Christmas Light Installation for a Brighter House

Christmas lights keeps getting brighter, gaudier, and bigger. The current market has many options to choose from. That means you’re bound to get your preferred light whether you need Christmas light for your corridors, halls, or walls. To ensure that your house is the brightest in your neighbourhood, here is a guide to help you install your Christmas lights for a knockout house decoration you will love this holiday season.

Plan

Come up with a comprehensive plan to guide you in everything you do. Decide on your project’s scope and stick to it. It’s easier to run an icicle lights line around the frame of a door than illuminating every square inch of a house. Therefore, decide how you want to install the light. Is it along the walkways and rooflines, around planter boxes and windows, or draped over trees and shrubs? Measure the places that will be adorned, as well as, the distance between them and power outlets.

You don’t necessarily need a ladder to take the measurements. If there are horizontal eaves in your house, the base can provide a rough estimate of its roofline. But, if the house has gutters and peaked eaves, you will need tape and a ladder to get accurate lengths. Make sure that you’ve included the window and door frames in the totals too. In trees, use at least one hundred lights in every 1.5 feet.

After totalling the distances, use the final figure to calculate the required strings of 50-bulb light to cover the house. The final value should also help you determine the length of the extension cord.

Choose the Lights

Once you’ve known the number of lights you will need to light up your house for Christmas, choose the light type to install. Some of the options you can choose from include:

• Incandescent Minis – Despite being in the market since our parents were children, incandescent minis are a popular choice for Christmas lighting. That’s because these lights are relatively inexpensive. They also draw between 1.5 and 2.5 volts only. They are also available in different bulb styles, lengths, and colors. Nevertheless, use these lights if they have outdoor use rating and underwriter labs approved.
• LED – These are the most recent holiday lights. LED bulbs are an innovation that is expensive than conventional incandescent. However, they emit a brighter light and they don’t become heated up after being used for a long time. They also draw 10% as much energy. Compared to other bulbs, LED’s can work for thousands of hours and are not easy to break.
• C-7 Bulbs – These are 5-watt, 2.5- inch tall bulbs. They are more robust and larger than mini-lights. They can work even when some of them have failed. But, they consume double the amount of the energy consumed by the minis and they burn hotter.
• C-9 Lights – These are also called retro bulbs. They are 3-inch tall, 10-watt bulbs. They get very hot. But, their brightness and large size make them easily visible from a distance.

The Tools

In addition to lights and a ladder, you need the following tools to install Christmas lights:

• Extension cords with an outdoor use rating
• Outdoor timer
• Power stakes
• Light clips and related hanging hardware
• Hand tools like a mallet, screwdriver, and pliers
• Storage bucket with a ladder attachment
• Work gloves

Attach the lights clips and mounting hardware for every string on the ground level instead of two-stories up. Each strand should be brought up individually or carried up neatly coiled in a storage bucket. Hang your Christmas lights during the day. Make sure that it’s not snowing or raining. Also, have an assistant to help you attach the mounting hardware to the strings and hold the ladder for you.

These tips were brought to you by Christmas Light Installation Winnipeg, for those who love to do it themselves and for those who prefer to hire a quality company to do it for them. Enjoy your Holiday!