How much does a string of Christmas lights cost per month in District of Columbia?

About 13.7¢ a month, assuming 25 W, 6 hours a day, 45 days a year at 24.39¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a string of Christmas lights use?

Roughly 7 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.03 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

District of Columbia has the 11th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $1.24 a year.

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Cost to run a string of Christmas lights in District of Columbia (June 2026 rates)

At 24.39¢ per kilowatt-hour — District of Columbia's average residential price in June 2026 — running a string of Christmas lights costs $1.65 a year. That is 33% more than the national average of $1.24. District of Columbia's residential rate is up 7.4% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $1.53 to $1.65 a year.

Per hour: 0.6¢
Per day of use: 3.7¢
Per month: 13.7¢
Per year: $1.65

Assumption: 25 W, 6 hours a day, 45 days a year — 7 kWh a year. Per 100-count LED string. A 100-count incandescent string draws roughly 40 W, and older C9 bulbs far more. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How District of Columbia compares

District of Columbia pays 24.39¢/kWh, the 11th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to 40.8¢ more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same string of Christmas lights costs 88.5¢ a year in Nevada and $3.56 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $2.67 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Michigan	22.99¢	12.9¢	$1.55
Connecticut	24.32¢	13.7¢	$1.64
District of Columbia	24.39¢	13.7¢	$1.65
Vermont	24.44¢	13.7¢	$1.65
New Jersey	24.95¢	14.0¢	$1.68

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a string of Christmas lights.

What else costs about the same in District of Columbia

Led bulb$4.01 a year in DC Clothes iron$4.02 a year in DC Smart speaker$6.41 a year in DC

Cutting the number down

A timer that runs the display six hours instead of twelve halves the season's cost with nobody noticing.
Incandescent strings are where holiday bills come from; LED strings of the same length are a fraction of the draw.

Questions

How much does a string of Christmas lights cost per month in District of Columbia?: About 13.7¢ a month, assuming 25 W, 6 hours a day, 45 days a year at 24.39¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a string of Christmas lights use?: Roughly 7 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.03 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: District of Columbia has the 11th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $1.24 a year.