LED Christmas lights have slowly been growing in popularity, as the cost of using them over the long term is less as far as electricity goes, but the initial cost of buying them is also much higher, and in some case ten times higher, depending on the type of LED bulb strings you decide to buy. In other cases it's not near that much higher, but you'll still pay more for them.

LED stands for "Light-Emitting Diode," and generally are a much stronger light in color or white, in contrast to the less expensive incandescent Christmas light strings.

Although LED lights are marketed as lasting much longer than incandescent lights, the reality of their performance doesn't back up that claim, which is advertised in some cases as lasting 200,000 hours in contrast to the approximate 1,500 hours the incandescent lights last. Much of the problems lie in the casings surrounding the lights, which don't last long, making the promise of the lights lasting longer somewhat irrelevent.

Closer to the truth is they have the potential to last much longer. But then again, you could say something similar about incandescent lights, which will struggle to last 1,500 at times as well.  

Where LED lights do have a proven advantage is with the amount of power they use, which is estimated at approximately a tenth of what a incandescent light draws power at.

Another powerful benefit is they're safer to touch because they run cold, meaning you can touch them and not burn yourself. 

You do have to be sure to compare apples with apples when deciding which lights to buy, taking into consideration the length of the string and other things like that.

There's no doubt LED Christmas lights will become increasingly popular once the prices start falling for initial costs and promises of length of life match up with the assertions. But even now they could be close to the costs of incandescent lights depending on how much you use them.

If you use them only for a couple of hours at night during the Christmas season, it may not be worth buying, but if you run a ton of lights day and night for at least a month or so, you could make up the extra costs associated with LED Christmas lights in a relatively short time. 

All of this depends on how many lights you need and how long you run them. In other words, an LED light is more useful and saves a lot more money for power Christmas light users than those that might have a few strings of lights around the house. 

If money is no issue for you, then an LED Christmas light strategy makes sense if you're interested in using less energy while enjoying the Christmas holiday be celebrating with a great LED light display, while conserving energy.  

Some LED Christmas lights have come down in price recently, so you want to check the styles that offer lower prices that would make LED lights a good bargain for energy purposes and longer lasting in general.