Outdoor Christmas Light Safety Information

If you are like many people, the holiday season means decorating your home inside and out with holiday decorations.

Christmas time is a great time to put lights on your home, put electrical props outside, and simply go all out with your outdoor Christmas light display! However, anything electrical also poses dangers. It is important to understand outdoor Christmas light safety information well before you put up your first strand of lights. This even applies to those who use solar outdoor lighting, as even that can pose a risk.

Putting Up Your Display

Outdoor Christmas light safety applies even to when you are putting up your lighting display. For example, if you are putting lights in a high tree, you will need to use a ladder. When using a ladder, it is important to use it correctly, not go any higher than you are supposed to on the rungs, and to always have a spotter. Outdoor Christmas light safety also means being safe with your hammer and nails when putting the lights up. If you nick the cord, you could electrocute yourself. Instead of nailing with the cord nearby, put the nail in and then hang the cord on the nail.

Overloading An Outlet

A huge outdoor Christmas light safety concern is overloading an outlet or a circuit breaker. Too many electrical cords in one outlet can cause a fire. In addition, it is never good to plug strand upon strand upon strand of lights together. Check with the individual package, but most packages say not to string more than two or three strands together. If you do not listen to these warnings, you could start a fire. Also, it is important to check your individual circuit breaker to see how much electricity it can handle. If you set up a huge display that is too big for your circuit breaker, when you turn it on it is going to blow the power to your entire house.

Outdoor Safe Lights

One of the most important outdoor Christmas light safety tips is to make sure that you are using your lights correctly. Most lights are specifically marked indoor or outdoor lights. It is fine to use outdoor lights inside, but it absolutely is not fine to use indoor lights outdoors. Outdoor lights are specifically designed to withstand the elements like rain, snow, and ice. Indoor lights are not designed to withstand anything, and they can short out and start fires if put outside.

When setting up an outdoor light display for the holidays, make sure that you listen to these outdoor Christmas light safety tips in order to keep you and your family as safe as possible.