As you prepare your Christmas lights display each year, do you find yourself asking?

• How Much Power Do My Christmas Lights Use?
• What Is The Total Wattage Of My Christmas Lights?
• How Do I Calculate Amps?
• How Many Outlets Do I Need For My Christmas Lights?
• Do LED Christmas Lights Really Save Power?
• How Do I Estimate The Length Of Wire I Need For My Christmas Lights?

Christmas Lights Etc. is here to help you answer these questions for a safe display. If you need more information, head on over to our online chat during normal business hours and we'll be happy to help.

Christmas Lights Power Usage

How Much Power Do My Christmas Lights Use?

A common question we get is how much power do Christmas lights actually use? You have to make a few calculations to understand the power demands of your lights. Before doing so, it helps to understand a little electricity 101.

• Electrical power is measured in watts. Understanding how many watts your Christmas lights require to run is a key part of knowing the total power load of your display.
• Current is measured in Amps.
• Voltage is the measure of pressure needed to deliver the current. Your normal household outlets, for example, carry 120 volts each.

Now that you have an understanding of electricity basics, you can begin to calculate wattage of your lights.

What Is The Total Wattage of My Christmas Lights?

You can determine total wattage of a strand of Christmas lights with a simple equation. Take for example one of our 100 count C7 light strands with each bulb equiring 5 Watts. The calculation for determining total wattage for that Christmas lights string is Number of bulbs x Watts per bulb = Total Watts. So the wattage for our strand of lights is:

100 Bulbs X 5W per bulb = 500 Watts

How Do I Calculate Amps?

Now you need to know the Amps for that 500 Watt string of lights. You calculate Amps by dividing the total wattage by 120 Volts (which is the voltage carried by a common household outlet).

500 Watts / 120 Volts= 4.17 Amps

You will need a total of 4.17 Amps for a 100 count strand of C7 lights.

Being able to calculate the total wattage and Amps of your Christmas lights is helpful for maximizing your light strings within the display. Christmas Lights Etc. also has the handy chart below which outlines the specs for our most popular Christmas lights. The chart indicates how many strands of lights can be run on a normal household's 15 Amp, 120 Volt, 1440 Watt circuit.

Since Christmas lights use a continuous flow of electricity (unlike your toaster or blender which are turned on and off frequently), it is common practice to only utilize 80% of a 15 Amp circuit, thus we will only use 1440 Watts

If you have any questions about how much power you need for your Christmas lights, you can use our online chat during normal business hours and our customer service experts will help you figure out your power needs.

How Many Outlets Do I Need For My Christmas Lights?

That depends. Since you know that common household outlets carry 120 volts and are fed by a 15 Amp circuit, you will need to know how many outlets are on the circuit you are using. Once you know that, you simply divide the total wattage of a 15 Amp current, 1440 Watts, by the wattage of your strand of Christmas lights. Using our 70 count Premium LED Mini Lights from the chart above, we see that each LED strand requires 4.8 watts.

1440 Watts / 4.8 Watts per string = 300 strings of LED lights

You would just need to be sure that no more than 300 strands of LED lights were spread out across the outlets on your 15 Amp circuit. Keep in mind that you may have other items such as outdoor Christmas decorations plugged into an outlet on that circuit. For that reason, you will have to account for the added power needs of the decorations and lower the amount of strings on the circuit.

Do LED Christmas Lights Really Save Power?

LED Christmas light wattage is significantly less than standard mini lights. Do not take our word for it, let the numbers do the talking. Let's compare a 70 count strand of LED mini lights to a 50 count strand of standard mini Christmas lights.

• A 70 count strand of LED mini lights requires 4.8 watts
• A 50 count strand of standard mini lights requires 20.4 watts

4.8 Watts / 20.4 Watts = 24% (rounded) difference in power consumption and that is just one strand!

How Do I Estimate The Length of Wire I Need For My Christmas Lights?

Estimate Christmas Light Wire Lengths

Christmas Lights Etc. sells multiple lengths Christmas lights spools and strings for your custom lighting needs. You can easily trim the wires to your designated length. Wire is available in:

• Precut string lengths of 25, 50, 100, and 1,000 foot lengths
• 5, 7, or 10 Amps
• Strands with light spacing of 6, 12, 15, or 18 inches

Based on the variety of light strings available, you will need to calculate the length of wire and amount of bulbs you will need. Let's say you decide to create a custom length light string using a 150 foot spool with bulb sockets spaced 12 inches apart and the wire rated for 10 Amps using 7-Watt, C9 bulbs.

How many bulbs can you use and what should be the maximum length of the light string?

• 137 bulbs X 7 Watts/Bulb = 959 Watts required for the light string
• Dividing 959 Watts / 120 Volts = 7.99 Amps which utilizes 80% of the rated current 10 Amp rating of the light string.
• By selecting a light string with bulb spacing 12 inches apart, you can safely run 137 feet of 7-Watt bulbs on a 10 Amp light string.

137 bulbs x 7 watts = 959 watts
959 watts / 120 volts = 7.99 amps

NOTE: If you ever need help with calculations, we are just a phone call away!

Hear What Our Customers Have to Say

We couldn't be happier with the quality of the tree and performance of the LED lights. The LED light bulbs were even brighter than we had anticipated.

This is the best company to deal with for great quality Christmas lights. I will buy from them in the future!