Holiday Energy Saving Tips
"May your days be merry and bright". While the merry part is easy, often times trying to satisfy the bright part can get expensive! Whether you ascribe to the Griswald lighting plan or just enjoy a simple holiday glow, there are things you can do to make the bright a little more light on your wallet!

LED LIGHTS: LEDs use 10 times less energy than incandescent mini-lights and 100 times less energy than standard bulbs, and they last up to 50,000 hours.

Consider replacing older strings of holiday lights with LED lights. Ask your lighting supplier for LED holiday bulbs, or look for them on the Internet. Now available in green, orange, gold, red, white and blue, they're shatterproof, shock resistant and safe to touch. They present no fire hazard and save up to 80-90 percent of your decorative lighting energy costs.

TIMERS: Reduce power usage by turning the lights on at dusk and turning them off at a desired time.

Try to limit light displays to no more than six evening hours a day. Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will quadruple your energy costs – and create four times the pollution. Just make sure that the timer you use is rated to handle the total wattage of your lights. As an alternative, just unplug all holiday lights at the wall outlet before going to bed or leaving the house.

CHIMNEYS: Santa will find a way in - don’t send precious, costly warm air up your chimney!

While using a fireplace, reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided) or opening the nearest window slightly (about an inch), closing the door to that room, and turning down the thermostat to 50 to 55 degrees. And don’t forget to close the flue when you’re done enjoying the fire.

ENERGY STAR: Decorate your home with “Energy Stars.” Appliances and electronics with the Energy Star label – the government’s symbol of energy efficiency – can cut related home energy bills up to 30 percent.

PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTATS: Let a programmable thermostat “remember” lower the heat for you when you leave the house empty to go to work (or overnight when you’re cozy in bed), or to the mall for a day of gift shopping – and to warm it up again shortly before you return.

Tips from Alliance to Save Energy, TXU Energy and news reports.

Read this e-mail online.