How to Properly Hang Christmas Lights
People all over the world enjoy decorating their homes for the holidays with festive lights. The lights can be hung from trees and shrubs in your yard and from the windows and eaves of your home. if you do not hang lights properly, you could potentially get hurt. Icy winter weather conditions coupled with unstable or misused ladders often leads to injuries suffered by homeowners who are just trying to decorate for the holiday season. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Heavy-duty extension cords
- Measuring tape
- Ladder
- Pliers
- Gloves
- Plastic light-hanging clips
- Tube light clips
Instructions
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1
Measure the areas you intend to cover with lights with a measuring tape. Divide the total amount of feet you measured by 50 to determine how many 50-foot long light strings to purchase.
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2
Determine which lights are going to suit your budget, desired image and energy needs. Christmas lights range from traditional white consistently lit mini-lights to colored icicle lights that blink. Purchase energy-conserving mini-lights if you are concerned with an expensive power bill; the larger "C7" and "C9" lights are better options for long-term reliability.
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3
Take the string lights out of the box, and look them over to make sure the wires and bulbs are completely intact and in place. If you find any missing bulbs, replace them. If the wires appear damaged in any way, do not use that string of lights.
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4
Look for any broken bulbs. Remove the broken bulb from the string with a pair of pliers, and wear gloves while you work to protect your hands. If you have mini-lights, pull them straight out. If you are using "C7" or "C9" lights, twist them counterclockwise until they come out.
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5
Plug in your light strings, and look for burned-out bulbs. Unplug the string and replace the bulbs. Plug the string in again to make sure everything is working properly.
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6
Position your ladder on even, flat ground, and open it above and against the eaves of your home.
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7
Plug the first string into the power outlet. Begin hanging the lights on the eaves of your home by securing them in place with plastic light-hanging clips. Continue attaching light strings and threading them through the hooks on these plastic clips until you have covered the eaves with lights.
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Secure the lights to the trim pieces that surround your windows and doors with tube light clips spaced approximately every 12 inches down.
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Tips & Warnings
"C7" and "C9" bulbs also have the added benefit of being unaffected by individual light failures in a string of lights. A bad mini-light bulb can make the entire string malfunction.
References
- Photo Credit christmas lights image by sumos from Fotolia.com
