Power requirements for Christmas lights: what are they, and do they really matter? Whether you are the homeowner that wants to spend as little as possible on Christmas lights or the one that is willing to spend a fortune on it, there is still a concern for what the power requirements will be.
Overloading power strips and power supplies is something that can really be dangerous. When you are looking at the different areas, you want to create the illusion of perfect light in the night sky. You will want to also reason out what power requirements will be necessary.
You can ask these questions while you are looking at what your plan will require.
•How many outlets do you have outside?
•Will you be able to justify and cost effectively use an outlet in the house, through a window or door?
•Do you have a safe, moisture free place that will be able to support a power supply?
•How many extension cords will you need?
•Do you have a way to protect and tape the ends that have electrical support?
•How will you get the power out to the areas of the yard that are not protected by covering?
•What options do you have where the covering of those wires are concerned?
Now you can see what it will take to get the lights where you want them. But how much will all of those lights cost? What are the power requirements you should consider? Some say it is not worth the waste.
Well there is a way around all of this. Take some of these numbers into consideration in the comparisons between LED lights and the standard incandescent lights.
•100 light strands of the standard incandescent lights take at around 5 watts per mini bulb, equaling 500 watts. That is one strand of the incandescent lights.
•Then you take that number 500 watts, and you multiply that by say a conservative one time around 10 hours. That comes up to 5000 watts.
•Multiply that by 30 days for the time most people have their lights up and light. You will get 150000 watts from one strand of incandescent lights. That is hard on your wallet and the environment.
When looking at the LED lights instead of the incandescent, this is the calculation you would see:
•100 light strands of LED lights, with .5 watts per mini bulb come up to 50 watts.
•Take those 50 watts by the 10 hours that is 500 watts.
•Then take the 500 watts and multiply that by the 30 days, which is 15000 watts.
The cost for this will be significantly less than if you were using the incandescent lights. The cost will be less for you to use the LED lights in the long run just based on the fact that the power requirements for the LED lights are significantly less than that for the incandescent lights.
There may be a bit of a higher cost for the initial set up of the LED lights. The reason is that it takes a little more in the design. However, when you are using less power overall, you will find that you can make up that money in no time.
It also will make the overall set-up of the lights safer because the amount of power saved reduces the higher risk of fires and other hazards with power.
This is a basic rundown of what the power requirements are for most Christmas lights. Now it will be up to you to decide what works best for your needs, options and budget.