# Help with outdoor Christmas lights **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629 "2017-11-14T17:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629/21 "2017-11-16T00:00:06Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Don’t worry I am not going to put them up until after Thanksgiving! I’m just getting my stuff sorted out now so I am not scrambling 🙂 > > \*\*kayaker \*\*I keep looking at those plug covers but I have so many strands it would cost a bundle. Maybe I just need to start collecting them this year. > > \*\*beowulff \*\*do you have a brand that you prefer? I will fully admit to using cheap lights. Willing to start trying to replace them with something more reliable. Sorry, my bad. I thought everyone spent black friday testing their christmas lights and finding out that they need to buy all new ones. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629/22 "2017-11-16T00:53:19Z")
Are these regular, AC-powered light strings? Or is there a power supply? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629/23 "2017-11-16T05:30:40Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Are these regular, AC-powered light strings? Or is there a power supply? Regular cheapo outdoor light strings, connected to a few heavy duty outdoor extension cords. The strings wrapped around the balls (which were new last year, and the problem began last year) are [these](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Holiday-Living-100-Count-20-62-ft-Constant-Clear-White-Mini-Incandescent-Plug-In-Indoor-Outdoor-Christmas-String-Lights/50264157). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629/24 "2017-11-16T11:28:06Z")
There’s probably some leakage around one or more bulb sockets due to moisture. I concur with others that you should just plug them into a non-GFCI receptive. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629/25 "2017-11-21T01:53:15Z")
Update on this - I used a meter to measure the wattage and it was around 800 watts for the whole display, so I can’t use the transformer \*\*beowulff \*\*suggested. I bit the bullet and bought all high-quality LED replacements. If for some reason THOSE still trip the GFCI, I actually should be under 300 watts at that point (it’ll be around 150W) and can invest in the transformer next year. I’ll do one more update to let you know if the higher quality lights did the trick. Thanks for all the advice! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-outdoor-christmas-lights/801629.md?page=1)