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I guess we should ban christmas lights in the US too then. They also use more energy than whole countries - https://phys.org/news/2015-12-christmas-energy-entir

by Feeble 5y ago

I guess we should ban christmas lights in the US too then. They also use more energy than whole countries - https://phys.org/news/2015-12-christmas-energy-entire-countries.html https://phys.org/news/2015-12-christmas-energy-entire-countr...

floatingatoll 5y ago
That’s a good idea; if you write that up as a blog post and submit it to HN, I’d read it!
BoiledCabbage 5y ago
Do they also suffer from high exponential growth in energy usage?
- floatingatoll 5y ago
  No, but they are definitely an excessive use of incandescent bulbs in the United States. It’s too bad they haven’t figured out how to make cheap LED strands that are more diffuse and in warm colors, as this is a significant energy burden for both homeowners and the country’s electrical grid. Your point that their usage doesn’t accelerate over time is valid, but as the link notes, this is still a significant energy burden on the country and should be addressed over time. It can be worked on in parallel to efforts to curb the growth of crypto coin energy waste, so there’s no harm in encouraging reductions to both.
  - YATA0 5y ago
    >It’s too bad they haven’t figured out how to make cheap LED strands that are more diffuse and in warm colors, as this is a significant energy burden for both homeowners and the country’s electrical grid. They have figured it out. It's becoming exceedingly difficult to find incandescent Christmas lights these days. A quick check on two of my local big box store websites shows that non-LED Christmas lights are not even available for sale. LED lights use an order of magnitude less energy, so the current energy consumption is going to be quite different.
YATA0 5y ago
The study linked in your sourced article uses data from 2008. It's becoming exceedingly difficult to find incandescent Christmas lights these days. A quick check on two of my local big box store websites shows that non-LED Christmas lights are not even available for sale. LED lights use an order of magnitude less energy, so the current energy consumption is going to be quite different.

by Feeble 5y ago

floatingatoll 5y ago

That’s a good idea; if you write that up as a blog post and submit it to HN, I’d read it!

BoiledCabbage 5y ago

Do they also suffer from high exponential growth in energy usage?

floatingatoll 5y ago
No, but they are definitely an excessive use of incandescent bulbs in the United States. It’s too bad they haven’t figured out how to make cheap LED strands that are more diffuse and in warm colors, as this is a significant energy burden for both homeowners and the country’s electrical grid. Your point that their usage doesn’t accelerate over time is valid, but as the link notes, this is still a significant energy burden on the country and should be addressed over time. It can be worked on in parallel to efforts to curb the growth of crypto coin energy waste, so there’s no harm in encouraging reductions to both.
- YATA0 5y ago
  >It’s too bad they haven’t figured out how to make cheap LED strands that are more diffuse and in warm colors, as this is a significant energy burden for both homeowners and the country’s electrical grid. They have figured it out. It's becoming exceedingly difficult to find incandescent Christmas lights these days. A quick check on two of my local big box store websites shows that non-LED Christmas lights are not even available for sale. LED lights use an order of magnitude less energy, so the current energy consumption is going to be quite different.

YATA0 5y ago

The study linked in your sourced article uses data from 2008. It's becoming exceedingly difficult to find incandescent Christmas lights these days. A quick check on two of my local big box store websites shows that non-LED Christmas lights are not even available for sale. LED lights use an order of magnitude less energy, so the current energy consumption is going to be quite different.