How to Avoid Overloaded Circuits Caused by Christmas Lighting

‘Tis the season once again, when we dig those Christmas decorations out of the attic or basement and start stringing lights in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. For some people, it’s a time to go all-out: everything from a fully decked-out tree to lawn decoration, outdoor lights and more!

Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when many homeowners find themselves having to call on an electrician in North Scottsdale, AZ. They’ve daisy-chained too many strings of lights together or connected their yard lights to a circuit that can’t handle them… and they’ve blown a fuse or keep tripping breakers.

Don’t let tripped breakers and faulty power supplies keep you from curating Christmas decorations! Instead, follow these simple tips to avoiding electrical problems during the holiday decoration season:

• Check the power supplies on everything you plug in. For example, if your animatronic Santa needs to be plugged into a 20amp outlet, make sure you’re locating an appropriate outlet. Plugging it into a 10amp outlet is going to likely trip the breaker—or worse, cause a problem with the entire circuit!
• Plug responsibly! Don’t plug a bunch of power strips into a single outlet or daisy-chain extension cords together. Not only does this create a fire hazard, it’s bound to cause surging when plugged in. All it takes is one surge to kill your lights and leave you with an expensive mess.
• Use GFCI outlets whenever possible. This will ground anything you plug in and protect your home and your breaker box from any electrical faults that might arise. Remember, Christmas lighting and décor can draw a lot of power—make sure you’re leveraging outlets with adequate protection.
• Test your decorations before deploying them. The last thing you want is to string a bunch of lights and find yourself with a couple of faulty bulbs that are causing trouble for the whole system!
• Utilize multiple circuits whenever possible. If your tree, outdoor lights and other decorations are all plugged into the same circuit, it’s going to put a strain on that circuit that could cause your breaker to trip. Plug things into different circuits if possible, to avoid stressing one particular circuit.

Be smart about your Christmas decorations this holiday season and you’ll find yourself running into fewer problems with things like tripped breakers, blown fuses and short circuits. If you follow the above tips, you’ll be able to spend more time enjoying your decorations and spend less time walking an electrician in North Scottsdale, AZ through your elaborate, but faulty, Christmas decoration setup.

If you do find yourself in a holiday snafu, waste no time in calling Eavenson Electric Co. We’ll work quickly to diagnose your electrical trouble and set it right again, so you can get back to decorating. We might even be able to provide a few friendly tips that keep you, your home, your family and your decorations safe this holiday season! Contact us today without delay if you have electrical questions.

Categorised in: Electrician

This post was written by Writer