An 84-foot-tall Norway spruce has been covered with 30,000 LEDs strung on 5 miles of wire, and we techies are as happy as pigs in a sty. They finally got it. The locals have embraced solid-state technology and given the heave-ho to Edison's incandescent bulbs. For 74 years, those bulbs adorned the annual tree gracing Rockefeller Center in New York, exuding the warmth of the season. In the 75th year, we are solid citizens, and our state is safe from using unnecessary kilowatts of power every day the tree is lit, into the first week of January 2008.

Reports say that using the energy-efficient LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs will reduce the display's electricity consumption from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day. The daily savings is equal to the amount of electricity consumed by a typical 2,000-square-foot house in a month. Aha!

Also, a 365-panel solar energy array generates electricity on the roof of one of the complex's buildings, the largest privately owned solar roof in Manhattan. Wow!

Now everybody should go out and buy the same high-tech ornaments for their respective holiday trimmings and contribute to the energy savings, right?

Wrong. Take a look at gizmodo.com's discussion on the purported advantages of using LEDs to do your decorations. Some excerpts: "They [the socketed LEDs] inappropriately mix copper electrical wiring with the aluminum leads that come out of the LEDs themselves ... They rust from the inside out, and stop working. Quite visible. Problem apparent after a single season. The ones that are not socketed? When an LED bulb burns out, you can't replace it ... LEDs generally get dimmer as they get older. The white ones are the worst, because they act like a fluorescent light. They are actually ultraviolet LEDs that shine against a phosphorescent coating on the outside of the bulb."

And this one: "... They rusted from the inside out. I'd be happy to provide pictures of several of the ~25–30 strands. The rust is very visible from the outside--you don't even need to open up a socket to see them. Guess what? Surprise! No warranty. If they don't last past the season, the problem is yours alone. The risk of these 'long-life LED bulbs' is completely on you. The manufacturers do NOT back up their claims with ANY warranty."

Another blogger commented on trying the LED bulbs and switching back to incandescents: "My experience last year with LED lights was less than satisfactory ... While I am loath to spend the money for electricity, I think I will switch back to the old-fashioned warmth of regular lights this year."

Then there's this one: "We still have two of the five strands of mini lights that we bought for our first Christmas as a married couple. That was in 1972. And we paid less than $2 per strand. When LEDs reach that level of durability ..."

Come January, when the big spruce comes down, it will be cut into lumber to be used in houses built by Habitat for Humanity. I can see the wood going to good use. I'm not sure if the LED strands will be able to be used again next year.

By: DocMemory
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