News release

VANCOUVER: While December 1 has traditionally been the day advent calendars and holiday decorating begin, a new survey¹ conducted on behalf of BC Hydro finds British Columbians are divided on when to decorate their home for the winter holidays, with more than half choosing to put up lights and other décor in November.

Holiday decorating is popular in B.C., with nearly three-quarters of British Columbians planning to decorate their homes for the holidays this year, but there is no consensus on when the appropriate time is to deck the halls – and some even report this has caused disagreements in their households. BC Hydro found that despite 86 per cent of British Columbians thinking any time before December 1 was too early for holiday decorations, 51 per cent plan to decorate sometime in November.

Almost half agree any time before Remembrance Day is premature, but one in 10 said there is no such thing as too early where holiday decorating is concerned. When it comes to holiday decorating, almost a third said when they see holiday lighting and décor go up early in their neighbourhood, it makes them feel ‘joyful,’ however about 15 per cent find it ‘annoying.’

When it comes to type of décor, a mix of both white and coloured lights is the preferred outdoor holiday lighting scheme, and most tend to put up between three to five strings of lights. However, a few ‘mega decorators’ (almost 10 per cent) are putting up more than ten strands of lights. There are even seven per cent who said they are guilty of blowing a circuit breaker due to plugging in too many decorations at once. This might be because more are using plug-in inflatable decorations – almost two-thirds are planning to put up at least one or two on their lawn this season, which can add to costs because they are typically run 24/7 and use a lot more power than a strand of LED bulbs.

Further adding to the energy drain, a quarter are using old incandescent light strings or a mix of old incandescent and LED lighting. Incandescent lighting uses significantly more power and is more expensive to run.

Whether you are an early bird decorator or later to the party, BC Hydro recommends the following to keep decorating costs down:

• Switching to LED lighting: Save about $40 over the holiday season by switching eight strands of incandescent lights to energy efficient LEDs. LED holiday lights also last 10 times longer and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colours.
• Using timers: Reduce electricity costs by only having lights and inflatables on when needed.
• Using MyHydro: See how holiday decorating impacts electricity use by using the electricity tracking tools available on MyHydro, which can be accessed from a mobile device or at bchydro.com
• Joining the team: Join BC Hydro’s Team Power Smart for free to help make managing and reducing electricity easier. BC Hydro has doubled its Team Power Smart Reduction Challenge reward from $50 to $100 for a second year. Customers who sign up for the challenge from Nov.1, 2024 to Jan. 15, 2025 will be eligible for the reward if they reduce their usage by 10 per cent over the course of a year.

For more information on how to save energy and money this holiday season, visit bchydro.com.

Contact:
BC Hydro Media Relations
e. media@bchydro.com
p. 604 928 6468

^{[1] Online survey conducted by Majid Khoury from November 8th – 14th, 2024 of 805 British Columbians 18+ who are members of the Angus Reid Forum, margin of error of +/-3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.}