Key Takeaways

  • Check every strand of lights before it goes up. Damaged wires, broken bulbs, and loose plugs are the most common problems we see.
  • Spread your decorations across more than one outlet and circuit. Piling everything onto one is how breakers trip and wires overheat.
  • Anything outside needs to be rated for outdoor use and plugged into a GFCI-protected outlet.
  • If you’re still using incandescent strands, switch to LED. They use less power and run cooler.
  • Breakers that keep tripping, lights that flicker, and outlets that feel warm are worth a call to an electrician.

Inspect Your Christmas Lights Before Decorating

Every year somebody pulls a box of lights out of the attic, plugs them in, and half the strand stays dark. That’s annoying. A cracked socket or a chewed-up cord is worse, because you usually don’t notice it until the lights are already on the gutter.

So before anything goes up, lay the strands out on the floor or kitchen table and look them over. A year in a garage, basement, or attic is hard on wiring. Here’s what to look for:

  • Frayed or exposed wires
  • Broken bulbs or damaged sockets
  • Loose or bent plugs
  • Cracked extension cords
  • Spots that look scorched or discolored, which usually means a strand has overheated

If a strand is damaged, throw it out. I know electrical tape is tempting, but it isn’t a repair for holiday lights, and a new strand costs a lot less than a fire.

When you buy new lights, look for a certification mark from UL or ETL on the tag or box. That means an independent lab actually tested them.

Avoid Overloading Electrical Outlets

Between the tree, the inflatables on the lawn, and the lights on the house, most homes end up with more things to plug in than outlets to plug them into. That’s when the power strips start getting plugged into other power strips.

Every outlet in your house is on a circuit, and each circuit can only carry so much. Put too much on one and the wiring heats up, which is one of the ways holiday decorating leads to electrical fires. Don’t daisy-chain power strips or extension cords, and check the package for how many strands you can connect end to end.

If your breaker trips every time the lights come on, the circuit is telling you it’s overloaded. Resetting it over and over doesn’t fix anything. Have a licensed electrician look at it. Sometimes the answer is moving a few things to another outlet, and sometimes you need additional outlets or a dedicated circuit.

Use LED Christmas Lights for Better Energy Efficiency

If you’re still hanging the big incandescent bulbs from years ago, this is a good year to retire them. LED Christmas lights:

  • Use a fraction of the electricity
  • Stay cool to the touch instead of getting hot
  • Usually last longer
  • Let you connect more strands together (within the manufacturer’s limit)
  • Come in just about every color and style you’d want

The lower power draw matters most if you’re planning a bigger outdoor display. The same circuit that struggled with incandescent lights will often handle LEDs without a problem. You still need to follow the package instructions on how many strands can be connected, though.

Outdoor Christmas Light Safety

Outdoor lights in Chicago deal with snow, freezing rain, and temperature swings for two or three months straight. Indoor lights and cords aren’t built for that, so check the label and make sure everything you use outside says it’s rated for outdoor use.

Use GFCI-Protected Outlets

A Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) outlet watches for electricity leaking where it shouldn’t, like through water or through a person, and cuts the power almost instantly. That’s why every outdoor light and decoration should be plugged into one.

Not sure if your outdoor outlets have GFCI protection? Look for the test and reset buttons on the outlet, or on a GFCI outlet somewhere else on the same circuit like the garage. If you don’t have them, we can check your setup and install the right outlets.

Keep Electrical Connections Dry

Most outdoor problems we get called for start with water at a cord connection. Keep connections up off the ground and away from spots where snow melts and puddles. An outdoor-rated connection cover is cheap and worth using.

Don’t run cords through puddles, under snow piles, or across the driveway, where tires and shovels will eventually find them.

Hang Lights Safely

Use plastic light clips to hang your lights. Staples and nails can cut right through the wire insulation.

If you’re on a ladder, stay well clear of the overhead power lines and the service wires that run from the pole to your house.

Keep Extension Cords and Decorations Away From Heat

Extension cords are fine for a holiday display as long as they’re used the right way. Never run one under a rug, carpet, or piece of furniture. A covered cord can’t get rid of its heat, and a cord that gets walked on or pinched wears through.

Keep the tree, decorations, and cords at least three feet from fireplaces, space heaters, radiators, and anything else that gets hot.

And turn the lights off when you leave the house or go to bed. The easiest way to do that is a timer or smart plug rated for your setup, so you never have to remember.

Prepare Your Home for Winter Power Outages

December and January bring snow, ice, and wind across Chicagoland, and that means outages. When the power goes out, the decorations don’t matter. What matters is your furnace, your refrigerator, and your sump pump.

A few upgrades are worth thinking about as you get your home ready for winter:

Whole-Home Surge Protection

Power doesn’t always come back on smoothly after an outage. A whole-home surge protector is installed at your electrical panel and helps protect your appliances and electronics from the surge that can come with it.

Backup Generators

A standby generator turns on by itself when the power goes out and keeps your heat, refrigerator, and sump pump running. It connects to your home through a generator transfer switch, which keeps it from sending power back onto the utility lines.

Electrical Panel Inspections

An electrical inspection finds aging equipment and overloaded circuits while they’re still small problems. It’s a lot easier to deal with those in November than in the middle of a January outage.

When Should You Call an Electrician?

Hanging lights is a DIY job. But some of what shows up during the holidays is a problem with your home’s wiring, not your decorations. Call us if you notice:

Any of these can point to an overloaded circuit or a loose connection somewhere in the wiring. And if you’re planning a big display this year, we can check whether your circuits can carry it before you buy the lights.

Sparky’s Advice

Check your lights, cords, and outdoor outlets before you plug anything in. If several decorations share a circuit, keep an eye out for tripped breakers or flickering lights.

Go LED if you haven’t already, and put your display on a timer so it shuts off when you’re asleep or away.

If your outdoor outlets are acting up, or you’re not sure your system can handle what you have planned, have a licensed electrician take a look before you add more lights.

Why Choose Excel Electrical Technologies?

We’ve been serving Chicagoland since 2000, doing residential and commercial electrical work in Chicago and the suburbs. This time of year, most of our calls are for:

  • Electrical safety inspections
  • GFCI outlet installation and replacement
  • Electrical panel upgrades
  • Dedicated circuits
  • Whole-home surge protection
  • Outdoor outlets and lighting

If something isn’t working right, we’ll come out, find the cause, and tell you what it’ll take to fix it before we start.

Schedule an Electrical Inspection Before the Holidays

If you’ve got breakers tripping, outlets that are old or not working, or you just want to know your system can handle the season, give us a call before the decorations go up.

Call Excel Electrical Technologies or request service online to schedule an inspection or get a free quote. Want to check things yourself first? Download our free electrical inspection checklist.