Avoid breaking the bank when hanging up holiday decorations and lights

COLORADO (KRDO) -- Decorating your home for the holiday season can break the bank, but it doesn't have to be that way. Xcel Energy is offering customers some money-saving ideas to keep their energy bills low for the holiday season.

According to Xcel Energy, depending on light types and Colorado electric rates, customers typically save anywhere from $1 to more than $100 for holiday lights. A strand of 100 LED mini-lights for a total of five hours can save a customer more than 80 cents a month per strand. That's compared to a strand of incandescent bulbs.

Xcel Energy said a strand of 25 LED standard C7 lights used for five hours can save about $2.50 per month, while a strand of 25 LED standard C9 lights can save more than $3.50 per month, depending on the manufacturer.

Several holiday light strands used for up to two months can lead to significant savings.

15 strands of various holiday lights are used for five hours a day as follows:

• LED mini-lights: more than $20
• LED standard C7 lights: nearly $65
• LED standard C9 lights: about $90

Customers can save on their energy bills by turning on their lights during the off-peak pricing period.

Off-peak pricing period

• Non-holiday weekdays: 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. starts off-peak pricing
• Weekends and holidays: All hours have off-peak pricing.

Customers who have 15 strands of various holiday lights for five hours a day, starting at 6 p.m. as follows:

• LED mini-lights: about $0.50
• LED C7 lights: about $1.25
• LED C9 lights: about $1.75
• Standard mini-lights: about $3
• standard C7 lights: about $9
• Standard C9 lights: about $13

Xcel Energy provided some safety reminders when hanging up decorations:

• Plan to decorate and light ahead of time to reduce potential safety hazards.
• Use only Underwriters' Laboratory-approved lights and follow the manufacturer's instructions for indoor and outdoor lighting.
• Before placing holiday lights outside on homes or trees, look up to locate any overhead power lines, then keep all objects such as ladders, and extension poles more than 10 feet away. Never toss lights near or across an overhead power line.
• Check the cords on strings of lights and replace any that are frayed or worn. Discard all that are in poor condition. Also, check for loose connections and damaged plugs or light sockets.
• Plug-in lights before stringing them to determine whether any bulbs are burned out.
• Unplug lights before hanging them, and unplug them when asleep or away from home.
• Avoid attaching too many light strings together and plugging them into one outlet. Refer to the manufacturer's instructions for the recommended maximum number of strings per outlet.
• Keep lights away from combustible materials, including draperies.
• Keep lights away from metal railings and banisters, which can become energized if the wire has a short circuit. Avoid stringing lights along the aluminum siding, which can conduct electricity. Never use lights on metallic trees.
• Make sure rooftop decorations don't block vents or vent pipes.