Please fill out the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Blog
Holiday Lighting Safety: 10 Tips to Decorate Safely
Festive lights make the holidays, but every year decorating sends thousands of people to the emergency room and sparks home fires from overloaded circuits and damaged cords. The good news is that holiday lighting safety comes down to a handful of simple habits. Follow these tips and you can light up your home beautifully without putting your family or property at risk.
Whether you are stringing a tree indoors or wrapping the eaves outside, a little planning keeps the season bright and safe.
Choose the Right Lights and Cords
Safe decorating starts before you climb anything. The products you use matter as much as how you hang them.
- LED holiday lights, which run cooler and use less power
- Lights rated for outdoor use when decorating outside
- Heavy-duty outdoor extension cords
- A GFCI outlet or portable GFCI adapter for all outdoor connections
- Insulated light clips instead of nails or staples
- A fiberglass or wood ladder, never metal near wiring
Always look for a recognized safety certification label, and pick LED strings when you can. They give off very little heat, which dramatically lowers fire risk compared to older incandescent bulbs.
10 Holiday Lighting Safety Tips
Run through this list before, during, and after you decorate to keep everything safe.
- Inspect every strand for cracked sockets, frayed wires, or bare spots and throw out damaged sets.
- Match indoor and outdoor lights to their rated use; never run indoor-only lights outside.
- Do not connect more strands end to end than the manufacturer allows, usually no more than three.
- Plug all outdoor lights into a GFCI-protected outlet to prevent shocks.
- Keep cords and connections off the ground and out of standing water or snow.
- Use insulated clips to hang lights instead of nails, staples, or tacks that pierce the wire.
- Never run cords through doorways or windows where they can get pinched and damaged.
- Always turn lights off when you go to bed or leave the house, or use a timer.
- Keep light strings and cords away from heat sources, dry trees, and flammable decorations.
- Set up ladders on firm, level ground and have a spotter hold the base.
More than half of holiday decorating fires involve lighting. Cool-running LEDs and undamaged cords prevent most of them.
Ladder and Outdoor Safety
Falls are the most common decorating injury. Keep three points of contact on the ladder at all times, never stand on the top two rungs, and move the ladder rather than overreaching. If lights need to go higher than a single-story ladder reaches comfortably, reconsider the plan.
After the Holidays
How you store lights affects how safe they are next year. Coil strands loosely to avoid stressing the wires, keep them dry and away from rodents, and label boxes so you are not untangling and yanking on cords next season. Inspect everything again before you hang it the following year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are LED holiday lights safer than incandescent?
Yes. LED holiday lights run much cooler, use a fraction of the power, and last longer, which lowers both fire risk and the chance of overloading a circuit. They are the safer choice for indoor and outdoor decorating.
How many light strands can I safely connect?
Follow the manufacturer's instructions on the packaging, which is typically no more than three incandescent strands end to end. LEDs often allow more, but never exceed the stated limit, as overloading is a leading cause of decorating fires.
Do outdoor holiday lights need a GFCI outlet?
Yes. Any outdoor electrical connection should be protected by a GFCI outlet or adapter, which cuts power instantly if it detects a fault. This is one of the most important holiday lighting safety steps and protects against shocks in wet weather.
Rather have a pro handle it?
Get matched with a vetted, insured local pro in about 30 minutes — and track them on the live map.
