Christmas lights are a lot of fun to see on all the trees, houses, and yards for decorations during the holiday season. They bring a lot of joy to everyone. But there are some things that should be thought about to make sure that your lighting is done safely.
We had our Electrical department managers discuss their thoughts on precautions to take when decorating with Christmas lights in your home on a recent In The House podcast episode – 040: Christmas Lights. Click below to listen to it or watch it on YouTube.
1. AVOID PUTTING LIGHT PLUGS IN RAIN GUTTERS
It’s not a smart idea to put the plugs in the gutters to hide them when plugging in your Christmas lights outside along a roof. Our electricians see this happen too often and have even had to chip some out of ice. Just don’t do it.
2. PLUG YOUR LIGHTS INTO A GFCI-PROTECTED OUTLET
For outdoor Christmas lights, you want to make sure that you are plugging them into a GFCI protected outlet because water and debris can get into them and you want to reduce the risk of shorts and shocks. Look for outlets that have a test and reset button on it. Water is a great conductor of electricity and unfortunately, when you’re wet you become a good conductor of electricity too and there’s a risk of electrocution.
3. CHECK THE CONDITION OF YOUR LIGHT STRANDS
Some people put them up year after year after year. Especially for outdoor lights sun and cold outside can be very damaging to the cords. Inspect the strands of lights before you put any Christmas lights up for damage or exposed wires, especially outside ones. If you can bend the wires and they’re brittle and crack, don’t use them. If they’re not in good shape, it’s not worth using them on or in your house.
4. VERIFY THE OUTLET HAS ENOUGH POWER
When it comes to Christmas lights sometimes less is definitely more. It’s easy to overload a circuit and you want to make sure you aren’t plugging too many items into an outlet or into an extension cord. If you’re pulling too much power, the breaker for that outlet should trip.So, be smart about how many strands you put together especially when plugging them into an extension cord and don’t plug in too many and overdo it. Many fires are caused by small extension cords with too many things plugged into them.
5. USE EXTENSION CORDS THAT ARE THE RIGHT SIZE
To go along with #4, when using extension cords to plug your Christmas lights into (both indoors and outdoors) make sure that you are using an adequate size for your lighting and keep an eye on them as they can occasionally overheat. Touch the cord and if it’s hot, unplug it.PRO TIP: When you’re checking for the size of an extension cord, a smaller number means a bigger gauge. So, a 12 gauge wire is bigger and will be more expensive than a 16 gauge one. The more strands you’re going to have connected together, the larger the gauge of extension cord you will need.So, be smart about how many strands you put together especially when plugging them into an extension cord and don’t plug in too many and overdo it. Many fires are caused by small extension cords with too many things plugged into them.
6. MAKE SURE THE ELECTRICAL PANEL IS SAFE
To go along with #4, when using extension cords to plug your Christmas lights into (both indoors and outdoors) make sure that you are using an adequate size for your lighting and keep an eye on them as they can occasionally overheat. Touch the cord and if it’s hot, unplug it.PRO TIP: When you’re checking for the size of an extension cord, a smaller number means a bigger gauge. So, a 12 gauge wire is bigger and will be more expensive than a 16 gauge one. The more strands you’re going to have connected together, the larger the gauge of extension cord you will need.So, be smart about how many strands you put together especially when plugging them into an extension cord and don’t plug in too many and overdo it. Many fires are caused by small extension cords with too many things plugged into them.
Christmas lights are a lot of fun and bring a lot of joy during the holidays, and you should be able to enjoy them without any worries. But to do that, it’s important to think about safety when using lights indoors and outdoors at your home so that you and your loved ones can enjoy the sparkle with out any sparks ruining the season.As always, if you ever feel like you’ve gotten in over your head, stop and call a technician that you trust. If you’re in the Utah market, consider calling Any Hour Services. We’d be happy to help!
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