Christmas lights

Before I go into the ins and outs for lighting, I thought we could take a step through history, to see the importance of lights and how they came to light up our lives, and trees.

Lights on Christmas Trees have been a tradition for many years. One of the earliest records is from the middle ages, where candles, representing the Star of Bethlehem, were placed on trees. There would usually be a bucket of water nearby as candles on a tree equals disaster waiting to happen!

In the 17th Century, European Christians would put candles in the windows of their houses as a sign that others could worship there.

The first first mass produced lights appeared in 1890. In 1880, Thomas Edison had invented the incandescent light bulb but was struggling to advertise it…He decided to hang up lights on the outside of his laboratory so passersby could see them.

A couple of years later, one of his employees, Edward Johnson, realized that Edison’s lights could be used to solve the problem of fires caused by candles on Christmas trees. So he strung 80 red, white, and blue Christmas lights around a Christmas tree and called local newspapers to cover the lit up idea. It took off like a blaze, especially once several Presidents started lighting trees at the White House. On 24th Deember 1923, President Coolidge pressed a button and lit up the first national tree with red, white and green lights on the grounds of the White House.

General Electric was set up in 1892 and quickly bought the rights to Edison’s lights and bulb factory. But Christmas lights were very expensive, especially since they required installation and electricians were few and far between at the time.

Fun fact, according to LED Christmas Lights, in the 1900s a string set of 16 slightly flame like bulbs in brass sockets the size of shot glasses sold for….$12. In today’s money, that is £350. Pretty pricey!

By the 1930s coloured bulbs were everywhere, which showed how popular they are. As you can see, we have always liked lights because we enjoy bright, shiny things - so it makes sense that in recent years, over 150 million light sets are sold every year in the US, lighting up 80 million homes. They also use up 6% of the US electrical load each December!

Many lights are fairly cheap to buy - in the UK they are a staple at Christmas time in the £1 shops. Often they don’t last much beyond the 1st or 2nd year though.

Onwards to the light show now - my 12 Days of Christmas, #ecoedition continuing with Day 2! Check out the quiz question at the bottom of the page and stay tuned for the answer tomorrow!

QUIZ ANSWER FROM DAY 1: In 1848 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did what which involved a Christmas tree? They took a picture in front of it

LED benefits

Incandescant bulbs are still widely used. But LED lights use 75% less energy on average and last 25x longer!

Remember, it isn’t just the cost to your wallet when you purchase the bulbs, but also the cost to your energy bill. Check this site out for a way to work out how much energy you are spending on lights over Christmas and see if upgrading to LEDs is a good option for you.

So to sum up, benefits of LED lights are:

Energy efficiency
Longer lasting
Cost saving
Brightness
Colour range
Low radiated heat

And to put the cost in context for you, the US uses more energy on Christmas lighting over the festive period than either El Salvador or Ethiopia in a whole year. It is the equivilant to running 14 million refrigerators!

There are solar paneled fairy lights available for outside. Why not invest in these when your lights break next? Find out some reviews and options HERE

Candles

Candles are also still a go to over the festive season, with approximately 35% of sales happening at this festive time. In fact the Brits spend £1.9 billion per year on these flickering lights with the festive season and Mothering Sunday being peak spikes. I love candles myself as I really enjoy the warm feeling they create in my home.

But candles have a darker side:

Paraffin candles contain similar toxins to those produced by burning diesel fuel. This is because paraffin is a by-product of making gasoline.
They also release soot when burning - that black bit around the flame when you light it.
Fragrances and scents in candles aren’t moderated so companies don’t have to put ingredients on labels. The concern is depending on the fragrances and where sourced, volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde may be released. This has been linked to cancer, and if in a well ventelated room the risk may be low, it still is something I would think twice about.
Paraffin is used more often because it is cheaper and it holds the frangrance better so needs less added. And because companies want to keep the price lower, usually synthetic fragrances are added vs essential oils.
Essential oils come from plants and flower, while synthetic fragrances are man-made, usually from petroleum-based chemicals.

Candle options:

Soy wax candles: Vegan. While soy is a by-product of the soy bean industry, and there are some concerns around deforestation and its use of pesticides and fertilisers, soy candles produce significantly less soot than paraffin options plus they don’t contain toxic pollutants. Finally, they do not burn as hot as paraffin wax candles, and burn slower so will usually last around 30-50% longer.
Bees wax candles: Not Vegan. They release negative ions – which clears pollen, mold spores, bacteria and viruses essentially neutralising pollutants in the air, eliminating pollen, odours and mould in the air. They also tend to burn longer than paraffin and soy candles.
Rapeseed wax candles: Vegan. This is less well known but, especially in the UK and Europe where we have a lot of rapeseed fields, a brilliant product. It has a low carbon footprint, it doesn’t create harmful toxins like paraffin, it’s non-hazardous for humans, pets or wildlife, it helps the bees who love the flowers, it feeds animals, can power vehicals as a bio-fuel, is sustainable, protects soil and is not genetically modified.
What about making your own from citris peel and oil? Find out how HERE!

FUN QUIZ QUESTION - find out the answer tomorrow!

True or false…department stores initially suggested people rent lights for Christmas?

Good luck and I hope your Christmas is totally LIT!

Please note, I am not affiliated with any company mentioned in this post.