Lighting Electrical

GFCIs and Christmas Lights - A Survival Guide When it comes to Christmas lighting and decorating, nothing kills a Christmas masterpiece faster than a GFCI tripping. All it takes is a little moisture sneaking into the Christmas lighting or electrical system and then BAM, in a millisecond, everything goes dark. The GFCI has decided that the mixture of electricity and...[...]

If you’re a Christmas enthusiast looking to up the ante on your annual light display, it can be difficult to know where to start. Maybe you’ve done a little digging, and have discovered the open industry secret that is empty socket light line. You know that the key to clean a display with no trailing lines is measuring out the...[...]

What is the difference between SPT-1 and SPT-2 wire? This is a question we get asked on a daily basis and anytime we write an article or put together a video about this topic, it always gets a lot of views. And the popularity of this information isn’t limited to only pro Christmas installers and Christmas enthusiasts, but is also...[...]

LED light adoption has increased by double from the figure from just a couple of years ago. Two-thirds of Americans have purchased LED lights for some part of their home, whether it is for the lights in the rooms, Christmas lights, or other uses. Osram Sylvania conducts a Socket Survey yearly to check on the lighting habits of Americans. According...[...]

When it comes to LED Christmas lights, one of the most confusing and least understood concepts is real power versus apparent power. These two terms are used when calculating the amount of power used for LED retrofit bulbs. Even long term Christmas sellers very seldom understand these two terms and it's even more unusual to see a website that list...[...]

  It’s no secret that LED Christmas lights can save lots of energy. In fact, depending on the type of light set, the energy savings can be anywhere from 80% to 95%. But if you're like a lot of people these days, when you hear numbers like this you probably just assume that it’s marketing hype, with very little basis...[...]

Making sure you have adequate electrical infrastructure in place is critical in order to safely light up your home or business. In the third part of this multi part how-to Christmas electrical series, we're going to be taking a look at how to know if you have enough electrical infrastructure for your Christmas lights and decorations. In the previous...[...]

In part 1 of our Christmas Electric 101 series, we reviewed how to calculate how many watts and amps your Christmas lights and decorations are using. Knowing this helps you keep your lighting and decor safely lit without overloading any circuits or cords. If you've spent much time installing Christmas lights, then you've probably experienced the frustration of tripped breakers...[...]

One of the most valuable tools for serious Christmas enthusiasts as well as professional installers is a clamp meter. A clamp meter allows you to determine how many amps you have running through a circuit. While this can be useful, often times you will want to isolate your amp draw down to a single cord. Clamp meters are designed to...[...]

How do I calculate how much electricity my Christmas lights and decorations use? This is a question we are frequently asked. To help you understand not only how to calculate your electrical needs, but also how to use this information to make sure you are not overloading your electrical cords and circuits, we're putting together a multi-part blog series that...[...]