CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Consumers weighing the value of light-emitting diode (LED) holiday light sets versus traditional incandescent light sets this year may want to take some cues from commercial businesses, such as grocery stores, which are deploying LEDs all over the place: in parking lot lights, signage and even refrigerated display cases.
"Big energy users such as mass merchandise, big box, grocery and convenience stores have already weighed the cost of LED lighting versus traditional lighting," says Steven J. Briggs, vice president of marketing and product management with Lumination, GE Consumer & Industrial's LED business. "It's a matter of fact that the initial higher cost of a commercial LED system is paid back in short order with a lower overall cost of ownership that comes from energy efficiency and maintenance savings. The same basic equation applies to the LED holiday lights we opt to use at home."
In response to anticipated consumer demand this year, major retailers selling GE holiday lights plan to stock up to 34 percent more LED lighting compared with 2007. One retailer says LEDs could represent as much as 65 percent of its Christmas lighting sales.
For consumers needing a nudge, here are the top three reasons to switch to GE brand LED holiday lights this year:
Pocketbook protector---Each string saves energy by using 80 percent less electricity, which costs less than a dollar per season to operate;
Longevity---Backed by a 5-year limited warranty with 20,000-hour rated LED life, strings feature replaceable, cool-to-touch, break-resistant LEDs; and
Reliability---Exclusive GE Constant ON™ technology enables the set to operate even if an individual LED is loose or not working.
GE brand LED-based products include: Watt-Miser® 50 LED crystal miniature lights in multi & soft white lights; Watt-Miser® 100 LED crystal miniature lights in multi & soft white lights; Watt-Miser® 96 LED 4.6 ft x 3.3 ft net style lights in multi & soft white lights; Watt-Miser® 100 LED icicle style lights in multi & soft white; and 7.5 ft. LED Just Cut® Pre-lit tree with multi Constant On™ lights.
GE donated LED holiday lights for the 2007 National Christmas Tree, making it more energy-efficient than ever before. The 2008 effort, again involving GE, the White House and the National Park Service, will employ LEDs donated by GE.
GE Consumer & Industrial spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliance, lighting and integrated industrial equipment, systems and services. Providing solutions for commercial, industrial and residential use in more than 100 countries, GE Consumer & Industrial uses innovative technologies and "ecomagination," a GE initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that help customers and consumers meet pressing environmental challenges, to deliver comfort, convenience and electrical protection and control. General Electric (NYSE: GE) brings imagination to work, selling products under the Monogram®, Profile™, GE®, Hotpoint®, SmartWater™, Reveal®, and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Entellisys® industrial brand. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.
David Schuellerman
GE Consumer & Industrial
[email protected]
1-216-266-9702
1-216-513-6236