LED vs Incandescent Christmas Lights: Electricity Cost

Picture this: a family in Frisco strings up ten strands of lights across the eaves, wraps three live oaks in the front yard, and runs a rooftop display from Thanksgiving through New Year's. The December bill arrives and it is noticeably higher than November. Some of that is colder weather and the furnace running more. But a surprising slice, easy to overlook, comes from the Christmas lights themselves.

In Texas, every kilowatt-hour you use costs money at the rate locked into your plan with your Retail Electric Provider, plus pass-through delivery fees from your Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU, such as Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, or TNMP). Those charges appear on every plan, competitive or not. As of August 2026, the median all-in rate in the Oncor/Dallas territory at 1,000 kWh usage is about 15.9 cents per kWh. The lowest advertised plan sits near 6.8 cents per kWh across roughly 123 active plans. The difference between those two numbers means the type of bulb you hang outside matters more depending on which plan you are on.

Incandescent Christmas lights produce light by running electricity through a thin tungsten filament until it glows. Most of the energy that goes in comes out as heat, not visible light. That thermal waste is the core inefficiency.

LED (light-emitting diode) Christmas lights produce light through a semiconductor process that generates very little heat. The same brightness requires a fraction of the wattage. A single traditional C7 incandescent bulb can draw 5 watts. A comparable LED C7 draws around 0.5 watts. A traditional mini incandescent strand of 100 lights typically draws 40 watts or more. An LED strand of the same count might draw 4 to 7 watts.

The U.S. Department of Energy has consistently reported that LED holiday lights use at least 75 percent less energy than incandescent equivalents, and on many strands the wattage gap is wider still. That ratio is not marketing language. It comes directly from the wattage difference, which you can verify on any package label or product spec sheet.

The math is straightforward once you know three things: wattage of the strand, hours per day the lights run, and your all-in electricity rate.

The formula: (Watts ÷ 1,000) × Hours Per Day × Days × Rate Per kWh = Cost

Consider a typical display: ten strands of 100-light mini bulbs, run six hours an evening for 40 days (roughly Thanksgiving to early January).

Incandescent scenario: Ten strands at roughly 40 watts each equals 400 watts total. At six hours per day for 40 days, that is 96 kWh. At the Texas median of 15.9 cents per kWh, the display costs about $15.26 for the season. At the low-end plan rate of 6.8 cents per kWh, the same display costs about $6.53.

LED scenario: Ten comparable LED strands at roughly 5 watts each equals 50 watts total. The same 6 hours per day for 40 days is 12 kWh. At 15.9 cents per kWh that is about $1.91 for the season. At 6.8 cents it is about $0.82.

That is a gap of roughly $13 to $14 per season for a modest display at median Texas rates. Scale up to a larger display with C9 strands, animated figures, and pathway lights, and the gap widens considerably.

These figures use only the known rates above. Your actual cost depends on your specific plan, your TDU, and your usage tier. The Electricity Facts Label (EFL) attached to your plan is the authoritative source for your exact rate, and ElectricRates.org's Texas page shows live plan comparisons.

Texas uses kWh-tier pricing on many plans. A plan might advertise one all-in rate at 1,000 kWh of monthly usage but show a different effective rate at 500 kWh or 2,000 kWh. That matters during the holidays because your total monthly consumption rises when you add hours of outdoor lighting on top of normal household use.

If your household normally uses 900 kWh in December and the Christmas lights add another 96 kWh (incandescent example above), you cross 1,000 kWh. Depending on the plan's tier structure, that additional usage might land in a higher rate band, pushing the marginal cost of those extra kilowatt-hours above the advertised rate.

The Electricity Facts Label is where this becomes transparent. Every REP in Texas is required by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to publish an EFL showing the average price at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh. Reading the EFL before assuming a flat rate is the right habit, especially heading into a season when usage climbs.

LED strands cost more at retail than incandescent strands. A set of 100 LED minis typically runs higher than the budget incandescent equivalent. Whether that upfront gap pays off depends on how many seasons you use them and what you pay per kWh.

On the electricity savings alone, the payback period for most displays is one to three seasons, depending on display size and electricity rate. LEDs also last significantly longer: the Department of Energy notes LED holiday lights can last tens of thousands of hours, compared to roughly 1,000 to 1,500 hours for a typical incandescent strand. Fewer burned-out bulbs and fewer replacement purchases add to the economic case over time.

For Texas households on plans closer to the median rate of 15.9 cents per kWh, the savings accumulate faster than for households on aggressively priced plans near the low end. If you are unsure which rate you are paying, pull out your most recent bill or check ElectricRates.org for live plan data in your TDU territory.

Yes, and the holiday season is a reasonable prompt to check whether your current plan is still competitive. Texas's competitive electricity market means you can switch REPs without interruption to your physical power service. The TDU (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, or TNMP depending on where you live) continues delivering electricity regardless of which REP you choose.

The PUCT operates powertochoose.org, the state's official shopping site, where you can filter plans by ZIP code, contract length, and usage level. As of August 2026, there are roughly 123 active plans in the Oncor/Dallas area with the lowest all-in advertised rate near 6.8 cents per kWh at 1,000 kWh. Moving from a plan at the median rate to one near the low end roughly cuts the per-kWh cost in half, which amplifies the savings from switching to LED lights as well.

When comparing plans on ElectricRates.org or powertochoose.org, always read the EFL rather than relying on the headline rate. The EFL shows the real all-in cost including TDU delivery pass-throughs, which are identical across all REPs in a given territory but still affect the total.

Beyond switching to LEDs and shopping for a better plan, a few habits make a measurable difference.

Use a timer or smart plug. Running lights from dusk to around 11 p.m. rather than all night can cut runtime by several hours per day. Over 40 days that reduction compounds into a real kWh savings.

Choose ENERGY STAR-certified products. The Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR label on LED light sets confirms third-party testing for efficiency and lifespan claims.

Downsize the display strategically. Concentrating lights at focal points (front door, roofline, a feature tree) rather than covering every surface achieves visual impact at lower wattage.

Check for solar-powered options. Solar-charged outdoor string lights carry no direct electricity cost after purchase. Performance varies with winter sun hours, but in much of Texas the solar resource in December is reasonable.

Audit before the season. Replace strands with dead sections rather than running a full strand to power a partial display. Broken strands can draw full wattage while delivering less than full light output.

The Electricity Facts Label is a standardized one-page document every REP must provide. It lists the average price per kWh at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh of monthly usage, the contract term and any early termination fees, renewable energy content, and any bill credits or credits that phase in at specific usage levels.

When comparing plans, look at the 500 kWh column if your household is a small apartment or if you plan to run a very modest light display. Look at the 1,000 or 2,000 kWh column if your home runs larger appliances or you are adding a significant outdoor display. The EFL column closest to your actual anticipated December usage is the most predictive number.

If a plan shows a much lower rate at exactly 1,000 kWh but higher rates at 500 and 2,000 kWh, that plan is structured with a bill credit that applies only at a narrow usage band. That structure can work in your favor if you hit that band consistently, but it can also produce unexpected bills during lower-use months.

For most Texas households, LED Christmas lights are the straightforward choice on pure electricity cost. The wattage difference is real, the math is transparent, and the savings compound over multiple seasons. At the current median all-in rate of about 15.9 cents per kWh in the Oncor/Dallas area (as of August 2026), even a modest ten-strand display saves roughly $13 per season compared to incandescent equivalents. Larger displays save more.

The savings land on top of whatever rate you are already paying, which means pairing LED lights with a well-priced electricity plan produces the best outcome. Texas gives consumers the tools to do exactly that: powertochoose.org for official plan comparisons, the EFL for rate transparency, and competitive market access that lets you switch without touching a wire. ElectricRates.org shows live rates by TDU territory to make the comparison faster.