Decorating your house with Christmas lights adds seasonal cheer to the neighborhood. Here are some basic tips on hanging Christmas lights to ensure that while you're making it festive, you're still keeping safe.

Safety Tips

Before stringing any new or old Christmas lights, always untangle and test them first. You'd want to know if lights are faulty before you attached them as the critical front leg on a giant Rudolph light sculpture!

To test your strand of lights, simply plug them into an outlet. A good place to do this is on your kitchen counter. You should leave lights on for about fifteen minutes to ensure they don’t overheat or smoke. If any bulbs are dead, unplug the string of lights first and then replace with new bulbs. Most lights come with spare bulbs.

You should also take this time to inspect the cable for signs of fraying or cracking. (Discoloration is a sign of too much UV exposure which results in brittle cables.) If your cables are showing this sort of deterioration, the safest option is to dispose of the string of lights.

Select a suitable powerpoint for the lights. Don’t overload sockets. If possible, use multiple powerpoints to assist sharing the load around. Use multi plugs with overload protection. (Note: Surge protection protects the device against power spikes, essential for computers etc but not as important for christmas lights).

See our Cords and Powerboards department to browse a selection of extension cords and multi plugs.

Pay attention to the surfaces that your lights will be touching. Make sure they are not placed on something that will melt or burn easily (like paper or plastic).

Always follow the basic rules of ladder safety: Place the ladder firmly on flat ground, check the balance every time you are about to climb up and have a helper hold it stable. If the ladder will rest against a gutter, consider placing some spare wood inside the gutter to avoid it being crushed.

Check the instructions to make sure you use the lights as directed.

Hanging Outdoor Christmas Lights

It’s a whole heap of fun dressing up the outside of the house, whether it’s a few garden features or outlining the roof and windows. You need to ensure your lights and accessories are rated for outdoor use though. If they are suitable it will be clearly stated on the packaging.

Select a suitable powerpoint for the lights. You will need to run a heavy duty, exterior suitable extension cord from an RCD (a residual current device which will automatically disconnect the power in the event of a fault or change in current flow). See the Arlec RCD plug on the Mitre 10 Website as an example.

If possible use multiple powerpoints to assist sharing the load around.
 

Power garden stakes are a great option for Christmas lights in the garden. They stake into the ground and have spring loaded covers, weatherproof shock resistant casing, overload protection and a built in 1.8 metre power cord. There is also a model with a handy built-in timer!

 

Arlec Power Garden Stake		Arlec Power Garden Stake with Timer

Measure:
A small amount of preparation can ensure you don’t get caught short as you approach the peak of your lustrous creation. Use string and/or measuring tape to work out the actual length of lights required (and how long an extension cord you needed to reach the start point of illumination).

When you buy new Christmas lights the length should be stated on the box.

Tip: Write the length of your light strand onto a piece of masking tape and wrap it around the cord near the plug. At lease then if you throw the box out, you'll still know the measurement.

Now, the objective is to hang the lights as easily and safely as possible, without marring your house trim or walls.

Hanging Lights on Gutters:
Use suitable mounting clips called "Gutter Clips". These will help avoid damage to the exterior of the home and will make erecting and removing the lights quicker and safer. They can possibly also stay in location for next Christmas too, although they would need to be replaced every few years due to UV breakdown in plastic.

Window trims and walls:
We recommend using suction cups only to attach Christmas lights to window trims and walls. Space these about thirty centimeters apart (or as required to suit your design curves).
 

Gutter Clip		Suction Cup

Lighting trees:
Carefully wind the light rope or string around the tree trunk in a measured spiral, this makes the tree look like a gigantic candy cane. For a more robust Christmas tree effect, wind lights along the branches also. (Check to see whether the branch can hold your weight first or use a ladder.) Consider whether the tree should look good from every angle or whether to focus on it looking best from a single perspective.

Use a Timer

Consider whether you want to turn the lights on and off manually or if you'd rather use a timer device that can switch the lights on and off at specified times. The small expense for a timer will soon pay for itself in power savings. (Note: Do check the rating of the timer to ensure it can handle the combined lights attached.)

See our Cords and Power Boards department for a range of timers.

If you would like to know how much energy your Christmas lights display is using, try the Elto Power Meter.

Hanging Indoor Christmas Lights
Wherever you place your indoor lights, it's best to start at the outlet with the lights plugged in but turned off. Once again, remember to check the surface that the lights will be resting against to make sure they don't burn anything.

Suction cup hooks are great to hold strings of light up on the wall or window. To hang something a little heavier, tie some string over your curtain rail. Twist ties, garden ties or string are good for securing lights to rails or ballistrades. 3M Command Hooks are also perfect as they won't damage walls.
 

Make a Christmas Lights Artwork

Create your own twinkle light art piece for Christmas and enjoy it year round!

Buy a stretched canvas in the size that best suits the space you'll be displaying the "Christmas Lights Artwork" on. (This art is great propped up on a side table, where the dangling cord is out of sight and can easily reach a power source.)

Paint the entire canvas in a single colour. (A test pot of Dulux Wash & Wear 101 is perfect for this.) When the paint is dry, use a pencil and mark out a design with dots on the back on the canvas. (Each dot will be where you place a Christmas light.) Keep the dots at least 2cms apart. An irregular scattering of dots looks very effective as the finished piece will look like stars. (Alternatively, think of exploding fireworks as inspiration for a design.)

Now, take a strand of plain white Christmas lights and check that each bulb is working. (You'll be working with bare bulbs without decorative light covers.) Gently press an awl through each dot on your canvas to make a hole that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bulb of the Christmas light. Working from the back of the canvas, press a bulb through each hole so it protrudes into the front of your canvas, following your pencilled design. Secure the plastic base of each bulb with craft clue.

When you switch the strand of lights on, your canvas design will light up!


Removal and Storage

Take care removing and storing Christmas lights. Hurriedly pushing them into boxes will make them more tangled and possibly bend them harshly making them unsafe. If you bag the light strings separately or coil them carefully, tying them with string or twisty ties, it will ensure you don’t have to spend any time untangling next time. Another option is to wind the lights around a cord reel.