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This includes both plugging them in and testing each individual bulb. That way, you can be sure they’ll work when it comes time to turn them on for the holidays. If it’s time to replace the lights, skip to #3 for tips on choosing the right lights. The holidays are just around the corner, so it’s time to start thinking about how you will decorate your home. If you want to make a serious impact, hanging Christmas lights is a must.
Better Holiday Light Clips
Why Christmas Lights Fill This Jew With Joy — And Dread - Forward
Why Christmas Lights Fill This Jew With Joy — And Dread.
Posted: Wed, 20 Dec 2017 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Hang holiday lights like a pro in two hours or less with these expert step-by-step tips for planning, choosing, and hanging Christmas and holiday lights. To help ease the frustration and keep everyone safe, we've come up some tips for how to hang Christmas lights like an expert. With a few simple steps and the proper equipment, your tree and property will be looking holly and jolly in no time! Whether you're opting for a minimalistic look or going full-on Clark Griswold from Christmas Vacation, here are the best ways to hang Christmas lights this winter. As an added moisture barrier, wrap some electrical or duct tape around the plug where individual strands connect, and at the open terminus of the last strand. Consider a timer to save energy, or a daylight sensor that will automatically turn lights off and on at dawn and dusk.
How to Hang Christmas Lights on Every Part of Your Home's Exterior, According to the Experts
Make your home merry and bright with this expert advice on how to hang Christmas lights. Someone has to put them up, and if that someone is you, it's tempting to hang a wreath and call it a day. With a bit of planning, you can have a beautiful Christmas wonderland in about a day, depending on how elaborate you want to be. For exterior areas that don't have ledges or lips for clips, opt for iterations with adhesive backings, instead.
Attach Lights With Plastic Zip Ties
Measure along any rooflines, windows, doors, deck railings, shrubs, trees, and pathways included in your plan. If you find it hard to measure around pillars and up trees, Bob Vila has some good tips for measuring these tricky areas. Don’t forget to measure the distance to your power source, too. Trade hammer and nails for plastic holiday light clips that safely secure lighting to everything from shingles and gutters to posts, window frames, and railings. Consider using light stakes to line walkways, driveways, and garden edges with bulbs. These plastic accessories can be removed after the holidays and reused next season.
LED Christmas Lights are Durable
Lights designated “C-7” and ”C-9” have 5- or 10-watt bulbs similar to those used in conventional nightlights. The larger the number following the “C”, the larger the bulb. Once you've measured your home and know which lighting accessories you need, make a list (check it twice!) and start shopping. (About three inches usually works well.) Multiply that total by the column's circumference in feet and you'll have your answer.
Step Five: Plug 'Em In!
These handy tips will make decorating with Christmas lights so much easier. To extract a broken bulb, wear gloves and use long-nose pliers (pull mini-lights straight out; unscrew C-7 or C-9 bulbs counterclockwise). Regardless of the type you buy, choose lights that are UL-approved for outdoor use. Larger, traditional colored bulbs are designated with a “C” for “candle” or “cone” due to their shape, which some would say looks like a strawberry.
Using a long measuring tape (ideally 25 feet or longer), measure the length of your house along the ground. Also measure its height and the height of any bushes or trees you intend to light. Then measure the lengths of the light strings you will need to outline doors or windows. Figure the number of 50-foot light strings it will take for all of these measurements. You also need to decide how large your Christmas house display will be. You may just be executing an around-the-gutters-and-eaves operation, or you might want to consider something a little more intricate for your outdoor Christmas decorations.
The Ultimate Guide to Hanging Holiday Lights
If you choose to use a power stake, insert it into the ground toward the back of your house before you get started. "Then measure those areas, so you can easily calculate how many light strands you'll need," says Joublanc. "Measure the distance to your power sources, too, in case extension cords are necessary."
Christmas Tree Alternatives to Try This Year
When is the perfect time to hang up Christmas lights? - WTOP
When is the perfect time to hang up Christmas lights?.
Posted: Fri, 25 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Always check the condition of lights before hanging them and switch them on to check they work. It’s also a good idea to have a plan for what you’ll do if something goes wrong. That way, you can be sure that your display will stay safe and look great all season long. Doing so will make it easier for you to figure out exactly how many lights you need and where they need to go. And it will save you a lot of time and frustration later on.
Now, anyone can buy a small device that will sync their Christmas lights to play along with music. That way, you can avoid worrying about shocks or slipping on an icy roof. Joe is a former carpenter and cabinetmaker who writes extensively about remodeling, woodworking, and tool techniques. He has written eight books and is a contributing editor to Popular Mechanics. He also appears on the Today’s Homeowner TV show, and co-hosts the weekly Today’s Homeowner Radio Show. Do yourself a favor and pick up an inexpensive light tester.
Ensure your lights can withstand natural elements like snow, rain, and cold temperatures by confirming they're for outdoor use. Most Christmas lights are suitable for both indoors and outdoors, but the variety you have will be indicated on the front of the box. There are a few basic materials you'll need in order to keep your lights in place when hanging. Most home improvement centers and other retailers begin stocking Christmas lights and supplies well before Halloween, so taking care of your shopping early is easy. As a friendly reminder, never use staple or nail guns to attach Christmas lights to your house. You could end up ruining your lights and putting permanent holes in your home’s exterior.
The former are typically less expensive, but the latter will last longer. Remember, you will need more (or longer) strands if you plan on winding them around posts or plants. Consider using net lights for bushes and shrubs, which takes the guesswork out of how many strands are needed to cover the branches. Map out where your lights will go and make sure you have enough working lights for that area.
We’ll explain specifically how to hang lights on a house plus how to hang lights in a tree below. But here we’ll lay out the essentials for hanging outdoor Christmas lights. Now is the time to step on that ladder (with someone at the bottom to stabilize it) and begin attaching the clips to your gutters, shingles, roofline, or railings. Move along the line with your preattached clips, climbing down from the ladder to move it along the perimeter as needed.
They can hook onto the lip of your gutter, or slide under your shingles, with built-in clips to hold large and small light sockets in place. The lights on your Christmas tree are the centerpiece of all your indoor Christmas lighting ideas, and the best way to hang Christmas tree lights is to work horizontally. Before you start, check the condition of the lights then plug the lights in to make sure they work. Christmas lights for a house should also be specified for exterior use and UL-certified. Examine them for damage to wires and check they work before you start hanging them.
If one bulb is broken, missing, or twisted in a mini-light string, all or part of the remaining string won’t work. This isn’t the case with the larger bulb sets; they continue to operate. After you know where you're going to hang your Christmas lights, you're going to have to decide which type you want to use. While it can seem that there are as many kinds of lights as there are toys in Santa's sleigh, the biggest question may come down to whether or not you want incandescent or LED lights. LED are more expensive to buy up front but last longer because they only use ten percent of the energy of an incandescent. They also stay cool to the touch, making them a safer choice.
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