What you need to know about lighting your home this holiday season

Holiday season decorations are incomplete without a beautiful display of lights! They truly bring the season of giving together. While lights give the house a warm and welcoming look, there is a possibility of a few miscalculations and carelessness. Here are a few tricks and tips to make the decoration phase  safe and enjoyable for the holiday season.

Minimize the candles and fires in display

Scented candles and a roaring fireplace may bring about a flavor of authentic holiday décor to a house. But they also pose a threat to the environment and a huge fire hazard, considering the house full of guests and little children having fun. Have electric lights as much as possible.

Choose the greener light

While using electric lights for decorations, think twice if LED (light emitting diodes) lights can be used instead of incandescent lights everywhere or not. The LEDs are more worthy choice considering electricity consumption rates and longevity, even if their initial cost is higher than the incandescent lights. Although it is a matter of personal choice, the most logical recommendation would be to go green and switch over to LEDs whenever feasible.

Figure out the best option – within budget

Chalk out the design of where and how much lighting would be necessary. Measure the covered areas and take notes of the electric plug points to be used in accordance to the plan. Now, measure the area and figure out exactly what length of light-strings, individual bulbs, wires and extension cords would be required. Buy the same as per the plan. Use musical lights at the lawn or entrance or at the entire outdoor display, if it suits the budget and taste.

Be mindful of the safety precautions

While sorting through, testing and installing or uninstalling the lights, observe the safety standards. Use caution to avoid hazards like electric shocks from the wires and extension cords, falling from the ladder, short-circuiting the lights or even the entire house and fire hazards from old wires and bulbs. Make sure that lights are OK for outdoor use.  Keep kids away from the lights and wires during the installation and uninstallation process, to spare them some unfortunate lessons at electrical hazards.

Have an electrical timer set up

Set up an electrical set up to switch the lights on and off at a particular time without any headache o your end every day. Also, it would save people from the extra expenses of huge electricity consumption bills, in case they forgot to turn off the lights while going to bed at night.

Use tools and get help, if necessary

Use tools or even take professional help, if necessary, to test, install and uninstall the lights. Frayed wires, dead bulbs, older light strings/bulbs and other anomalies can be much easily detected and taken care of that way, without spending a whole lot of time, money and energy otherwise.

Family matters

Last but not the least, get the whole family involved in the planning and preparations phase. Take into account their ideas about the design and color scheme of lights, consider taking their help in the installation process so as to make them feel empowered and engaged. A mundane activity like hanging a string of odd lights over a fence can also become a fun activity with the little ones jumping up and down with the sheer excitement of a newfound sense of responsibility. 

Enjoy the holidays with family and friends!

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