Christmas Lights Outdoor Safety

You have to make sure you re as safe as possible and using the best quality equipment you can.

Christmas lights outdoor safety. It has become increasingly popular to use outdoor christmas lights on the front of the house and in the garden as well as on outdoor christmas trees when decorating exteriors for the festive season. Plus if you want more length you can connect up to five of these strands together. Outdoor christmas lighting safety tips written by dave donovan on sep 14 2011. 20 must know christmas light safety tips.

Between 2000 and 2003 there was an annual average of about 5 800 injuries from falls occurring while people were hanging their holiday decorations with 43 percent occurring on ladders and 13 percent on roofs. Safety of outdoor christmas lights in the rain. All outdoor christmas lights should carry a red underwriters lab ul holographic tag. Indoor lights often have thinner insulation which can become cracked and damaged when exposed to the elements outdoors.

Outdoor lights meet additional safety standards. Sleigh the neighbours this christmas with an outdoor display that wows. Outdoor christmas lights will have an ip rating e g. They use much less power generating little heat and so reducing the risk of fire and burns.

One sometimes overlooked aspect of outdoor christmas light safety is avoiding injury while hanging the decorations in the first place. They are simple and easy to install with mains powered and battery. This tag indicates that lab engineers have evaluated samples of the product to ensure they adhere to ul and american national standards institute standards. Not all lights are rated for outdoor use.

You can see a list of federally recognized labs on the occupational safety health administration s website. Ipx3 ip23 ip44 this number shows how weatherproof the light is the higher the numbers the better the weatherproof rating. Indoor vs outdoor lights. Decorating your home for the holidays is fun and exciting but it s no time to get careless.

This strand of outdoor lights has 100 warm white bulbs on a green wire and the whole thing is around 20 feet in length making it perfect for decorating a tree or your home s porch. Each holiday season hundreds of homes are damaged by faulty electrical wiring. Indoor lights are not safe to use outside even on verandas. Most of us have some lighting outside our home that belongs to us and that we control.

Electrical safety first recommends the use of led over traditional filament christmas lighting because. For a classic well priced set of outdoor christmas lights you can t go wrong with the prextex 100 count christmas light set. Check that lights have been rated by a testing laboratory. They operate at extra low voltage which significantly reduces the risk of electric shock.

Prevent accidents to ensure your season stays merry and bright with these holiday light safety tips. Only use outdoor lights outdoors. Porch lights or security lights for example a lot of people also like to add outdoor lighting as part of decorating for the holidays some at halloween and even more at christmas.