Outdoor Christmas lights add cheer and a festive decor to homes. In the United States, decorating homes with outdoor Christmas lights has become popular. This article presents brief information about four types of outdoor Christmas lights available, seven tips homeowners may wish to consider prior to installing this type of home lighting, and seven safety tips homeowners may wish to implement.
Many different types of outdoor Christmas lights are available for lighting home exteriors, providing many choices for decorating the exterior of homes for the holidays. Below, brief information about outdoor Christmas rope lights, outdoor LED Christmas lights, commercial outdoor Christmas lights, and battery operated outdoor Christmas lights is presented.
Rope Lights
: Outdoor Christmas rope lights are lights designed as part of a rope. Rope lights are decorative and available in different colors, sizes and length. They are also flexible, allowing the use of these lights for different decorative applications. For example, rope lights can be used to decorate trees, columns, and roof tops, among other options.
Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) Lights
:Outdoor LED Christmas lights are designed to be energy efficient and long lasting. The purchase price is usually higher than other Christmas lights, but outdoor LED Christmas lights are designed to use less electricity and offer long bulb life, potentially saving money with electricity bills. LED lighting offers many choices for holiday use, including LED net lights to light-up trees and shrubs; LED wide angle lens lights to provide illumination in all directions; and LED icicle lights to line homes and decks with light. Indeed outdoor Christmas LED lights are available in many designs and offer many choices.
Commercial Lights: Commercial outdoor Christmas lights are also available in many choices and offer commercial grade wiring. In other words, commercial outdoor Christmas lights offer the option to string together more lights safely for more ambitious decorating projects that require greater light and energy consumption. Examples of commercial outdoor Christmas lights include mini light sets, icicle light sets, and light string sets. These lights can be used creatively in many different ways.
Battery-Operated Lights: Battery operated outdoor Christmas lights offer convenience, as they operate using batteries, eliminating the need to connect to electrical outlets. Battery powered outdoor Christmas lights can be used for example, to light-up wreaths, holiday ornaments, and foliage, among other options.
Tips: Decorating homes with outdoor Christmas lights requires time and effort. Following are seven tips homeowners may wish to consider prior to decorating the exterior of their homes for the holidays.
(1) Measure areas where wish to place Christmas outdoor lights.
(2) Check location and number of electrical outlets available to use for Christmas outdoor lighting.
(3) Decide how elaborate want the decorations to be and use measurements taken of areas where wish to place outdoor Christmas lights to purchase quantity of lights will need.
(4) Select type, style, and size of Christmas outdoor lights wish to use.
(5) Test lights prior to placing them outdoors. Dispose of broken or damaged lights and cords (or return to place of purchase if new).
(6) Put Christmas outdoor lights on timer(s) to better manage the amount of time the Christmas lights are on.
(7) Keep safety in mind.
Safety: Below are seven safety measures homeowners may wish to implement when decorating the exterior of their homes for the holidays.
(1) Make sure the Christmas lights have been rated for outdoor use.
(2) Make sure if using extension cords, that they too have been rated for outdoor use.
(3) Use UL (Underwriters Laboratories) rated outdoor Christmas lights. These lights have been rated independently for safe use under designated conditions.
(4) As previously noted, check lights and cords for damage and dispose of damaged ones.
(5) Never nail or staple through the wires or cords of outdoor Christmas lights.
(6) Do not overload electrical outlets or extension cords.
(7) Do not exceed the manufacturer’s recommended number of connections, when connecting multiple strands of light.
For many people, Christmas is a festive time of year. Decorating homes with outdoor Christmas home lighting may enhance the festive ambiance. Enjoy.
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