This is how much it costs to keep your Christmas tree lights on

With Brits up and down the country putting their Christmas decorations up this week, you might be wondering how much it costs to actually run your festive lights.

Well, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has revealed all - and the cost might surprise you.

The Money Saving Expert appeared on Good Morning Britain last week alongside co-host Susanna Reid to help viewers tackle their cost of living issues.

Martin has been regularly appearing on the show in a bid to help Brits curb their spending.

Discussing how Christmas lights could impact rocketing energy bills this winter, Martin reassured viewers watching at home that they shouldn't be too costly to run - but he did have a warning for all Brits, too.

“Good news,” he said on the 30 November episode. “As long as you’ve got LED lights, not the incandescent lights, the incandescent lights are expensive.

"If you've got LED lights, a string of 100 which is a pretty decent amount, if you were to have them on for six hour a day for the month, it would cost around 18 pence roughly, 18 pence for the month.

"So they are not very expensive to run."

The financial guru also discussed whether it's even necessary to have the lights on for six hours a day, adding: “Just in the evening when you’re there [at home], so you can keep that element of Christmas going."

ITV

The question of Christmas lights and energy bills was also discussed in Martin's recent Money Saving Expert newsletter.

Martin explained that bigger sets of lights will cost more, meanwhile incandescent lights - which are often made of glass and can get hot quickly - are pricier.

"Bigger sets of lights, with more bulbs, will of course use more energy and therefore cost a bit more – for example, a 32-metre string of outside lights would cost a total of £1.90," he explained.

"[Incandescent lights] tend to be older, and are 80 percent to 90 percent less efficient to run than LED varieties, and so cost much more.

"For example, a 40-watt 100-bulb string of incandescent fairy lights would cost you about £2.45 to run for 30 days over Christmas. Yet some prefer the softer glow these give."

RooM the Agency/Alamy Stock Photo

Martin's tips come after a recent poll found more than a third of those who celebrate Christmas are planning on cutting their budget by half this year.

The research, commissioned by Oxfam, found nearly half were worried about energy bills, while 39 per cent said were trying to be thriftier this festive season.