Martin Lewis reveals it costs just 18p to keep Christmas lights on
1 December 2022, 08:04 | Updated: 1 December 2022, 08:42
Martin Lewis reveals LED Christmas lights only cost 18p a month to run
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has revealed how much Christmas lights will cost to run this year.
With the cost of living crisis hitting us all this Christmas, Martin Lewis has now shared some good news.
The Money Saving Expert appeared on Good Morning Britain this week where he joined co-host Susanna Reid in helping viewers with their financial concerns.
Energy bills increased to £2,500 in October, with the average household bills set to rise again to £3,000 from April 2023.
But there is some light relief this winter, as Martin has confirmed most festive lights are relatively cost effective.
He explained on the show: "As long as you've got the LEDs and not the incandescent lights - the incandescent lights are expensive.
"If you've got LED lights - a string of one hundred - which is a pretty decent amount. If you were to have them on for six hours every day over a month would cost 18 pence roughly.
"So they're not very expensive to run."
He went on to say that Christmas lights are rarely left on for six hours a day and while 18p a month is still money for struggling households, it’s an affordable way to keep some Christmas cheer.
“Just in the evening when you’re there [at home], so you can keep that element of Christmas going,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Martin’s MoneySavingExpert newsletter the expert found that a 32-metre string of outside lights would cost a little more, with a total of £1.90 for a month.
A 40-watt 100-bulb string of incandescent fairy lights are set to put you back about £2.45 for 30 days.
It comes after consumer champions Which? found that white lights and multicoloured lights are essentially the same price to run.
The cheapest setting Which? found was “twinkling-flashing", which would cost around 20p to run for the full festive period, six hours a day from 1 December to 31 January.
The most expensive settings were “on” and “sequential”, which both cost 56p to run six hours per day over a two-month period.
Read more
- Martin Lewis explains why you should never put the washing machine on between 4pm and 7pm
- Martin Lewis warns of Christmas shopping law that could cost you £100s
- Martin Lewis reveals how to get £200 free cash in time for Christmas
