Attention: Watering Lights Does Not Make Them Brighter!

It’s that time of year again when customers often find that their holiday lights have mysteriously decided to stop working. We know it can be frustrating but 95% of the time it’s because water has tripped the system while they were running. Here’s some simple solutions to keep your lights running uninterrupted this holiday season.

Sprinklers

To prevent your automatic or timed sprinkler system from soaking your light strands and tripping the GFCI, we recommend that you reset the timer on your sprinkler system so that watering occurs while the holiday lights are off (such as in the early morning).

GFCI “Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter” Outlet Trips

A GFCI is installed in most homes as a protection system that shuts down the flow of electricity to an electrical outlet when it senses a ground in the line. When outdoor holiday lights become excessively wet this will often cause the GFCI to trip. Should a GFCI circuit trip, it will need to be reset to restore power to the outlet.

Wait until the rain or sprinkler system has stopped and the light strands have had a chance to dry out before attempting to reset the GFCI. Should you decide to plug your lights into an alternate GFCI protected outlet, please remember that you must still reset the previous circuit to restore the flow of electricity to that outlet.