Annam Naturals
Eco-Friendly Product Guides

Clay diyas vs LED strings vs candles: energy and waste compared

Three ways to light a home for Diwali, compared on smoke, electricity, cost over the years and what ends up in the bin.

2 October 2026 · 7 min read

Many lit clay diyas arranged on a platter

Chetanya Goel · Founder & Editor

Chetanya started Annam Naturals after two years of keeping a household waste diary. Chetanya writes about the boring, repeatable habits that hold up in a real week.

Lighting is the heart of Diwali. Most homes now mix clay diyas, electric string lights and candles. Each has a different footprint, and the best choice depends on how you use it.

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Responsive display unit — placed after the introduction

Clay diyas

Plain clay diyas are made from natural earth, often by local potters. They can be reused for many years if washed and dried after the festival, and when they finally break they return to soil without harm. Buying them supports traditional craftspeople.

The fuel matters. Mustard, sesame or ghee with a cotton wick produces some smoke, but far less than crackers. Avoid painted or glazed diyas with glitter or plastic decorations if you want them to stay compostable.

LED string lights

LEDs use a small fraction of the electricity of old filament bulbs, and running a typical LED string for a week of evenings costs very little. Their footprint is in manufacturing and disposal: cheap strings often fail after one or two seasons and become e-waste.

  • Buy fewer, better-quality strings with replaceable plugs
  • Store them coiled and dry to make them last
  • Hand broken strings to an e-waste collector, not the dustbin
  • Use a timer so they are not left on all night

Candles

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Most candles are made of paraffin wax, a petroleum product, and burning them releases soot and fine particles indoors. Scented candles add further compounds. Beeswax and soy candles burn somewhat cleaner but cost more. Candles are also the most single-use of the three options.

How they compare

  • Waste: clay diyas lowest when reused, LEDs low if they last, candles highest
  • Indoor air: LEDs best, diyas moderate, candles worst indoors
  • Electricity: diyas and candles none, LEDs very small
  • Tradition and craft: clay diyas clearly ahead

A sensible mix

Use clay diyas for puja and doorways, where their meaning matters most and smoke clears easily outdoors. Use a few good LED strings for balconies and windows. Skip candles indoors, especially in smog season, when indoor air quality matters more than usual.

Look after what you have

The lowest-impact light is the one you already own. Wash and store diyas, check last year's LED strings before buying new ones, and you may find you need to buy very little this year.

For more of this kind of testing, the eco-friendly product guides hub collects everything we've tried in that area.

Frequently asked

Do I need to buy anything to get started?

No. Every method here begins with what is already in your cupboards. We only recommend a purchase when something has genuinely worn out, and we say what it should cost.

How do you test the things you write about?

Minimum four weeks of ordinary household use, with notes. For anything involving energy or money we use a plug-in meter and record the readings before and after.

Are your recommendations paid for?

Never. Brands cannot buy placement. Some outbound links are affiliate links, which we mark, and they do not change what makes the list.

What if a method doesn't work in my home?

Write to us. A surprising amount of our best material comes from readers explaining why something failed in a flat, a shared house or a very cold winter.

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