LED Holiday Lights
The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority is a key partner in the annual holiday lights tradition and helps to ensure the streets of downtown Ann Arbor will not only have a festive glow, but an environmentally friendly one as well. Starting in 2007, the A2 DDA began using LED (light-emitting diode) holiday lights, 114,000 LED bulbs to be exact, on trees throughout most of the downtown (coincidentally equaling one bulb per city resident – isn’t that an interesting fact!). This is one of the largest LED holiday lighting displays in the country, and attracted NBC national news.
This technology requires 80 percent less energy than traditional lights: 100 LED holiday lights draw 8.8 watts, while 100 regular, mini holiday lights draw 44 watts. Ann Arbor’s 114,000 bulbs equate to an annual energy savings of $7,000, (71,468 KWh) and 70 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking 12 cars off the road. LED lights also last much longer as well, with a 40-year life expectancy before they burn out, which translates to a maintenance savings, as well.