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05.12.2006 Overview
 

Economical OSRAM fairy lights with LED

Blaze of festive lights with ecological claim

The Christmas tree in front of the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall) in Berlin is all aglitter with special lights: 200 fairy lights from OSRAM with a total of 24,000 white light emitting diodes (LED) create an astonishing light atmosphere while contributing to climate protection. The energy-saving light sources reduce the power consumption by more than 80 per cent.

Economical OSRAM fairy lights_newsp
Source: OSRAM
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A direct comparison clearly shows the advantages of LED for the environment: if the same length of fairy lights for the Christmas tree in Berlin were used with conventional light bulbs instead of the OSRAM LED fairy lights, the hourly power consumption would total 35 kWh – compared with 4.2 kWh using the LED technology. Thus, the carbon dioxide emitted into the environment by early January, when the Berlin Christmas tree will be taken down again, can be reduced by more than 4.5t*. This roughly corresponds to the amount of CO2 absorbed in a year by 225 trees through photosynthesis.

On 4 December, the Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, thanked the conservation organisation WWF in front of the Rotes Rathaus on behalf of all the citizens of Berlin for donating the tree. The 200 LED fairy lights with a total of 24,000 tiny LED had been made available by OSRAM, bathing the 20m tall tree in a festive sparkle of lights.

Mayor Wowereit had switched on the lights by cycling on an ergometer and thus had produced some of the energy required for the lighting by his own physical strength. Until Christmas, the tree will, of course, be operated using “green” power. In order to keep the energy requirement for the transport to a minimum, the tree had been shipped in from a forest in Wansdorf near Berlin, which is cultivated in compliance with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) environmental certificate. The innovative lighting is a further contribution to the conservation of resources, because LED fairy lights have a significantly longer life than conventional Christmas tree lights with incandescent lamps, while consuming less energy and thus reducing the emission of harmful greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

By using LED fairy lights from OSRAM, the Christmas tree at home can also relieve the burden on the environment and reduce the power consumption. Yet besides their well-known environmental friendliness, LED have further advantages: thanks to their long life and high quality, the tedious search for replacement lamps, which is often necessary after only a short while when using cheap products, has now become a thing of the past. The LED fairy lights are so robust they can even withstand frost and can thus be used outside. And inside the house, their snow-white, flicker-free light sets a festive tone. The lights are available with 40, 80 and 120 LED and a total length of up to 28m. New to the OSRAM range are the Colour Change LED fairy lights with 40 or 80 LED, which will bring colour not only to Christmas trees.

(*) Basis of calculation: the Christmas tree is lit for 10 hours each day over 31 days. It is further assumed that the generation of one kilowatt hour of electricity in Germany results in an average carbon dioxide emission of 0.50kg and that a tree absorbs 20kg of carbon dioxide in a year.

Economical OSRAM fairy lights with LED
Blaze of festive lights with ecological claim
Switched on by Berlin’s Mayor, Klaus Wowereit, the 24,000 tiny points of light from OSRAM bathe the Christmas tree in front of the Rotes Rathaus in a special festive light and relieve the burden on the environment thanks to energy-saving LED technology.

Press contact:

OSRAM

Lars Stühlen
Tel: +49-89-6213-2597
Fax: +49-89-6213-3457
Email: l.stuehlen@osram.com