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Green Scene: LED Holiday Lights

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Dec 12, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern

Green Scene: LED Holiday Lights

Reporting
Susan Barnett
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― The glow of the holiday is a little greener thanks to emerging technology. As CBS 3's Susan Barnett shows us, you can get that same glow for a lot less energy.

When the Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit in New York, it sparkled with 30,000 LED lights. And the Philadelphia City Hall tree is also LED.

LED stands for light emitting diode, and it's the latest wave in holiday lighting.

"It's huge," said Tim Henes, district manager for Home Depot. "We doubled the amount of lights we have with LED this year from last year."

The old traditional Christmas tree lights were incandescent. Their glow is nice, but they waste a huge amount of energy generating heat and invisible infrared light -- up to 95 percent.

That's why, Henes says, LED has become eco-fashionable.

"The nice thing about LED lights is that they're energy efficient. They last about ten times longer than the incandescent lights," said Henes.

Another benefit: they don't get hot like incandescent, so they're considered safer.

You can find LEDs on reindeer or a 4-foot tall snowman. You can even get a fake fir tree pre-lit with LED lights.

If you want LED, you need to look for them. Check the packaging for the word LED, and expect the outlook on this trend to stay bright.

"Years down the road, we're going to see more and more," said Henes. "In fact, at some point, we'll probably see all LED lighting."

Experts estimate a single strand of traditional lights costs about $4.50 to light every evening for a month. But a single strand of LEDs costs only about six cents. Now that's a gift of green.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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