How to Safely Illuminate Your House for Christmas

1. Sketch the outside of your house, indicating its approximate height and width, including the location of available power outlets.
2. Choose and measure those parts of your house and garden you want to decorate. Don’t forget to compensate for the pitch of the roof, always allowing an extra 30 feet.
3. Don’t forget that placing cables in an area where water builds up is dangerous, e.g. gutters or porches where water collects.
4. Select the best type of product for each area based on your measurements. For trees and bushes, allow about 50 lights per foot of height or double that number if you are using miniature lights. Always make sure the lights you use are designated for outdoor use.
5. Always test your lights before you start hanging them. Consider putting them on a timer for cost effectiveness and ease of use.
6. Make sure your ladder is long enough to reach the area you want to decorate and that you have a secure place to set it up.
7. Climb only as high as the ladder is designed for. Never climb past the point where your hips are even with the top of the ladder. Never allow more than one person on a ladder, and don’t let anyone stand below you where you can drop something on him or her.
8. Use multi-purpose clips to hang the strings from your gutters and eaves as they are safer for the wires than a staple gun and are much easier to remove. Use zip ties or string to ‘tie’ your motif frame to your fixings for extra safety. Never hammer a nail through a wire.
9. Sets of String Lights should always be handled carefully. If they become tangled, work them free gently as pulling hard could cause lights to break.
10. Cables may need to run across your garden or even your doorstep and they can be difficult to see, especially at night. Always tape cables to the ground using Jumbo tape to stop them becoming a hazard people could trip over.
11. Do not plug in your lights until they are all secured to the tree or house. Do not electrically modify any products as they are designed to be used as they are made. As with any outdoor electrical equipment such as a lawnmower, it is best to use a circuit breaker (30m A RCD) for electrical safety. If you are in any doubt, consult a qualified electrician
12. After Xmas store your lighting in its original packaging and place it safely out of children’s reach, where it will not be disturbed until the following year. If you treat your lights well, they should give you and your family plenty of festive fun for many years to come.