Few things are as unique to the winter holiday season as decorating your yard with holiday lights. While lights and inflatable decorations add to the splendor of the holiday season, they can also significantly increase the risk fires and electrical injuries if not used safely. Given these safety hazards, it is crucial that safety is a foremost concern. Here are some tips to help you prevent serious electrical and fire hazards while decorating your yard this holiday season.

Consider A Professional

Handyman Connection of Boise is ready to put up your exterior lights for you. Why risk falling off a ladder or even worse when you can call on our friendly staff to deck your trees, shrubs, bushes and home in beautiful holiday lights?

Use LED Lights Indoors

Prior to the wide availability of LED lights, the possibility of having your holiday lights cause a fire was very real. But thanks to new and inexpensive LED lights, home fires due to indoor/outdoor holiday lighting are a thing of the past.

While tradition is pushing you to use those old lights from 20 years ago, it is important to remember that those lights are simply not safe. LED lights burn cool, and you can buy LED lights that can be programmed to change colors and create patterns. This year, ditch the dangerous old lights, and replace them with safe LED lighting systems.

Choose A Good Day To Put Up The Lights

The day you put up your exterior lights should be sunny, dry and have very little wind. When you are up on a ladder trying to attach lights to the gutters, you do not need a wind gust creating a potential fall hazard. Choose a good day to put up your lights, and you will be able to safely decorate your home.

Use Only Outdoor Lighting Equipment

In Idaho, there is typically snow during the holiday season. If you use lighting equipment and extension cords that are rated only for the indoors, then you are risking a fire hazard with your lights. Your local home improvement store has lights, extension cords, junction boxes and decorations that are all rated to be used outdoors. Never set up an outdoor light display using indoor equipment!

Know Your Power Needs

If you do not have an outdoor power outlet, then the temptation can be to take the light bulb out of the porch light, put in a socket outlet and then plug the outdoor display into that outlet. The great thing is that the socket is controlled by a switch in the house, and you can turn it on and off whenever you want.

The problem is that those socket outlets are only rated for around 100 watts of maximum power, and most outdoor light displays that use blow-up decorations exceed 100 watts. Before you start plugging lights and decorations into a single socket outlet, make sure that you are not exceeding the safety threshold of that outlet.

This year, call on Handyman Connection of Boise and have one of our craftsmen take care of your outdoor holiday lights. When you let one of our experts do the job for you, you know the job is done right and that you will get the festive holiday look you have always wanted for your home.