I just decorated some of our front yard trees with Christmas lights and now wonder about the safety of leaving these electrical connections exposed to the elements.
By that, I mean that I plugged the tree lights into extension cords, yet these connections are far from hermetically sealed.
Electric code generally advises that you wrap wire nut connectors in electrical tape, for applications inside a home. Conditions outiside would seem far more hostile, given rainstorms, snow, etc.
Am I taking appropriate precautions? Why don’t more people get shocked, given that water infiltration seems pretty likely, in these instances?
Exterior receptacles should have ground fault interrupter protection, via a GFCI receptacle or GFCI circuit breaker. All newer construction has this feature. Also, receptacles on the exterior of the dwelling should have ‘In Use’ covers, sometimes called bubble covers. They afford a measure of rain protection to the point where a light or cordset plugs in. If you don’t have them, they are fairly easy to install yourself using a screwdriver, and can be purchased for ~$10 at the local big box store.
I had the same question when I put up my little lighted trees in the front yard. They’re plugged in to a GFCI outlet, but is that really safe? The damn things come with at least 3 extra plugs, which seem like they’d be prone to filling with ice or snow as we live in a snowy area. Are they safe?
The GFCI (provided it is functioning properly) will protect persons from shock. The disclaimer is there because Leviton did some follow up testing a few years ago and found that many GFCI receptacles failed to function if they were close to 10 years old, particularly in areas where lightning storms were frequent. The newest evolution of receptacles supposedly locks out if the sensing circuitry fails, but I still like to test them using a separate plug-in analyzer.
Snow and ice are pretty good insulators. Even water isn’t as good a conductor as people imagine, unless it’s loaded with electrolytes, like a metal salt or other ionic compound, for example. The GFCI insures that you won’t receive a dangerous shock, and the circuit fuse protects against an excessive current draw. Many outdoor light strings have their own fuse, which offers an additional layer of protection.
If you really want to be super-safe, get LED light strings. These not only offer vastly improved operating life, but are both low voltage and low current, meaning they’re both safe and inexpensive to run. The downside is they’re initially more costly than traditional incandescent light strings.
Use a GFCI receptacle (Most of my lights are plugged into the exterior GFCI, but some of my lights (like wreath and swag lights) are plugged into the house receptacle nearest to the window, which I replaced with GFCI outlets.
Don’t string alot of lights together (use 3 or less). This could overload the circuit, or overload the light wiring, or blow the fuses embedded in the lights plug end. Avoiding these problems keeps you from tinkering with fussy lights, minimizing your handling of live wires.
Wrap approved tape around connections. Or, spray a water displacement spray (aka WD-40) or silicon spray onto the connections. Better connections = less tinkering, too.
Buy heavy duty timers. Having all your lights on timers keeps your hands off the connections/outlets, etc.
Since this is a safety issue I feel compelled to nitpick a couple of things.
The electric code makes no reference to wrapping wirenuts with electrical tape. I am an electrician and I only do this when common sense dictates.
In your case;
I would wrap any questionable connections in plastic and tape just to prevent nuisance tripping if you have a GFCI and for safety reasons if you don’t.
People do get shocked all the time, just not electrocuted. Contrary to popular belief, you need lots of things to fall into place to actually die from a shock.
Most people just get shocked on their hand (from finger to thumb for instance) and no current travels through their body.
If you’re outside working on live lights be sure to wear dry rubber insulated boots. Best bet is to unplug the cord first.
I’ve got icicle lights trimming the front of my house, and one area has 4 strings plugged into an extension cord. I’ve never had a problem with those lights, but is there a fire risk with this? Or will the fuse blow out before any overheating will occur?
And in a related vein, if you’re supposed to limit chains to 3 or less, how do people manage to trim the entire house with lights? Do they run lots of extensions to the outlying strings? Is there some sort of lightweight holiday-lighting extension cord available?
I’ve got the GFCI, but wondering about a string of lights plugged into an extension cord–out at the tree. Last year, when it rained and before I had handy-dandy timers, I would wipe off whatever rainwater coated the metal prongs, say a quick prayer, and then connect the circuit. Always wondered why nothing ominous happened, but didn’t argue with the big man upstairs. I take it my technique might have qualified me for that year’s Darwin Award.
BTW, I’ve been shocked by a large residential transformer–in Europe. On a ceramic tile floor. Wet. Barefoot. And we’re talking DC current. (I was a kid.)
Three is the prescribed limit, but I’m sure people get away with more all the time. I think the emphasis I should have added is: more than three plugged end to end, into eachother. I’m not sure if the fuses will blow, but they should at some point. Heavy duty sets will take 5 or 6 end to end as per the mfgr instructions.
I have icicle lights…about 300’ total. One year, I hooked up about six sets end to end, and plugged it into an extension cord. Didn’t have a problem, but this was not the recommended approach. This year, I stuck to the rules and ran more extension cords to the middle of long runs. This was the biggest PIA.
No, you can feel the current running through your hand without the actual electrons having gone through the spinal cord. Same as if you burn yourself. You don’t have to burn your spinal cord to feel the pain.
Rjung, so long as you follow the directions that come with the lights you should be OK. If you’ve lost the instructions and you can’t determine the wire gauge size of the strings then don’t put anymore than 3 together. You can continuously load up average home circuit to 80% of the breaker rating. However, your extension cord(s) must also be able to handle the load. A 14 guage cord is good for 15 amps. On a 15 amp breaker you should only have 12 amps. A 20 amp circuit can be loaded to 16 amps continuously. But a 20 amp cord is costly and rare these days.
What some people do is use a couple of GFCIs that are on two different 15 amp circuits, giving you about 24 amps of continous power if you really need that much. Most people only have one outside circuit though, so the average homeowner is left with a 12 amp power source for the outdoor lighting. This is enough to run about 1440 watts or about 288 christmas lights on the circuit (at 5 watts per light).
A 20 amp circuit will give you about 1920 watts or enough juice to run about 384 5 watt lights. This does not mean that you can run 384 lights in a straight line.
You would still need to branch these off in groups of three (or whatever the factory recommends) and make sure that each tap is rated for the current running through it.
When considering breaker ratings, keep in mind that most home circuits are NOT dedicated to the outlet that you are using. Lots of homes have the outside outlet tapped off of the bathroom or the garage GFCI so you need to consider the load that may be on the other outlets at any given time also.
Your standard plastic sandwich bags are helpful here. Cut a hole in the bottom for one cord, and run the other thru the top opening. Then seal both openings as water-tight as you can with tape or wire twisties or whatever. That shoud provide sufficient water proofing, unless they are completly immersed in melted snow or something.
If you use a larger bag, you can even plug & unplug the extension cords while they are still sealed inside the bag.
(But timers, a switched outlet, or unplugging at the outlet would be better.)
I take it my technique might have qualified me for that year’s Darwin Award.