For those who put up Christmas lights outside. help!

[*Fantasia*]

I don't get it. I never had an outside lightnings before and I want to put one outside this year. So it says on the box for indoor/outdoor and I buy the extension cord and it says for outdoor and it says grounded. Please forgive me if I may sound stupid for asking you guys this, like I said, I never done this before and I really don't know much about outdoor lightings.

My question is, when it rains or when it's wet outside, wouldn't you get some kind of sparks or get shock somehow? I mean when you put the extension cord and the other end of the cord together and that connecting area gets wet, would there be any sparks/shock?

BTW.. I don't have an outside outlet, so can I just run the extension cord to the inside house?

 

[golfgal]

If they are listed for outdoor use they are designed in such a way that no, you won't have problems. I would look around again to see if you have an outlet outside somewhere. It might be behind a bush or something but that would be easier then running a cord into the house-you would have to deal with an open window or whatnot then. How about your garage, is there an outlet there you could use?

One thing to keep in mind is that you can only run so many strands together without them shorting out (the fuse on the strand-you will see it when you buy them). If you plan on using more then 2 strands of lights you will need more extension cords. What we do is we have several extension cords that plug into photo timers that go on automatically when it is dark. They accept up to 3 extension cords-it is on a stake and we stick it in the ground. That way we aren't overloading the light strands. That is then plugged into the outlets around the house.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thank you for your reply. I was just worried that it may cause fire or something. OK, as long as it says for outdoor, then there shouldn't be any problem. Good. Now, I am going to see what I want to put outisde. Maybe something simple. I don't think I want to put any lights on my roof. I think that's too much work. Just on the ground would be good. Thank you again for the infos.

 

[Nancy]

I used to have the same fear of the outdoorlights so I was talking electrical tape and wrapping the plugs up.One year my DH was taking the stuff down for me and came in and asked why I did that cause its freezing out and do you know how much extra work he had to do?

So from that time on I never bothered and I've never had a problem.

 

[OrlandoMike]

If you look on the box the lights came in, it should tell you how many strands of lights you can safely put on one extention cord.

Good Luck!

 

[LotsOfQuestions]

Also, make sure you use an extension cord that is designed for outdoors and is grounded. You have to use the three prong ones for outdoors.

If you use LED lights, you can string 20-30 strings together without worrying.

They are a bit more expensive in the beginning, but they save a tremendous amount of energy which shows up on your electric bill.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I used to have the same fear of the outdoorlights so I was talking electrical tape and wrapping the plugs up.One year my DH was taking the stuff down for me and came in and asked why I did that cause its freezing out and do you know how much extra work he had to do?

So from that time on I never bothered and I've never had a problem.

Thank you Nancy.. I'm glad that I wasn't the only one who was (and still is a little bit) afraid of having electric cord outside, you eased my mind somehow.


OrlandoMike and LotsOfQuestions thanks for the tips!!

(still a little nervous.. but with everyone's help here.. i shouldn't have any problem causing any fire or anything like that.)

 

[JR6ooo4]

it is best to keep the connection between the extension cord and the lights up off the ground. if it was completely under water it might short out.

outdoors lights are designed to get rained on. I am not sure if they would still work if they were sitting in a bucket of water, hehehehehe

But I have alwaus wondered about the connection as well. You could wrap it in a little bit of plastic wrap to keep most the water out.

Mikeeee

 

[OrlandoMike]

(still a little nervous.. but with everyone's help here.. i shouldn't have any problem causing any fire or anything like that.)

Calm down! LOL The lights have fuses in them, and you have a circut breaker in your house. Either the fuse or the circut breaker would most likely pop before you ever started a fire....that's what they are designed to do.

 

[LuvDuke]

I don't get it. I never had an outside lightnings before and I want to put one outside this year. So it says on the box for indoor/outdoor and I buy the extension cord and it says for outdoor and it says grounded. Please forgive me if I may sound stupid for asking you guys this, like I said, I never done this before and I really don't know much about outdoor lightings.

My question is, when it rains or when it's wet outside, wouldn't you get some kind of sparks or get shock somehow? I mean when you put the extension cord and the other end of the cord together and that connecting area gets wet, would there be any sparks/shock?

BTW.. I don't have an outside outlet, so can I just run the extension cord to the inside house?

WalMart sells these big, yellow thingies that have about 5 different outlets in them. They're very heavy and we've used them outside for years without a problem.

 

[JR6ooo4]

WalMart sells these big, yellow thingies that have about 5 different outlets in them. They're very heavy and we've used them outside for years without a problem.

good idea. they have a power strip that has a stake on the bottom. Stick it in the ground and it keeps all the cord ends up in the air and dry. stick it behind a bush to hide the cords.

some models also have a timer. ours are set from when it turns dark until about midnight.

Mikeeee

 

[*Fantasia*]

ok.. use the stake to keep the cord off the ground to keep it dry. i might go tomorrow or monday and start shopping for extension cord and the lights. thank you guys.

 

[*Fantasia*]

thank you guys for all your help!! i went ahead and put the christmas lights up, and everything is good so far. i'm not turning the lights on yet, i'm waiting until thanksgiving night. i put the cling saran wrap around the connectors so the inside won't get wet (just in case it does get wet).

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Thank you for your reply. I was just worried that it may cause fire or something. OK, as long as it says for outdoor, then there shouldn't be any problem. Good. Now, I am going to see what I want to put outisde. Maybe something simple. I don't think I want to put any lights on my roof. I think that's too much work. Just on the ground would be good. Thank you again for the infos.

You should be fine!!
I would be a little worried about running a card into your house, so much heat wasted. Just something to think about.