It’s reported that this year’s annual ZooLights display will use more LEDs to save energy. About half of the display’s 1 million lights will be LEDs. The LEDs use only a fraction of the energy of conventional light bulbs.

           

Russell Guinn, the zoo’s event technical coordinator, said in the past, an animated display may have used standard C9 lights, which use a whopping 18,000 watts of energy, while the new C9 LEDs use only 144 watts of energy. That’s an incredible difference.

The zoo has been using LEDs for its ZooLights displays since 2001, and continues to add more each year, replacing its conventional bulbs. LEDs use only about 1 percent of the power of standard holiday lights, and about 10 percent of the power in mini-lights. About 81,000 LEDs have been added for this year’s festival, including nearly a thousand of the C9 LEDs.

These eco-friendly displays should also save energy for ZooLights crew members, who won’t spend nearly as much time replacing lights and troubleshooting dark strings.

The zoo’s event will run from Nov. 29 to Dec. 28. ZooLights can be seen from 5 to 8 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 5 to 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.