Holiday lighting products have evolved into a much safer product over the years.  With the development of properly sized wires and fuses and LED lighting to reduce the consumption load and the heat the lamps produce, holiday lighting has never been more safe.  In the past people would take the old C style lamps and hook one string of lights into the other.  Often overloading one the strings or the weakest link.  This overload would often melt wires, create sparks, and in some cases even cause a fire.  The manufactures and improved safety standards and testing, help reduce to the chance of an overload by installing a fuse at the starter end or male end of the light string.  This fuse would blow or trip when the load became greater than the fuse capacity, which would then project the wire from the overload.  It is always recommended to install lights that are interconnected (one light string plugged into the other) to manufacture specifications as listed by there instructions.

LED or light emitting diodes have not only made holiday lighting more efficient but even safer.  The old style C7 and C9 lamps could reach temperatures of up to 350 degrees.  The hot lamp if rested against wood or dry Christmas tree, has the potential to ignite the material from the heat the lamp produces and cause a fire.  With LED’s to replace the old style incandescent lamps the chance of fire from heat is almost non existing.  However, it is still possible to cause a fire from electrical spark or short.  These sparks or shorts produce heat much greater and can easily ignite flammable material.  Sparks or shorts are often caused by frayed or damaged insulation on the electrical wires and also loose connections.  It is important to inspect your holiday lighting for damaged or loose components and replace when needed.  Be sure not to use any damaged equipment and immediately discard them to eliminate the chance of future use.

A common mistake made people make with holiday lighting is to plug to many holiday lights into each other.  UL listed holiday lighting and cord splitters are tested to specific tolerances and should only be installed to manufactures specifications.  The easiest location to find the manufactures is specifications is to look at the tag on the cord most commonly found near the male end of the cord or light string.

If enough standard wall sockets are not present and you must plug in multiple cords, it is highly recommended to install a plug switch with a built in overload device to reduce the risk of overload.  The built in overload should not be mistaken for a surge protection device.  A surge protector reduces or eliminates the excess voltage going to the device plugged into itself.  Where an overload device will shut off power at the point of installation if to much power is being drawn through it.

On many new homes we will install plug ins located in the soffit or eve to reduce or eliminate drop cords for holiday lighting.  These soffit plugs are installed on a special heavier 20 amp circuit and often include a convenience switch located inside the home to shut the lights on / off as needed.  The special circuit makes sure your holiday lighting is not installed on regular interior circuits so the chance of variable loads and overloads are dramatically reduced.

Permanent holiday lighting can be installed by a licensed electrician.  The most common type of permanent holiday lighting is LED strip lighting.  These are can be installed on the under side of eves or soffits for a permanent installation.  Depending on the type of LED holiday lighting you choose you may even have the option to change the colors of the lights with a push of a button.  This allows the holiday lighting to be used for many occasions throughout the year.  You can call today or schedule online to have a lighting specialist come to your home or business and provide you with a written no obligation quote.

This problem is similar to the heating appliance issue we started with.  Overloaded outlets are more than just a circuit-tripping annoyance, they can also become a danger quickly!  If you’re electrical panel is doing its job properly, the circuit breaker will trip before there’s a problem, but relying on a safety measure is not a safe practice.

Overloaded outlets are simply circuits that have too many things plugged into them.  This can happen by:

All of these practices can overload your outlets by putting too much demand on the circuit.  In a best case scenario, the circuit breaker trips.  The worst case leads to excess heat at the outlet, melting plugs and sockets or excess heat on the circuit which melts insulation from wiring in the walls, leading to a house fire.

Of course, even if you follow all of these protections, things can happen that are outside of your control.  That’s when your best defense is a strong safety net.  Early detection and warning for house fires is the best way to survive in an emergency.  The sooner you’re aware that there is a fire, the higher your likelihood of survival.  For the best defense: