This is a sponsored post written on behalf of PPL Electric Utilities. All opinions expressed in this post and blog are my own. #ProjectEnvolve #GetEnvolved
Ahhh, Christmas. That time of the year when I spend countless hours searching for the best deals on the best gifts. What’s funny is that although we spend lots of time trying to save money on gifts during Christmas, we don’t put much thought into saving money on our holiday energy bills.
Today’s blog entry is designed to accomplish that goal in two different ways: 1) Saving money on energy bills by decorating smartly and 2) Saving money on energy bills by cooking smartly. This entry is also brought to you by the folks at Project Envolve, which is sponsored by PPL Electric Utilities
DECORATE SMARTER
Here’s a quick fact about LED lights that’ll make you rethink those traditional bulbs: LED lights use 90 percent less energy than regular strings of lights and last 10 times longer! Here’s another fact: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LED holiday lights cost only 27 cents to run for 12 hours a day for 40 days, compared with $10 for regular bulbs.
With that in mind, you should definitely consider switching to LED bulbs for your tree and window decorations. You should also consider connecting your tree and window lights to a timer, which can be programed to automatically turn your lights off to save energy during the day and late at night.
I plan to use timers this season (you can buy them at just about any store) — in addition to LED bulbs — to save a little extra energy AND money.
My last “decorate smarter” tip: Consider making decorations out of reflective materials, which will provide plenty of sparkle and shine when combined with your new LED lights. I made the cute little snowmen below using a crafting kit and I can’t wait to put them on our tree this year!
COOK SMARTER
The big Christmas morning breakfast has become something of a tradition in our house over the past few years. Each year, I come up with a different breakfast casserole or some other yummy treat to cook up after the gifts have been unwrapped.
But here’s the thing: “big” breakfasts take a lot of time to make. That’s time that I don’t always have on a hectic Christmas morning or time that I’d rather be spending in the living room in a sea of wrapping paper, watching our five-year-old enjoy her new gifts.
Big breakfasts (i.e. those that use your stove or oven) also contribute to big electric bills. That’s why, this year, I’m whipping up some tasty microwave breakfasts, possibly including the NAME OF RECIPE you see below. Microwave breakfasts use a fraction of the energy and take a fraction of the time with all of the tastiness of a “regular” breakfast.
It’s just eggs and a few other tasty ingredients cooked in the microwave for a minute or so. That’s it! Check out the recipe here along with a few other tempting microwave breakfast ideas. And, for more tips about how to make your microwave work harder for you, check out my microwave cooking blog entry from earlier this year.
For more holiday money and energy-saving tips, check out PPL Electric Utilities’ Pinterest boards.
Great Tips, as always! I am always looking for ways to save energy, not only for the environment but also for the price tag!