How to Prepare Your Home for Christmas Lights

There’s nothing better than seeing homes decorated in Orange County for the holidays. Have you ever wondered if your house is properly set up and wired correctly to endure the increased load on your electrical system? This is especially important if you purchased a home recently.

For those who like to go big, it is important to know how your home will handle using multiple strings of lights. Hundreds of homes across the country each holiday season suffer fire damage due to faulty use of holiday lights. You may need to add new circuits just for the lights to make sure your system can handle the load to stay safe. Outdoor electrical outlets should be checked to ensure debris and water stays out, they should also have ground fault protection which may not be the case in older homes. Consider adding new outlets to avoid having to use extension cords which also come with their own dangers.

An average homes receptacle circuits can handle 15 to 20 amps. It is recommended that you use no more than eighty (80) percent of your capacity which is 16 amps. If you’re not sure about the capacity of the circuitry in your home, call Penney Electric ​ and we can evaluate it for you.
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Take into consideration all the other important appliances you’ll be using along with your Big Christmas light Show.
If you’re close to the safe limit and want to avoid short circuiting, you may want to install new circuits for the Christmas lights.
Another thing to consider when getting ready for the holiday light season is LED lights. If you want to use less energy and still have bright lights, then LED Christmas lights are the best choice. A string a 50 standard mini Christmas lights uses about 20 watts of electricity, while a string of 70 LED lights use about 5 watts. All things to consider to keep your home safe from fire dangers.