What a 150-foot roofline costs to run
One roofline, three ways: 150 feet of C9 bulbs at 12-inch spacing, the most common spacing for C9 rooflines, so 150 bulbs. The lights come on at sunset, about 4:30 p.m. in December in Vancouver, and go off at 11 p.m., the dusk-to-11 schedule our seasonal timer is set to. That's 6.5 hours a night.
Leave the lights on from Thanksgiving weekend through New Year's Day, 36 nights this season, and multiply by 1.2. At 15-inch spacing (120 bulbs instead of 150) every figure drops by a fifth. A bigger house scales the same way: a 220-foot two-story is about half again as much.
| Bulbs | Roofline watts | kWh per 30 nights | Clark Public Utilities, 8.79¢ | PGE, about 20¢ | Cowlitz PUD, 7.66¢ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incandescent C9, 7 W each | 1,050 W | 204.8 | $18.00 | $40.95 | $15.68 |
| Incandescent C9, 10 W each | 1,500 W | 292.5 | $25.71 | $58.50 | $22.41 |
| LED C9, 0.8 W each | 120 W | 23.4 | $2.06 | $4.68 | $1.79 |
How they look: warmth, color, sparkle and brightness
Warm white. Wintergreen rates its warm-white OptiCore LED C9 at 3000 K. The U.S. Energy Information Administration puts traditional incandescent light at about 2,500 to 3,500 K, with slightly orange tones, and says higher numbers look bluer. So a warm-white LED sits inside the incandescent range. The cool-white version of the same bulb is 6500 K, well outside it. If you're matching bulbs you already own, hold one lit sample next to them before you buy a box.
Color. An incandescent bulb gives off warm, yellowish light whatever color its glass is; a colored bulb gets its color from the coating on the glass. An LED makes colored light itself, which is why LED reds, greens and blues look more vivid. Wintergreen says the thick OptiCore lens walls fill the bulb with color.
Sparkle. LED C9 lenses come faceted or smooth. Wintergreen's faceted lens has a diamond-cut pattern that throws a halo of light; its smooth, opaque lens gives the traditional look. The bulbs in our seasonal service are faceted.
Brightness. Wintergreen rates the warm-white OptiCore C9 at 25.5 lumens. Most makers don't publish lumens for incandescent Christmas bulbs, so there's no like-for-like number. Compare them lit.
Heat, breakage and fire safety
An incandescent bulb makes light by heating a filament until it glows. An LED doesn't: Wintergreen says its LED bulbs stay cool to the touch, and ENERGY STAR says cool LED strings reduce the risk of fire.
Incandescent C7 and C9 bulbs are glass. OptiCore LED lenses are polycarbonate, which Wintergreen says is up to 200 times stronger than glass, and the Department of Energy calls LED strands sturdier and much less likely to burn out or break.
NFPA's holiday numbers cover decorations as a whole: fire departments respond to about 835 home fires a year that start with decorations other than Christmas trees, and a third of those are started by candles. Those figures don't break out outdoor roofline lights. The Consumer Product Safety Commission's rules for outdoor lights apply to both kinds:
The bigger risk is usually the ladder. The CPSC counts about 160 Christmas decorating injuries a day during the holiday season, and nearly half involve falls.
- Use lights tested for safety by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, with a label showing they're certified for outdoor use.
- Plug outdoor lights into a GFCI-protected outlet or a portable GFCI.
- Check every set, new or old, for cracked sockets, frayed or bare wire and loose connections, and throw out damaged sets.
- Never string together more than three sets of incandescent lights, and never overload an outlet.
How many sets can share one outlet
Two limits apply: the number of sets the maker allows end to end, and what the circuit behind the outlet can carry. Wintergreen's 25-bulb incandescent C9 set draws 175 W and allows 2 sets end to end. Its 25-bulb LED OptiCore C9 set draws 20 W and allows up to 1,000 feet or 960 W end to end.
A 15-amp household circuit carries 1,800 watts, and 1000Bulbs advises loading it to no more than 80 percent, 1,440 W. Anything else on the same circuit counts too.
That's the practical difference on a house. An incandescent roofline needs several runs and uses most of a circuit before anything else is plugged in. A whole LED roofline runs from one outlet with room to spare.
| 150-foot roofline, 12-inch spacing | Incandescent C9, 7 W | LED C9, 0.8 W |
|---|---|---|
| 25-foot sets | 6 | 6 |
| Watts | 1,050 W | 120 W |
| Share of a 15-amp circuit's 1,440 W | 73% | 8% |
| Separate runs back to an outlet, at the maker's limit | 3 | 1 |
Lifespan and replacement bulbs
Wintergreen rates its incandescent C9 and C7 bulbs at 3,000 hours on average and its OptiCore LED bulbs at 60,000. A season on the dusk-to-11 schedule, 36 nights at 6.5 hours, is about 234 hours of burn time.
On paper that's about 13 seasons for an incandescent bulb and more than 250 for an LED. Ratings are averages, not promises: some bulbs fail early, and glass breaks. Check the rating on what you buy, too; Wintergreen rates its own pre-made incandescent C9 set at 1,000 hours, about 4 seasons on this schedule.
Both kinds screw into the same E17 socket, and Wintergreen sells its C9 stringers for either, so switching to LED means new bulbs, not new cord.
A seasonal quote for your roofline
Our 2026 first-installation rate is $6.50–$14 per foot, depending on when you pay the 50% deposit. Installation, takedown and storage are included. Reinstallation of our stored lights is $4.50 per foot.
We supply and own the seasonal lights. Choose your roofline and color scheme, then request a free on-site measure. Your written quote confirms the actual footage, scope, tax and installation date. Paying the 50% deposit locks the rate, even when the installation falls in a later price window.
We guarantee a fix within 48 hours for our lights during the season, weather permitting. January takedown is planned for January 2–15 on the date agreed in the quote. We test, label and store the lights until next season. Extra services and customer-supplied lights need separate confirmation.
Sources & further reading
Research originally checked September 26, 2026. Product figures and utility examples are dated research, not a quote for your installation. Follow current product labels and check the original source for updates.
- Christmas Lights, Etc: C9 light strings and spools, spacing guide
- U.S. Naval Observatory: sun data for Vancouver, WA, Dec. 10, 2026
- Wintergreen Lighting: C9 clear transparent incandescent bulbs, 7 and 10 watt
- Wintergreen Lighting: C9 warm white OptiCore LED bulbs, faceted
- Clark Public Utilities: current electric and water rates
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: Form EIA-861M sales and revenue by utility, 2026
- Cowlitz PUD: Schedule 1 residential rate
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: LED bulbs keep improving in efficiency and quality
- Wintergreen Lighting: C9 cool white OptiCore LED bulbs
- 1000Bulbs: C7 vs. C9 Christmas lights
- Wintergreen Lighting: C9 opaque (smooth) warm white OptiCore LED bulbs
- U.S. Department of Energy: How do holiday lights work?
- ENERGY STAR: decorative light strings
- NFPA: winter holiday fire facts
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: holiday decorating release 18-054
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: holiday safety release 25-049
- Wintergreen Lighting: clear C9 lights on green wire, 25-bulb incandescent set
- Wintergreen Lighting: C9 warm white OptiCore commercial LED set, 25 bulbs
- Wintergreen Lighting: C7 clear transparent incandescent bulbs, 5 and 7 watt
- Wintergreen Lighting: E17 intermediate light stringer, green wire
- Christmas Lights, Etc: C9 clear 7-watt incandescent bulbs, box of 25
- Christmas Lights, Etc: C9 warm white OptiCore LED bulbs, box of 25