Key Takeaways
- The holiday season is cooler in many areas, increasing heating costs and energy usage.
- You can reduce energy costs through small but calculated changes in your daily life and how you manage holiday gatherings.
- Smart technology can also play a role in reducing holiday energy consumption by automating lighted holiday decorations.
The holiday season is all about joy, laughter, and togetherness, but you probably see a significant energy usage increase due to holiday parties, more cooking, and the obligatory lighted decorations. Fortunately, you have plenty of options to help lower your energy consumption during the holiday season and save some extra cash toward spreading holiday cheer. Below, we cover some energy-saving tips for the holidays.
What Are Simple Ways to Reduce Energy Use With Holiday Lighting?
What better way to put everyone into the holiday spirit than with the twinkling and sparkling holiday lighting? While these lights can go a long way in bringing cheer to everyone, they can also go a long way toward adding to your electricity bill. Some ways you can mitigate the energy costs of bringing holiday cheer through lighting include:
- Use LED lights: Traditional incandescent light bulbs are a thing of the past, but that tangled-up ball of old Christmas lights you drag down from the attic every year could be this outdated, energy-sapping technology. LED lights consume up to 75% less energy than incandescent and last up to 25 times longer. So that’s 25 times the joy of untangling wires while saving on energy costs.
- Set timers: Sure, it’s great to wake up to the twinkling of the lights on the Christmas tree and around the house, but that doesn’t mean you need to leave them on all night. Instead, put the lights on timers and set them to turn off at one point in the night and back on around the time you wake up. Set outdoor lights to shut off in the daytime.
- Opt for solar-powered lights: Solar power has progressed to the point where we now have solar-powered holiday lights. Pick these up and take your holiday cheer off-grid while saving money on energy costs.
- Pick your spots: Instead of draping lights all over your home like the Griswolds, use the lights to highlight your home’s architectural features, reducing the number of lights you need and the amount of energy you consume.
- Compensate with projected lights: You can flesh out your house’s holiday lighting by opting for projected lights that use LED technology to project twinkling lights and holiday images on the front of your home.
By implementing these simple changes, you can enjoy the glow of holiday lights while reducing your environmental impact and energy costs.
How Can I Save Energy When Cooking Large Holiday Meals?
With the holidays comes cooking large meals for family and friends. While this is a great way to bond and share the season, it can also be very energy-sapping. Let’s review some ways to save energy and money while preparing these meals:
- Plan ahead: Set your cooking schedule to cook multiple dishes at the same temperature to maximize efficiency. Also, plan to use the residual heat in your oven to keep food warm after cooking.
- Use slow cookers and pressure cookers: Slow cookers and pressure cookers are generally more energy-efficient appliances than an oven. This makes them a great option for cooking those holiday dishes.
- Keep the oven door closed: It’s always tempting to open the oven door and get a whiff of all the tasty food you’re cooking while checking its doneness. However, reserve this for times when you need to check the temperature. It allows heat to escape, wastes energy, and prolongs your cooking time. Instead, use the oven light for a quick visual check if needed.
What Are Energy-Efficient Alternatives to Traditional Holiday Decorations?
Traditional decorations may bring back the nostalgia of your childhood, but they can be big energy draws and drive up your monthly electric bill. Some alternatives to these traditional decorations that can help you save on energy costs include:
- Natural decorations: Use Mother Nature as your source by peppering your home with pinecones, branches, berries, and other natural items. You can find all these materials locally, and they require no energy to work their holiday magic.
- Reusable decorations: Focus on the quality of decorations and choose ones that will last many years. While this may not directly impact your energy bill, it reduces waste and can indirectly reduce your energy consumption.
- Eco-friendly materials: If you purchase holiday decorations, grab those made from sustainable materials, such as primarily recycled materials, to reduce your raw material consumption. Again, this may not directly impact your energy bill, but it’ll reduce your reliance on products that require energy-intensive raw material sourcing.
- Reusing household materials: Another great option is to craft ornaments and decorations from reusable materials, such as old newspapers, fabric scraps, and other things you may usually throw away or toss in the recycling bin. This makes your decorating more sustainable and less reliant on raw materials.
Switch Plans Anytime, With Zero Fees
Say goodbye to restrictions and hello to freedom. Switch your plan anytime, at zero cost, and discover the perfect energy fit for your lifestyle.
How Can I Reduce Heating Costs While Hosting Holiday Gatherings?
When hosting parties, it may be tempting to raise the thermostat a bit to help take the chill away so everyone is chipper and ready to celebrate. Unfortunately, this can increase energy consumption. Following these tips can help lower your heat-related energy consumption during these events:
- Lower the thermostat: Instead of increasing the thermostat’s setting, crank it down a few degrees. Sure, it may be cool at first, but as your friends and family arrive, their body heat will help raise the temperature without resorting to your heating system.
- Seal air leaks: As guests come in and out of your home, the old door seals can become displaced and allow cold air into your home. Check these seals before the gathering and replace any old, worn-out seals.
- Change your curtains: Certain curtains are thicker and designed to trap heat in your home, preventing it from escaping through the windows. Purchase these curtains and replace your old ones with them to keep the heat where it belongs.
- Skip the at-the-door pleasantries: Every family does it. We stand with the door open and exchange greetings or farewells, letting heat escape. Instead, exchange these pleasantries after everyone has entered the home or before they open the door to prevent heat loss.
Using these strategies will help your holiday gathering remain warm and cozy while minimizing excessive energy use.
Are LED Holiday Lights More Energy-Efficient Than Incandescent Ones?
There’s no doubt that LED holiday lights are significantly more energy efficient than incandescent lights. Let’s check out all the ways they are the most efficient option for you:
- Energy consumption: LED bulbs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent lights. This can lead to massive savings, considering we tend to string up thousands of twinkling lights for the holiday season.
- Longevity: LED lights last up to 25 times as long as incandescent lights. So, while LED-lit holiday decorations may cost more upfront, they will save you big in the long run by outlasting their incandescent counterparts.
- Durability: LED bulbs put off far less heat than incandescent bulbs and can be housed in plastic bulbs. They also lack the fragile filament of an incandescent bulb. Combined, these make LED lights far more durable, so you’re less likely to break them when putting them up or taking them down.
Choosing LED lights is a great way to show off your decorating skills while remaining mindful of your energy consumption.
How Can I Conserve Energy When Using Space Heaters During the Holidays?
Space heaters are a great option for warming areas you normally wouldn’t use in winter or that lack sufficient central heating, such as a garage or a three-season enclosed deck. However, these heaters can put a big dent on your wallet by drawing a lot of energy. Let’s review some ways to minimize this consumption:
- Choose the right heater: Find space heaters with energy-efficient features, such as timers and thermostats so they turn on and off automatically, reducing consumption.
- Limit space heater use: Limit space heater use to occupied rooms only. If you rarely go into a room, turn the heater off to save energy.
- Close doors and windows: When you put a space heater in a room, ensure all the doors and windows are fully closed to trap the heat.
Following these practices will allow you to warm areas with insufficient central heating while preventing huge energy consumption spikes.
How Can Smart Home Devices Help Save Energy During the Holidays?
Smart home devices are great ways to increase energy efficiency year-round, including during the holidays. Let’s explore ways to use these devices to reduce your holiday-season energy consumption:
- Smart lighting: Smart bulbs and plugs allow you to turn them off and on remotely or set a schedule for them to turn off and on. This means you can set the perfect times for your decorations to turn on and off to maximize your holiday cheer while minimizing energy consumption.
- Smart thermostats: With a smart programmable thermostat, you can set a schedule so your heat turns down 10 degrees when you’re not home, saving you energy costs. Then, when you’re about to return home from a long day of work, set it to turn back on so your home is comfortable when you arrive.
- Smart power strips: These power strips automatically disconnect your holiday decorations from your home’s electricity when you don’t want them on. This prevents the decorations from continuing to draw power while in standby mode.
Smart technology is the way of the future, and it can also make your holidays cheery while preventing energy waste.
Is it Better to Turn Off or Unplug Holiday Decorations When Not in Use?
Unplugging your holiday decorations when not using them is a great idea for several reasons.
First, it’s more energy efficient, as it prevents energy vampires from creating phantom loads, meaning they draw electricity even when turned off. By unplugging them, you completely sever their ties to the energy grid.
It’s also a safety issue, as unplugging them reduces fire risk. Unplugged electronics cannot catch on fire, which is especially important when dealing with lights on a tree that can light the entire tree on fire.
How Can I Improve Insulation to Save Energy During the Colder Holiday Months?
Insulation is the key to keeping the elements outside and our heating and cooling inside the home. Over time, insulation can wear down and lose its effectiveness. Let’s review some ways to improve its effectiveness and minimize your energy costs:
- Inspect and seal windows and doors: Check windows and doors for drafts and reseal any air leaks with caulk or new weather seals.
- Add insulation in attics and crawl spaces: Attics and crawl spaces are notorious for allowing heat loss in the home. Having an expert come out to review your current insulation and add more as needed can help you save big on utility bills.
- Upgrade windows and doors: Window and door technology has come a long way in keeping heat and air conditioning in your home. If you have an older home, it may be worthwhile to have an expert come out, evaluate your windows and doors, and make recommendations to improve heat retention during the holidays.

Find out why over half a million Texans trust Just Energy!
Make Your Holidays Cheery, Bright, and Efficient This Year
Monitoring and improving your energy efficiency during the holiday season can save you money on energy costs. It’s also a great holiday gift to the environment, as you’re reducing your carbon footprint and increasing your sustainability. By following these tips, you’ll be on your way to receiving the gift that keeps on giving: improved energy efficiency.
Brought to you by justenergy.com
All images licensed from Adobe Stock.
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What Are Simple Ways to Reduce Energy Use With Holiday Lighting?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “What better way to put everyone into the holiday spirit than with the twinkling and sparkling holiday lighting? While these lights can go a long way in bringing cheer to everyone, they can also go a long way toward adding to your electricity bill. Some ways you can mitigate the energy costs of bringing holiday cheer through lighting include:
Use LED lights: Traditional incandescent light bulbs are a thing of the past, but that tangled-up ball of old Christmas lights you drag down from the attic every year could be this outdated, energy-sapping technology. LED lights consume up to 75% less energy than incandescent and last up to 25 times longer. So that’s 25 times the joy of untangling wires while saving on energy costs.
Set timers: Sure, it’s great to wake up to the twinkling of the lights on the Christmas tree and around the house, but that doesn’t mean you need to leave them on all night. Instead, put the lights on timers and set them to turn off at one point in the night and back on around the time you wake up. Set outdoor lights to shut off in the daytime.
Opt for solar-powered lights: Solar power has progressed to the point where we now have solar-powered holiday lights. Pick these up and take your holiday cheer off-grid while saving money on energy costs.
Pick your spots: Instead of draping lights all over your home like the Griswolds, use the lights to highlight your home’s architectural features, reducing the number of lights you need and the amount of energy you consume.
Compensate with projected lights: You can flesh out your house’s holiday lighting by opting for projected lights that use LED technology to project twinkling lights and holiday images on the front of your home.
By implementing these simple changes, you can enjoy the glow of holiday lights while reducing your environmental impact and energy costs.”
}
},{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How Can I Save Energy When Cooking Large Holiday Meals?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “With the holidays comes cooking large meals for family and friends. While this is a great way to bond and share the season, it can also be very energy-sapping. Let’s review some ways to save energy and money while preparing these meals:
Plan ahead: Set your cooking schedule to cook multiple dishes at the same temperature to maximize efficiency. Also, plan to use the residual heat in your oven to keep food warm after cooking.
Use slow cookers and pressure cookers: Slow cookers and pressure cookers are generally more energy-efficient appliances than an oven. This makes them a great option for cooking those holiday dishes.
Keep the oven door closed: It’s always tempting to open the oven door and get a whiff of all the tasty food you’re cooking while checking its doneness. However, reserve this for times when you need to check the temperature. It allows heat to escape, wastes energy, and prolongs your cooking time. Instead, use the oven light for a quick visual check if needed.”
}
},{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How Can I Reduce Heating Costs While Hosting Holiday Gatherings?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “When hosting parties, it may be tempting to raise the thermostat a bit to help take the chill away so everyone is chipper and ready to celebrate. Unfortunately, this can increase energy consumption. Following these tips can help lower your heat-related energy consumption during these events:
Lower the thermostat: Instead of increasing the thermostat’s setting, crank it down a few degrees. Sure, it may be cool at first, but as your friends and family arrive, their body heat will help raise the temperature without resorting to your heating system.
Seal air leaks: As guests come in and out of your home, the old door seals can become displaced and allow cold air into your home. Check these seals before the gathering and replace any old, worn-out seals.
Change your curtains: Certain curtains are thicker and designed to trap heat in your home, preventing it from escaping through the windows. Purchase these curtains and replace your old ones with them to keep the heat where it belongs.
Skip the at-the-door pleasantries: Every family does it. We stand with the door open and exchange greetings or farewells, letting heat escape. Instead, exchange these pleasantries after everyone has entered the home or before they open the door to prevent heat loss.
Using these strategies will help your holiday gathering remain warm and cozy while minimizing excessive energy use.”
}
}]
}
The post Creative and Free Ways You Can Save Energy During the Holidays appeared first on Just Energy.