How much Christmas lights add to your energy bills, according to Martin Lewis

On Dec 7, 2022

It’s officially the time of year when people are starting to trim the tree and hang the lights.

But the cost of living crisis hasn’t gone anywhere and energy bills are still shockingly high.

Some Brits are considering axing the festive decorations all together in a bid to save some cash this year.

But for those who aren’t willing to let anything dim their festive spirits, it’s good to know exactly how much those decorations are going to rack up your bills.

Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis revealed how much they could be costing you during a segment on Good Morning Britain.

Don’t let lights run more than six hours a day
(Image: Getty Images)

The finance guru told worried viewers running Christmas lights is unlikely to send your bills skyrocketing.

But he did issue a warning about overrunning the lights.

On the episode last week, Martin said: “Good news, as long as you’ve got LED lights, not the incandescent lights, the incandescent lights are expensive.

“If you’ve got LED lights, a string of 100 which is a pretty decent amount, if you were to have them on for six hours a day for the month, it would cost around 18p roughly, 18p for the month.

You don’t have to worry about bills too much with festive lights
(Image: Getty Images/Image Source)

“So they are not very expensive to run.”

He claims Brits should not leave their lights on for more than six hours a day – instead, he says to only run them during the evenings.

“Just in the evening when you’re there [at home], so you can keep that element of Christmas going,” he added.

“Bigger sets of lights, with more bulbs, will of course use more energy and therefore cost a bit more – for example, a 32-metre string of outside lights would cost a total of £1.90.”

Speaking about incandescent lights, Martin continued: “These tend to be older and are 80% to 90% less efficient to run than LED varieties, and so cost much more.

“For example, a 40-watt 100-bulb string of incandescent fairy lights would cost you about £2.45 to run for 30 days over Christmas. Yet some prefer the softer glow these give.”

If you are worried about the cost of lights this Christmas, Martin also suggested charging solar lights outside during the day and bringing them in at night.

He concluded: “You can leave them outside during the day to charge, then bring them inside in the evening.

“This is harder in winter when there is less sunlight, so make sure to position them in the best place to get the most sunlight – away from trees, buildings and anything else that may cast a shadow.”