Darrel Piper festoons the inside of his home with thousands of Christmas lights every year. The 40-year-old Scotland native puts the lights up every year at around September 1. Now, before you go and start accusing him of decorating for the holidays way too early, you might want to find out why he's so eager to bust out with the indoor festival of electric lights. Piper, like many of us, is eager to save money on his heating bills in the cooler months. He is perhaps more dedicated to saving than many of us because he is on a fixed income and unable to work due to thrombosis of the legs. Piper puts up the holiday lights in such abundance so early in the year because he says that aside from being lovely, the lights save him a bundle in heating. Say what?!
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According to Piper, when all the lights are on for awhile, his living room starts feeling like a sauna. He keeps the door open and lets the heat circulate through the rest of the home. He says, "Despite having thousands of lights up I find they're cheaper to power than my heating." There are skeptics out there that say his calculations must be off, but I'm inclined to believe him. Seems like a whole lot of effort to put up all them lights if he's not actually saving any money.
I love that Piper has found a clever and festive way to save money on his heating costs. I'm sorry that for him as for so many other people, finances are so tight that the choice is as Piper so effectively puts it, "heat or eat."
Happy holidays, Darrel Piper! May you stay warm and safe this holiday season. Let your light shine on, but please turn off your lights when you leave the home, it's not safe to leave them on when you are gone. I'm not sure it's all that safe to have that many lights on when you are home, but I understand why you do it.
Image via Thinkstock
