Christmas lights?

What’s the deal with those? Do you usually have them or not? And what about this year? Is it better to save electricity, or will it really be “pitch black”?

Well, we’ll be adding a few subtle Christmas touches again this year. A small string of star lights on the front door awning and a small string of lights in the kitchen… other than that, we haven’t had much in the way of “pre-Christmas decorations” in past years either. 
I think a little cozy lighting is okay… 
I wouldn’t want to wrap the whole house in “Christmas lights” right now—especially not with electricity prices the way they are. But I still don’t want to do without a little light during the dark season…

Our house is fully lit by a streetlight. So you wouldn’t even see any lights I might put up. Even candles wouldn’t be visible—no one would notice. I think that’s a real shame. We don’t do anything out back in the garden either; we close all the shutters—because of the cold.

In the living area, we now have lighting everywhere that uses hardly any electricity.  

In the living area, we have candles; otherwise, I have a few battery-powered decorations, and outside, solar-powered ones. I’ll be using all of that again this year! 

But I really don’t want to do without the string of lights on the Christmas tree! :) It doesn’t stay up forever, after all (unfortunately). 

For years now, almost everything we have has been cordless—meaning battery-powered. Even the candles on the Christmas tree are cordless. We’ll be using those two LED string lights outside again this year, with a timer.

We’ve only had a small set of Christmas lights for years anyway, since we don’t have a Christmas tree.

I’m going to set up my Christmas village with tea lights again.

Yeah, inside we only have a small, snow-covered tree with LED lights; otherwise, we’re using candles and tea lights. But up until now, we’ve always had a small tree with LED string lights outside on the balcony—I’m not even sure if I should put it out this year. It’s not for financial reasons—it’s even hooked up to a timer—but I have no idea what the neighborhood’s attitude is on this.
There’s never been much in the way of illuminated decorations around here—no flashing carnival booths with 127 reindeer sleighs—but we’ve had the occasional candle arch in the window or a string of lights on the little tree in the front yard.

Everyone has to weigh that for themselves. If you’re on a tight budget, you just have to decide: outdoor Christmas lights for any evening strollers, or running the washing machine once.

For me, it’s more important that it’s cozy inside. That’s why I have lots of real candles in different glasses on a large tray. That costs 0 euros in electricity and creates a lovely atmosphere.

But I definitely have the Christmas tree lit up with LED string lights. Outside in my garden or on the house, I only have Christmas decorations without lights. You can create beautiful arrangements using fir branches and pinecones, along with a few Christmas ornaments or whatever else you have on hand.

I’m not going to do without Christmas lights. Outside, though, there’s always just a small tree in front of the door. With a timer. That’s not for passersby—it’s for me, because it makes me happy every time I come home. And I come home often because I also take the dog out in the evenings. The same goes for the star in the window. Inside, candles and LED lights.  Not too much, but cozy. And I’m setting up my winter town again, too. It’s all LED and battery-powered. I only turn them on as needed—that is, when I’m in the living room after dark. I don’t need them when I’m watching TV.
Best regards, Marita 

Well, we use a lot of LEDs—we’ve had all our ceiling lights and so on switched to LEDs for several years now, and my husband meticulously tracks all kinds of consumption data in his Excel spreadsheet.
So I can say one thing for sure: LEDs really make a difference!
Our electricity bills have dropped significantly just because of that.

At Christmas, we use a lot of solar lighting in the garden, as well as LEDs with timers. It’s not so much that it makes a huge difference, and the Christmas tree doesn’t either. We don’t have Reeperbahn-style lighting like some neighbors, with dozens of reindeer on the roof, Santa on the wall, and so on.

We light up 1–2 shrubs with LED string lights and our patio with two rope lights. The rest is solar lighting. The consumption stays within limits, so it’s fine. We use 100% green electricity and have been paying a bit more than others for years, but we haven’t had an increase now.

We only have a few real candles because of the kids. :]

Best regards,
Sonja

Exactly, Sonja—we’ve been using green energy for years now. It actually got even cheaper in February. We have a price guarantee through next February—which covers Christmas, too. 🥰 And I can definitely confirm what you said about LEDs—they really make a big difference. We only still have other lights in the basement and the attic.
  I don’t like having candles lit in the evening either. Sometimes we both fall asleep, and then I think it’s too dangerous. So my Advent “arrangement” has real candles and LED lighting.
Best regards, Marita