'Tis the Season for Holiday Lights and Energy Savings

CHICAGO, Nov. 24, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --This holiday season, ComEd is spreading joy across northern Illinois with illuminating LEDs (light emitting diodes), energy efficiency ideas and discounts to help customers reduce electricity consumption.

ComEd expects customers will use more than 180 hours of electricity per month this holiday season to illuminate their holiday decorations. To keep the holidays shining bright and save energy, ComEd recommends replacing traditional holiday lights with a more energy efficient lighting option, such as LEDs.

"According to ENERGY STAR, holiday LEDs generally consume 70 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer than traditional holiday light strands," said George Malek, ComEd Energy Doctor. "Some holiday LEDs can pay for themselves in less than five years as a result of the electricity savings, which can help keep a little jingle in your pockets. In addition, they come in various shapes, colors and sizes and are weather resistant for outdoor use."

ComEd also offers the following tips to help customers think green while decorating their home this holiday season:

• Power strips can help you save - Use a power strip with an on/off switch to fully power down decorations that consume electricity such as holiday lights and inflatables. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, in the average home 75 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics and appliances is consumed when they are turned off. This can be as much as 10 percent of a homes overall energy usage.
• Consider LEDs - For a typical holiday tree illuminated with 1,100 lights and operating for six hours everyday of the week, customers can expect to save up to $8 per month, or 70 kilowatt-hours of electricity, by using LED lighting.
• Take advantage of discounts - Visit ComEd's Online Energy Store, now through Dec. 31 to receive an instant $2 rebate on each set of LED holiday lights. This rebate is in addition to the usual 20 percent discount offered on energy efficient products available through the store.

ComEd continues its tradition of shedding light on energy efficiency by hosting local holiday festivities for families to enjoy:

ComEd LED Holiday Tree

ComEd helped to kick-off the holiday season with its sponsorship of the 'ComEd LED Holiday Tree,' located on John Hancock Center's Garden Plaza. This radiant tree stands 35 ft. tall and is illuminated by 3,000 strands of LEDs courtesy of ComEd. By using energy efficient LEDs, this tree will cast a warm glow along the Magnificent Mile in a true green fashion this holiday.

Lincoln Park Zoo ZooLights

This marks ComEd's ninth consecutive year for ComEd as the proud sponsor of ZooLights. During this free event, customers can stroll through the Lincoln Park Zoo and enjoy crafts, live ice carvings and beautiful, bright light attractions. Please visit www.lpzoo.org for dates.

Chicago Botanic Garden's Wonderland Express

Customers can enjoy the beautiful outdoor decorations completely lit by energy efficient lighting, and a 10,000-square-foot indoor holiday exhibition featuring a miniature train chugging through 80 Chicago landmarks, including the Stanley Cup to celebrate the championship of the Chicago Blackhawks. This event runs from Nov. 26 to Jan. 2, visit www.chicagobotanic.org.

ComEd Festival of Trees

This weeklong holiday extravaganza includes a fabulous display of holiday trees, wreaths and decorations, showings of classic holiday films, and more. The Festival of Trees runs from Nov. 21 to Nov. 28, please visit www.rialtosquare.com for more information.

Brookfield Zoo's Holiday Magic

This marks the 29th year of Brookfield Zoo's Holiday Magic lighting festival, which features more than 120 animated light displays and a million twinkling lights. Festivities include live musical entertainment, an all new dolphin show, and many exhibits will be open for viewing animals, including Brookfield Zoo's newest, Great Bear Wilderness. Visit www.brookfieldzoo.org for dates.

ComEd's environmental initiatives support Exelon 2020, a comprehensive strategy announced earlier this year by Exelon, ComEd's parent company, to reduce, offset or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emitted by its family of companies and customers.

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population

SOURCE ComEd