Each Halloween season, ‘mega displays’ are becoming the new norm, BC Hydro says.
In fact, latest research points to festive lights and blow-up decorations as no longer limited to just the holiday season.
The BC Hydro survey found almost a quarter of BCers now decorate about the same amount for both Halloween and Christmas – with almost ten per cent decorating more for Halloween.
“Much like during the holidays, about a quarter will be using electronic Halloween decorations this year,” BC Hydro says, “including outdoor lights (13 per cent), electronic jack-o-lanterns (13 per cent), and plug-in inflatables (five per cent).”
However, of those using electronic decorations, 20 per cent will use multiple plug-ins, which can actually up their electricity bill, the company explains.
As well, it says 22 per cent are still using a mix of older inefficient incandescent lights with some LEDs, while about eight percent use all incandescent lights.
According to BC Hydro, BCers can save this Halloween by doing the following:
- Switching to LEDs: Decorative LED lights last ten times longer than incandescent lights and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colours
- Plugging into timers: Reduce electricity costs by only having lights and decorations on when needed
- Using MyHydro: See how Halloween 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
SEE MORE: ‘Our biggest one ever’: Haunted house stirring up scares in Campbell River
