Holiday Lights Go Modern

Springdale Switches To LED Snowflakes

Christmas decorations hang Friday from poles along Emma Avenue in Springdale. The city changed out many light bulbs to LED lights in the hopes of brighter lights that last longer and use less energy.
Christmas decorations hang Friday from poles along Emma Avenue in Springdale. The city changed out many light bulbs to LED lights in the hopes of brighter lights that last longer and use less energy.

— Christmas lights on Emma Avenue should be brighter and cheaper for the city to operate this year.

The snowflake lights hanging from light poles along Emma have been refurbished with light-emitting diodes instead of incandescent lights. The city hired Get Lit, a private company that works on lighting displays, to make the change.

At A Glance

Christmas Parade of the Ozarks

When: Today, 6 p.m.

Where: Parade starts at the rodeo grounds at the intersection of Old Missouri Road and Emma Avenue. The route is west along Emma.

Theme: “Candy Canes & Christmas Cards”

Awards: Floats entered in one of three categories — religious, commercial and holiday — will be judged for awards.

Source: Rodeo of the Ozarks

The contract calls for Get Lit to convert 34 snowflakes for $7,650. If the conversions live up to expectations, more of the city’s holiday lights could be changed to LED, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.

“This will be a huge savings for us,” Sprouse said. “The lights will also look better.”

Get Lit, in its proposal to the city, claimed LEDs use 80 percent to 90 percent less power. Power usage of the snowflakes, before and after the switch, was checked, said Sam Goade, city Public Works director.

“It was about a 36 to 1 ratio,” Goade said. “We’ll recoup the cost just in power usage in less than six years.”

Maintenance should be less, too, said Goade. LED lights last longer, he said, an estimated 50,000 hours compared to 5,000 for incandescent.

The holiday lights burn only 60 days a year, he said.

“I’ll probably be gone before those lights are,” he said.

Originally, the decorations were two connected snowflake frames. Company workers cut the frames in half, sand-blasted them and repainted them white. The new lights can be seen from all directions.

The other half of each frame can be used to make more snowflakes, Goade said, doubling the number available to line city streets.

The new snowflakes are much lighter and easier to put up, said Dub Janczys, supervisor of the city’s signalization crew, which hangs the lights.

Rick McWhorter, parks and recreation director, said he would like to have some of the LED decorations. His crews puts up the incandescent holiday lights and displays in Murphy Park and around the city. Replacing bulbs is a big chore, he said.

“Each year you have to replace a lot of bulbs when you first pull them out,” McWhorter said. “Once they’re up, one drop of moisture will short them out. We’re constantly replacing bulbs as long as the displays are up.”

Springdale resident Joy Drummond, who serves on the city Christmas lights committee, said she would like to see the city switch to LED all of its decorations, which were bought with donations.

“I think it will really pay off for our future,” Drummond said. “I would like to see us known for our Christmas lights, where people would come to Springdale to see them.”

The city could work with Get Lit for a drive-through display, Sprouse said. Get Lit has designed and installed similar displays in Branson, said Summer Hull, co-owner of the business.

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