Power consumption of LED fairy lights: What’s in store for you

Christmas is approaching, and the electricity consumption of many homes is already rising due to the many LED fairy lights and other decorations. We’ll show you how much energy your Christmas lights use.

Light chains: How to calculate the cost of electricity consumption

The power consumption depends on two values: the power of the fairy lights in watts and the operating time.

• You can usually find the wattage on the plug or on a label on the cable of the fairy lights.
• You can ideally regulate the operating time with a timer switch.
• The price for a kilowatt hour depends on your electricity tariff. In our calculation, we assume an average value of 30 cents per kilowatt hour.

Prices for classic and for LED light chains

The power consumption depends very much on the type of fairy lights. Classic fairy lights with ordinary light bulbs consume significantly more electricity than LED fairy lights.

• Classic fairy lights: A fairy light chain for indoor use with a length of about five metres usually has an output of about 50 watts. This results in an electricity price of about 1.5 cents per hour. If the lights are on for six hours a day, the cost of electricity is about 2.70 euros a month.
• LED light chain: A comparable LED light chain has an output of about 6 watts. This results in electricity costs of about 32 cents a month for six hours of operation a day.