'Tis the season to be jolly. You can feel the excitement in the air. It's an almost palpable feeling and the reason for it is not far-fetched. The holidays are here again. A time to share fun memories and make merry with friends and family. A season of snow-filled days and brightly lit nights. A season of beautifully designed Christmas trees and glowing indoor decorations. 

 

And during this season, you'd likely not see a home without some form of decorative lights, whether they are exclusively used as decorations, or are included as part of a decorative theme for the holidays. But as much as Christmas fairy lights are an essential component of our holiday decorations, if they are not properly handled, they can be a source of potential danger to everyone around. 

 

In today's article, we would be looking at some tips for safely using Christmas fairy lights, so keep on reading!

Christmas Fairy Lights Do's

DO:

• USE THE APPROPRIATE LIGHTS FOR THE RIGHT SETTING

If you've planned an exquisite Christmas dinner for friends and family in the house garden, and want to design your indoor home decor to match, then it makes sense to use the appropriate lights for the appropriate setting. 

 

What this means in simple terms is that if you're planning to have an outdoor event at night, then you should use outdoor lights best suited for that purpose.

 

Lights have distinct IP (ingress protection) ratings and outdoor lights have higher ratings than indoor lights. The IP rating is a gauge of how well an electrical compartment can tolerate foreign elements such as dust or dirt.

 

Although indoor Christmas fairy lights usually look more attractive, they aren't exactly durable and so you shouldn't use them in an outdoor setting if you want to avoid an electrical mishap. 

• KEEP LIGHTS AWAY FROM HIGHLY FLAMMABLE MATERIALS

It would interest you to note that most of the materials used in your Christmas decorations can become crisp "fire starters" if care is not taken. It is therefore very important that you pay special attention to how close you place your Christmas lights to such flammable decoration materials. It might not seem like a big deal but the heat generated from a lit bulb lying near highly flammable materials can cause them to suddenly combust leading to unexpected house fires.

 

Some common Christmas decorations that are highly flammable include:

• Gift wrapping paper
• Paper ornaments
• Garland
• Pine needles
• Tree skirts

As much as possible, try not to leave these items in proximity to your Christmas decorative lights. To prevent fire outbreaks, also avoid using candles as alternative Christmas light decorations for your Christmas tree if you're unable to find electric fairy lights.

• AVOID LEAVING NAKED WIRES LYING AROUND

The sheer number of people that come around to visit during the holidays increases the possibility of accidents happening around the house, especially when there are wires and cables from holiday decorations crawling all over the place. However, things can take a more dangerous turn if some of those cables and wires lying around are naked! 

 

The risk of persons getting electrocuted from coming in contact with exposed Christmas light wirings is much higher during the festive season. And with children running around with little or less supervision, you must check that all Christmas light decorations you intend to use have properly coated wiring. If they are frayed or completely naked, then you should consider replacing them as soon as you can. 

 

Christmas Fairy Lights Don'ts

DON'T:

• OVERLOAD YOUR ELECTRICAL OUTLETS

There is only so much load your sockets and extensions can handle. The average circuit breaker is built to comfortably handle electric current loads of about 15A. So even though your Christmas fairy lights only use a tiny fraction of electricity (usually a few milliamps), plugging in too much of them at a go can cause electrical malfunctions.

 

When there's too much electric current drawn from an outlet, the possibility of the wiring getting damaged is very high. So while we understand that you'd love nothing more than to plug in that glowing decorative figurine and your Christmas tree lights in one socket, you should be careful not to put more load than your socket can handle. 

 

There are typically two places to plug in an electrical outlet. As a rule of thumb, it is advisable to only plug in three Christmas light cords per outlet to avoid them short-circuiting.

 

• COMBINE LED LIGHTS AND INCANDESCENT LIGHTS TOGETHER

 

Combining LED Christmas lights with Incandescent light bulbs to use in Christmas decorations is a huge recipe for disaster! The amount of electricity needed to power incandescent Christmas lights is much higher than that needed to light up a LED Christmas fairy light.

 

 

If they are connected, the incandescent light bulbs would draw more power than the LED light bulbs which would lead to the LED bulbs taking in more electric current than they can handle. Eventually, the LED Christmas lights would blow out from the current overload. 

 

This is why it is advisable to keep Christmas light decorations as separate from each other as possible, with each strand of lights plugged in to a dedicated electrical outlet to avoid unnecessary complications and hazards.

 

• USE METAL FASTENERS TO HOLD WIRING IN PLACE

While decorating your home or office for the holidays, you may want to fasten a string of Christmas fairy lights to the wall or above the lintel posts. As much as possible, do not use metal tacks, staples, and nails to attach Christmas lights to the wall or the floorboards. Sometimes, there may be some areas of your Christmas light wiring that are exposed, and using a metal fastener would create a circuit that can increase the risk of electrocution or potential fire hazards.

 

Where To Buy Christmas Lights Near You?

Looking for where to get high-grade Christmas fairy lights for your holiday decorations? Real Christmas Trees has got you covered. Contact Us Today For Your Christmas Decor Needs!