I noticed they had them for 50% off at Rite-Aid, so I picked up a 60 light string for $3.99 to play around with and see how good (or bad) they might be. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a bridge rectifier, so you have that 60 Hz flicker. It consists of two series'd strings of 30, making for 4 VAC for each lamp. Plugged them into the Kill-a-Watt, and the whole 60 light string registers 1 watt.
For these reasonable prices and power consumptions, theres no reason an RE home can't share the tradition of Christmas lights. I think I'll go buy up a bunch on Tuesday.