Electricity consumption from fairy lights: this is what you will be facing

Christmas is getting closer, many gardens and houses are already decorated with fairy lights and other decorations. We'll show you how much electricity your Christmas lights use.

Fairy lights: How to calculate the cost of electricity consumption

The power consumption depends on two values: the performance of the light chain in watts and the operating time.

• The power can usually be found on the plug or on a note on the cable of the fairy lights.
• You can ideally regulate the operating time with a timer.
• The power consumption in kilowatt hours (kWh) is calculated from the output in watts times the operating hours times the factor 0.001.
• The price for a kilowatt hour depends on your electricity tariff. In our calculation, we assume an average of 30 cents per kilowatt hour.

Prices for classic and for LED fairy lights

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

• Classic light chain : A light chain for indoor use with a length of about five meters usually has an output of about 50 watts. This results in an electricity price of around 1.5 cents an hour. With an operating time of six hours a day, the electricity costs are around EUR 2.70 per month.
• LED light chain : A comparable LED light chain has a power of about 6 watts. This results in electricity costs of around 32 cents a month with six hours of operation a day.

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In the next article we will show you how best to attach your fairy lights.