The other night while jogging around my neighborhood, I was struck by the holiday lights strung over every house, lighting up the sidewalk in a way the street lights never do. That got me thinking that there must be some serious energy use going on at this time of year, and that thought led to this post....

It may be the case that Los Angeles' lack of snow leads to an inferiority complex. That would explain the local focus on lighting displays that cover entire neighborhoods. Even the LA Department of Water and Power has its own holiday lights display at Griffith Park.

A quick Google search, and I learned that holiday lighting can increase a home's energy use for the month of December by as much as 27 percent!! That seems like a huge increase, and is certainly not helping efforts to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, and all the other associated evils.

So, is there a way to avoid being a grinch, and still enjoy adding some holiday cheer to your home without heating up the planet? Turns out that the answer is yes, and that answer is LED lighting. LED lights use approximately 1/10th the energy of regular incandescent bulbs, and actually produce more intense colors. The folks at energyideas.org have a great summary of how to be efficient when decorating your home this season. Just don't get too excited, or you might end up like these folks.
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Editor's note: This year, California's State holiday tree at the California State Capitol is powered by a fuel cell (a national first!) and boasts 6,500 LED bulbs, which use 98 percent less electricity than traditional decoration lights.