Making spirits bright and safe with holiday lighting
by Shae Ishimoto | Dec. 9, 2019
I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas! Although everyone may not celebrate the Christmas holiday, it’s still a time to enjoy each other’s company and be festive by putting up decorations and holiday lighting.
As you start to decorate, be careful of the Grinch that could ruin your holidays. I’m not talking about someone who steals presents from under the tree. It could very well be your old, worn out Christmas lights that have lost their youthful holiday spirit.
Don’t put up those dingy lights! Outdated Christmas lights can be electrical and fire hazards, especially if they use incandescent light bulbs or have frayed wires. So that you get through the holidays safely, I’d like to share some tips on how to safely deck the halls during the holiday season.
First, switch from traditional light strands to LED lights for your tree or home. LEDs are safer, emitting less heat. So go ahead and keep them on during your marathon holiday parties or while the kids wait for Santa to appear. LED lights use epoxy lenses which are much sturdier and resistant to breaking compared to incandescents made of glass. LEDs also are cool to touch compared to traditional lights. LEDs are a safer option, especially if you are going to be hanging them on a real tree.
Although you may want to reuse your old lights year after year to save money, purchasing LED lights are cheaper now than ever before. A Cyber Monday deal on Amazon was $19.10 for 250 LED mini Christmas lights. Not only has the cost to purchase LEDs gone down, but you can save money on your electric bill as well. LED holiday lights use 80–90% less energy than the traditional lights. Now that’s what I call a holiday sale!
If you like to spread cheer by decorating the outside of your house, just remember that it’s rainy season, and it’s not safe to get electrical equipment wet. You may want to consider investing in outdoor ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets. GFCI’s help prevent electric shocks from electrical systems that could be exposed to wet conditions. And remember to take down your outdoor lights within 90 days because they could get damaged in bad weather.
Lastly, follow the rule of three. Do not plug in more than three sets of holiday lights into a single extension cord. If more than three are plugged into the same outlet, it could cause problems with overheating. However, keep in mind that it depends both on wattage and the maximum watt capacity of the plug. We don’t want you to be like Clark Griswold in the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation who causes a major outage by plugging in 25,000 Christmas lights into a single outlet .
There’s no better time to light up your home than during the holiday season. Just remember to keep safety top of mind as you celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. Happy holidays everyone, and I hope your season is safe, merry and bright!
Shae Ishimoto is a social media coordinator at Hawaiian Electric Company.
