Somebody asked me about our power bill around the holidays. I did some research.
2006
2007
Without diving too far into the archives, I can go back two years to 2008.
In November of 2008 we used 706 kWh of power.
In December of 2008 we used 1,000 kWh of power, an increase of 41%.
2008
In November 2009 we used 665 kWh of power.
In December 2009 we used 1,444 kWh of power, an increase of 117%.
2009
There are some additional variables at play. In 2008 we were not home for the last two weeks of December and last year we had house guests covering roughly the same time period. Also, this year we only have one small inflatable. In the past we've had up to three. I would say it's reasonable to say exterior festive illumination consumes somewhere between 300-500 kWh of power. At $.08 per kWh, it's about $1.50 a day.
2010
The majority of lights are incandescent. As LED technology continues to improve and better emulate the soft glow of incandescent lights, I'll incorporate more of them into the display. It will be interesting to see the impact to these baseline usage numbers.
Merry Christmas!
Update
on 2011-12-05 03:27 by Sean Genovese
2011
Update
on 2011-12-10 23:05 by Sean Genovese
15 Seconds With No Festive Exterior Illumination
15 Seconds With Energized Festive Exterior Illumination
Update
on 2012-12-26 22:03 by Sean Genovese
2012
This year I have a new electric meter installed from the power company. The meter records power use every 15 minutes. According to my analysis this year, my previous estimates were pretty good: our Christmas light installation consumes about 18 kWh per day. At current prices, that works out to $1.53--right on par with my estimate from previous years. Take a look at the snapshot of my power use over a 24 hour period and see if you can guess what time my lights click on.
24 Hour Power Consumption
Update
on 2011-01-09 04:26 by Sean Genovese
In November 2010, we used 804 kWh.
In December 2010, we used 1618 kWh, an increase of 101%. We had some pretty cold days this year, but I think it' reasonable to assume our power use for Christmas lights was up this year.