Knowing the ideal way to install holiday lights will spare you a lot of the typical frustrations that often accompany the process. It will also ensure that your house is the brightest in the neighborhood!
If you’re interested in installing holiday lights like a professional, always follow the key guiding principle: measure, measure, measure, and measure one more time just in case.
Once you have your holiday lights measured, it is important to plug in each strand to make sure the energy flows throughout. When it comes to hanging the lights, be sure to use hardware like gutter clips to easily attach lights to rooflines and gutters.
To ensure your home’s install is well constructed brightly lit all season, continue reading for tips on:
- How to measure before installing holiday lights
- Step-by-step instructions for installing lights
- Tips for safe holiday light installation
Measure Before Installing Your Lights
Begin by outlining where you plan on hanging lights. For example, if you’d like to install holiday lights along your roofline, you might sketch the basic shape of the roof. Then, it’s helpful to measure the base of the house to estimate the length of the roofline.
If the roofline has peaks, you may want to get on a ladder for more accurate measurements. You can then add your measurements to the sketch you’ve made.
Why Measure?
Measuring before you install holiday lights will tell you two things:
- How many lights and light clips will be needed
- The lengths of the light strands you should use
You might be tempted to hang lights freely. However, this often results in not having enough lights to properly cover your home. And as a result, your display will appear unfinished or uneven.
Measuring for Outdoor Trees or Columns
When hanging lights around the trunk of a tree or exterior column, you’ll need to gather three measurements:
- The height of the tree or column
- The spacing between lights that you will use
- The circumference of the tree
Once you have these three measurements, you can calculate the length of lights you will need.
The formula is: (Height of Tree / Light Spacing) X Circumference.
For example, let’s say you want to cover 5 feet of trunk and 5 feet of branches, space the lights 6 inches apart, for a tree with an average circumference of 2 feet. You would need (10 * 6) / 2 = 30 feet of lighting.
Step-By-Step: How to Install Holiday Lights
Following these helpful instructions could ensure that your personal installation is as stress-free and seamless as possible:
Step 1. Choose a day with mild weather. Look to install in the morning or early afternoon to ensure you can safely hang your lights before dusk. Avoid days with precipitation, as moisture can make climbing a ladder unsafe.
Step 2. Find a dry space to unravel your light strands. Test each strand by plugging them in prior to installation.
Step 3. Use the measurements you gathered, and determine if you have enough lighting to properly cover your home. TIP: Make sure you have enough additional length to plug into a power source or extension cord.
Step 4. Start hanging lights from the side you plan to plug into. To attach your lights to the gutter or roofline, use plastic clips. Clips are easy to install, and will protect your roof and gutters from damage.
Step 5. After you’ve installed plastic clips, gently tuck the light strand into the clip. You can then continue hanging clips, followed by the light strands, until you’ve reached the end of a strand.
Step 6. When you’ve reached the end of a line, attach another, and continue the process until you’ve covered the roofline.
Safety Tips for Holiday Light Installation
As you install holiday lights, be sure you’re following safe installation practices. For example, you’ll want to ensure you’re not overloading a fuse, and that you’re using the correct light clips for your home.
1) Evaluate where the lights will be hung
Before installing, look at where you will be hanging the lights. You’ll want to determine how you will install the lights on the surface, e.g. with clips and what types of clips you will need.
However, you should also assess the proximity to a power source, and where you will need to place a ladder. If the surface is uneven, make sure you have someone to help secure the ladder, while you install the lights.
2) Determine safe wattage
Most light strands have wattage on the packaging. If you’re unsure, you can calculate wattage by multiplying the wattage of the bulb by the number of sockets. Once you have wattage, you can divide by 120 to determine the amps.
Most residential circuits can safely accommodate 20 amps. You shouldn’t exceed 80% of the max wattage, e.g. a 20-amp circuit could support 2400 watts, and therefore, you’d want to limit the wattage to about 1,900 max watts.
3) Use the right clips
There are numerous holiday light clip options, and they’re generally designed for different applications. Shingle clips, for example, slide under asphalt shingles, while gutter clips clip to the front of the gutter.
Similarly, clips are rated for the type of bulb that will be installed. Larger clips are required for C9 bulbs, while smaller clips can be used for mini-LEDs.
Consider a Professional Lighting Installer
Ultimately, hanging holiday lights can be a tedious process, and potentially costly if you need to purchase new light strands. One option that will save you time is hiring professional installers.
Looking for a professional holiday light installation in Minneapolis-St. Paul area? Clean and Clear can help! Contact us for an estimate for lighting installation or to schedule service!
