Christmas light safety tips

When you put up Christmas lights this season--or holiday lights during any season--be sure to follow these Christmas light safety tips. (http://firstaid.about.com)

• Choose Christmas lights that have been tested and deemed safe by a reputable testing laboratory, the best are UL or ETL. Christmas lights listed as safe by these laboratories will note that on the packaging.
• Try to use the cooler-burning "mini" Christmas lights as opposed to the traditional larger bulbs. The older style burns much hotter and can start fires.  Take a look at the many types of lights we carry at midlandhardware.com and find the perfect lights for your decorating project  Celebrations-Holidays-Miniature-Lights
• Only use Christmas lights that have fuses in the plugs.  Fuses
• Inspect each set of Christmas lights--old or new--for damage. Return or throw out any set with cracked or broken sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections.
• Replace burned out bulbs promptly with bulbs of the same wattage. Most strands of lights come with replacement bulbs to use.
• Never hang Christmas lights on a metal tree. The tree can become charged with electricity and shock someone. The tree can also short out the Christmas lights and cause a fire.
• Want Christmas lights outdoors? Use outdoor Christmas lights. The packaging will note whether the lights can be used indoors, outdoors, or both. Don't ever use indoor lights outside (using outdoor lights in the house is not a big deal). 

• All outdoor electrical decorations should be plugged into a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI).  An example of one type would be GFCI Outlet  
• You can buy portable units for outdoor use, or you can have them permanently installed by an electrician.
• Use extension cords properly. Outdoor cords can be used anywhere, but never use indoor extension cords outside. Do not overload extension cords--they can get hot enough to burn.  You may also want to protect your extension chord connections.  Try an extension chord safety seal lock.  Extension Cord Safety Seal Lock

• Stay away from power lines or feeder lines (these go from the pole to the house).
• Secure outside Christmas lights with insulated holders (never use tacks or nails) or run strings of lights through hooks.  All In 1 Clip
• When you leave or go to bed at night, turn off your Christmas lights.
• Never pull on a string of Christmas lights, it stresses the cords and can lead to fraying. Store Christmas lights loosely wrapped for the same reason.

We hope these tips help you safely enjoy your outdoor Christmas lights this year!  We wish you a very Happy Holidays!!