Tonight, the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, the National Park Service, and GE Lighting will unveil this year’s holiday LED lighting design for the National Christmas Tree at the 92^nd annual National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at President’s Park. With more than 60,000 holiday LED lights on the living Colorado blue spruce, it is one of the most notable holiday displays in the United States.

“With GE LED holiday lights, consumers don’t have to compromise; they can enjoy energy savings and the inviting glow they know and love.”

“Each strand of GE LED holiday lights consumes up to 80 percent less energy than incandescent holiday lights, but still provides the festive lighting consumers love,” said Mary Beth Gotti, manager of the GE Lighting Institute and holiday lighting designer for the National Christmas Tree. “With GE LED holiday lights, consumers don’t have to compromise; they can enjoy energy savings and the inviting glow they know and love.”

The National Christmas Tree will be lit by GE ENERGY STAR®-qualified LED holiday lights. Replicas of the National Christmas Tree will be on display at GE Lighting’s headquarters in Ohio and at GE’s Corporate Headquarters in Connecticut. Pictured here is last year’s National Christmas Tree on display in President's Park in Washington D.C. (Photo credit: Paul Morigi, 2013 National Christmas Tree Lighting)

Smart LED holiday lighting

For more than 100 years, GE Lighting has been a symbol of both tradition and innovation in holiday lighting, bringing advanced technology and the industry's highest standards to brighten festive decorations around the world. And this year, holiday lighting just got smarter – thanks to new GE LED innovations – including wirelessly controlled and color-changing LED holiday lighting.

While the National Christmas Tree has been all-LED for the past five years, it is expected that two out of every five holiday lighting strands sold this holiday season will be LED. As consumers begin their own holiday decorating, GE has brand-new products to help create the perfect holiday glow.

·         iTwinkle: Have fun with holiday lighting with GE’s iTwinkle lights, which can be controlled using a smartphone or tablet. Users can customize their holiday lighting like never before by adding a dimmer, pattern, color, music and even a voice to their holiday displays. GE’s iTwinkle is a new way to interact with holiday lighting in a smart, simple way.

·         Dual Color: Dual Color lights offer two colors on one light string. This new technology allows consumers to use either the GE Colorite Warm White or LED Multi-Color.

·         ConstantON^®: GE’s ConstantON^® technology will save countless frustrated holiday decorators this season, with technology that ensures that if one bulb burns out, the remaining lights on the string will stay lit.

Watch the National Christmas Tree Lighting Live:

GE Lighting along with the National Park Foundation and National Park Service invite families to watch a live stream broadcast of the lighting ceremony tonight. Visit www.thenationaltree.org to find out how you can tune in live. The event will also air on public television throughout the month of December. For broadcast times, check local listings or the National Christmas Tree Lighting website.