It is here! Halloween is behind us and will begin to make our behinds big. And now off to the next two major holidays. So where to start? First we need to remove the Halloween decorations and begin to plan our Christmas Lighting. The faster we can get them up, the better chance we can beat the nasty weather.Where to begin? You really need to ask yourself how much do I want to tackle on my own. You have to ask yourself, "Do you want to light the house and greenery?"
Lighting the house takes a lot of time, planning and a little daredevil. Here are some things to keep in mind when planning your lighting display.
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| "Hon, I think we need new lights!" |
1) Solid Color, Muli-Color, White, or a mix?
2) How many lights are you going to need?
3) Do you have enough power and are the outlets equipped to handle the load?
4) Do you have enough extension cords, surge protectors and timers?
5) Do you have ladders to get to the house?
6) Do you have clips to hang from the gutters and shingles?
Start off by determining how many lights you will need to complete your design. A couple of factor will come into play.
First, how many strings of lights can you put on each run? It is important to not mix and match different brands of lights. Some can connect 3, some 5 and others 8 strands end to end. This is why it is not recommended to blend different brands of lights in one run.
Second is where are my outlets in relation to my runs. You don't want to end up at the end of the house with no where to plug into. It is best to run your lights toward your power source. This doesn't mean that you have to run to the outlet, but if you do end up at the end of the house make sure you have planned to have an extension cord for that area of lights.
That brings up the third item, the longer the run, the more heat you will create in the wire. This will cause fuses to blow on the strands, more burned out bulbs and more heat at the outlet which can cause a fire.
Fourth, determine how many lights for each tree and shrub that you plan to cover. I am not a big fan of the nets, they look a little too manufactured. Small shrubs will take anywhere from 3-5 25' strands to cover. Medium Shrubs and small trees (saplings) will take 5-10 25' strands and larger to mature trees can take from 15-50 strands depending on how large the canopy has grown.
As far as power goes, every package has the amp rating. You need to add these up and make sure that the circuit you are using can handle the load. It is more than frustrating to setup your lights and have them work as long as someone doesn't run the vacuum or turn on the living room lights.
And last, but not least timers....hmmm...these can be a bit tricky. I found a great product this year. It is a 15 amp 3 outlet digital surge protector. You can run multiple runs from this one device.
In the end, if you have done enough planning, your Holiday lighting experience will be a lot less of a headache and you will have fewer issues through out the season. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!
