.
• Keep lights away from metal railings and banisters, aluminum siding, and metallic trees. These materials can become energized if a short circuit occurs.
• Make sure rooftop decorations don't block vents or vent pipes.

Use this link to more money and energy-saving tips from Xcel Energy.

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