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Your Christmas Lights Are A Serious Fire Hazard (But Here's How To Make Them Safer)

Christmas is a time for cheer and celebration, not tragedy and loss. Unfortunately, some aspects of holiday decorating — like nostalgia, the urge to share with your community, and the financial pressures of the season — can work together to make our homes less safe than they should be. Older decorations (especially lights and other electrical fixtures) and the sheer quantity of them can pose a real danger during the holidays. Hunker spoke exclusively with Dan Mock, vice president of operations at Mister Sparky, about how to decorate safely when it comes to electricity and fire, and there's lot to think about.

His broadest advice was to always be on the lookout for potential flammability, and to keep water as far as possible from electrical devices. "While most decorations are flameproof, treat all decorations as highly combustible," Mock said. Make sure that anything that might conceivably catch fire stays well clear of electricity and other sources of fire, like holiday candles. This is especially true of holiday trees, which can be a fire hazard if they're not kept watered. And keep a vigilant eye on everything. "Make sure to turn off the lights when you go to bed and to take your decorations down after the holidays," he added. "They can deteriorate over time and cause problems in the future."

Choose your lights carefully

Those of us who celebrate the holidays with great strings of colorful lights know the routine, and many of us have been repeating it for half a century or more. Pull out the old lights, spend half an evening untangling them, then the other half troubleshooting and repairing the string lights and digging through drawers for that stash of extra red bulbs that came with the Christmas lights. When Hunker spoke exclusively with Dan Mock, he encouraged our readers to be a little more intentional and cautious about which lights we put up. "Check all the strings for damage," he said. "The cords shouldn't have cracks, frays, or bare wires. Discard damaged strings of lights."

But it's not just the heirloom lights that can create a fire hazard. Electricity has rules, and it will follow them regardless of your preferences or opinions, so you'd better follow those rules, too. It starts with hanging onto your lights' packaging. "When pulling out your box of string lights from years prior or buying new ones, make sure to select lights that are UL-listed and approved for outdoor use," Mock said. "When replacing broken bulbs, review the original package for wattage/voltage information. Unplug the lights before replacing bulbs." 

And don't forget that just because you can daisy-chain a bunch of strings of lights or extension cords together doesn't mean you should. "Check the manufacturer's instructions on the maximum number of light strings that can be safely connected together," he added.

The best way to install your Christmas lights

Once you know the lights themselves are safe, you've still got to get a handle on how they're used and what they're attached to. Start by remembering that water and electricity don't mix, Mock told Hunker in an exclusive conversation about holiday fire safety. "Installing your lights so that they will be dry as often as possible is the key to avoiding nuisance outages and safety hazards throughout the holiday season. Ideally, you'll position the plug connections under an area protected from moisture and above ground, out of water," he said. Practically speaking, that means things like hanging lights under overhangs and awnings to protect them from rain, and sealing connections between the lights using waterproof connectors like these Frienda IP44 cord enclosures.

Of course, keeping current-carrying wires in good shape is always critically important, and even if yours start in pristine condition, it only takes one errant hammer blow or misaligned staple gun to break the insulation around a wire and create a serious fire risk. "To secure the lights, use fasteners that will not damage the wire insulation, such as insulated staples," Mock advised. "And of course, always follow the directions from the lighting or decor manufacturers."

Avoid overloading your circuit

It must be a scene from some movie. Picture it: an excited suburban dad flips a switch and 4,000 Christmas lights come on, chasing each other around his roofline and weaving between electronic signs, animatronic reindeer, and enough electric candles to be seen from space. Then the whole thing suddenly shuts down, presumably from a tripped circuit breaker. When this happens in real life, you have to think of it as your last line of defense stepping up before a disaster. It's best not to put yourself in that situation. Pay attention to how much of a load you put on a circuit, and what else might be on the circuit. 

This is particularly true when there's an appliance with an electric motor or a compressor sharing the circuit, as with a refrigerator or deep freezer stashed in a garage ... often a source for circuits shared with holiday lights. "It's best that an appliance and a large amount of holiday lights aren't plugged into the same circuit," Mock told Hunker in an exclusive conversation, "so consider using another circuit if possible."

Mock also said, "Adding a circuit that is used exclusively for your seasonal outdoor decorations is a great option to avoid circuit overload. In this case, an electrician would add a breaker to your electrical panel and outlets for your decorations to plug in. The one-time installation cost would reduce nuisances for years to come." Failing that, use the dual strategy of reducing loads and checking out your breakers. Use LED lights where possible, as they have much lower power requirements.

Protect the outlet you use from moisture

Remember that warning about mixing water and electricity? It applies to more than just your strings of holiday lights. Mister Sparky's Dan Mock told Hunker in an exclusive interview that you should also work to make sure receptacles themselves are isolated from moisture. "Another consideration when plugging in lights: is the outlet protected from the elements?" he asked. "For instance, a garage outlet is not exposed to rain like an outdoor outlet."

It's important to plug outdoor devices into a receptacle protected with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), whether it's an outlet type or linked to a GFCI-protected circuit breaker. Consider installing a GFCI outlet if your home is older and doesn't have them. But even with that precaution taken, it's important to minimize the risks. "The safest way to plug into outdoor outlets is to have an in-use weatherproof cover (or bubble cover) shielding the outlet while the lights are plugged in. Plugging into a weatherproof outlet will reduce moisture and electricity mixing, thereby reducing the possibility of the GFCI cutting off power to the lights," Mock said.

Use extension cords correctly

Finally, take as much care with your extension cords as you do with an open flame on your stove. Always use the right extension cord, Mock exclusively told Hunker, and that means ensuring they're rated for outdoor use, are UL-listed, and are grounded (have a three-prong plug). And don't use extension cords that have been damaged and repaired, spliced, or otherwise doctored.

The right choice will also be rated for the task at hand. "Every extension cord is designed for a specific distance and amount of electricity. Extension cords used incorrectly can cause overheating," Mock said. "For instance, we've come across a long extension cord that was used to run power a short distance, with the cord's slack neatly coiled. The coil overheated and the insulation was melting when we found it, creating a serious hazard that thankfully didn't cause any more damage." The length of the cord was the immediate problem, and coiling the cord exacerbated the overheating. 

For the same reason, don't run extension cords under rugs or furniture. "Should you choose to plug your extension cord into an indoor outlet, make sure it is GFCI protected, and route the cord carefully so it cannot trip anyone," Mock said.

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