When it gets dark at four o’clock at night in December, the strings of coloured lights that people put up all around their houses are pleasant and comforting. However, these lights also add to an already-higher electricity bill, wasting energy and making the holidays that much more expensive. If you still want to brighten your nights and bring some holiday cheer to the neighbourhood, why not decorate with strings of L.E.D. bulbs instead? L.E.D.s (light-emitting diodes, a type of semiconductor that produces light) cost more at the store— these days they run between $15 and $30 for a string, depending on the colour and length— but they also use between 80% and 95% less energy, which makes a significant difference on a hydro bill. You can get different styles, including bulbs that dim or flash, as well as any of the colours of traditional bulbs. The L.E.D.s don’t produce as much heat as incandescent bulbs, making them far less of a fire hazard, and there is no glass surrounding the bulb that can get broken. Also, the colours of an L.E.D. come from the bulb itself, rather than from a film surrounding the bulb, so they will never fade. You can buy new strings made with L.E.D.s, or you can retrofit old light sockets and holiday light strings with new L.E.D. bulbs designed to fit them and using far less electricity. It’s also not a bad idea to cut down on the total number of light strings that you put up. The fact that these bulbs use less energy shouldn’t mean that we are licensed to use more of them— let’s make sure we get a net energy savings this holiday season, rather than just breaking even.