This holiday season, light up your life, or at least your home. For a safe and dazzling light installation, a San Diego expert offers some illuminating tips.
The pro: Kevin Boyd, owner of Christmas Light Pros, has been hanging holiday lights for 12 years.
Have a design plan. Before you begin, decide if you just want lights along the roof line or if you want to illuminate your windows, trees and shrubs.
Measure. To determine how many strands of lights you will need, measure the linear footage of all areas where you plan to hang lights. When purchasing lights, pay attention to the length of each strand, which will be marked on the box. The lengths can vary.
Buy 20 percent more lights than you think you need.
Plan your electrical strategy. Before you begin hanging lights, consider where the electrical outlets are so you can easily plug cords in.
Read all directions. The guidelines listed on the box of lights will state how many sets can be safely hooked together. The limit is usually three.
Avoid overloading a single wall outlet or extension cord. Each outlet can only accommodate up to 1,500 watts. Don't exceed that limit.
Larger screw-in holiday bulbs are a good choice for framing the house since individual lights can be easily replaced. If your screw-in lights are more than 5 years old, replace them with the newer low-heat, energy-efficient bulbs.
Use gutter clips to hang lights. Use a clip for every bulb if you're using the larger screw-in lights. If you're hanging tiny or icicle lights, use clips every 2 feet. If there is no gutter, you can use a light-duty staple gun with 10 mm staples.
The secret to wrapping tree trunks with lights is spacing. You need to have a consistent space between each row of lights as you encircle the tree. To fasten the light strands to the tree, tie a knot after the first wrap or if the trunk is hard enough, as with a palm tree, staple the strand to the trunk.
Use vine fasteners (available in garden shops) to hang lights around vinyl window frames.
Use high-quality outdoor extension cords. Choose green or brown cords over neon orange.
Use a sturdy extension ladder. To minimize the trips up and down and for safety's sake, make hanging lights a two-person job.
Hang lights with the power off. Turn on the power after attaching each string to make sure there are no problems.
Time your lights. Consider using an outdoor photo-cell timer, which turns the lights on when it gets dark. You can set the timer for how long you want the lights to be on each evening.
– R.J. IGNELZI
