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Will your lights light up more than Christmas?
Are your Christmas lights safe to use? Check the following:
When you get your old lights out of the box check that the cables are all in good condition, there are no kinks in the wires and that the insulation is not broken anywhere.
Mains voltage light sets – which have an ordinary plug straight into the socket, rather than through a transformer, have fuse bulbs in each circuit. Make sure that the fuse bulb (which normally has a white tip) is in place and never replace it with an ordinary bulb. Some sets have more than one circuit, to give the twinkle or chase effect, and these will have one fuse bulb per circuit.
Check all the bulbs are firmly pushed into their sockets and that none of them are loose in their plastic base. Any bulb which has a damaged glass or base should be replaced immediately.
When replacing bulbs make sure that you use the right bulb – they are normally sold by voltage, if you fit a bulb with a lower voltage it can overheat, which may lead to a fire.
Don’t use lights where they may touch highly flammable items, such as cotton wool, crepe paper or polystyrene.
If you use lights outside your house make sure that they are plugged into a RCD (Residual Current Device often called a Power Breaker) so that any fault with the lights will disconnect the power supply. Try to use low voltage lights outside wherever possible and the transformer should always be kept indoors or if this is not possible placed in a sealed, purpose designed, waterproof container.
When you buy a new set of lights look for a set that have a transformer (these often have a built in plug so they plug into the socket). These sets work on low voltage electricity instead of mains voltage and this reduces the risk of a short circuit, which may cause a fire.
Many new sets of lights have LED bulbs, which are cold to the touch when on, and do not present a fire risk. They will always have a transformer and also use less electricity so are cheaper to run.
If you buy novelty model scenes, which have lighting effects such as churches or fairground rides, always make sure that all packaging has been removed before they are switched on. Some of these models will have packaging around the bulbs inside them, if these bulbs are left covered they will overheat and may cause a fire.
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