If you're putting up Christmas lights this year, do yourself a favor and pick up a portable GFCI outlet. You probably already have GFCI outlets in your home—those are the outlets with the test and reset buttons, typically found in bathrooms, kitchens, and garages. But you still need a portable one for your outdoor lights, and here's why.
Test Your Light Load Before You Commit
A portable GFCI outlet is great for testing the electrical load of your Christmas lights before you plug everything into your home's circuit.
Here's how it works: if your lights trip the portable outlet, they'll certainly trip your home's circuit breaker too. This tells you immediately that you've got too many lights running to that single plug and need to redistribute the load or reduce the number of strands.
For homeowners in Midlothian, Prosper, and throughout the DFW area who go all-out with holiday displays, this simple test can save a lot of troubleshooting later.
Protect Your Home's Electrical Circuit
More importantly, a portable GFCI outlet protects the rest of your home's electrical circuit from weather-related issues with your lights.
When we get significant moisture—rain, snow, ice, or even heavy morning dew—it can make its way into your light connections and strands. This creates a short that will trip your GFCI outlets. It happens frequently during the holiday season, and it's usually nothing to worry about. You just have to wait for things to dry out, and your lights will work fine again.
But here's the problem: if your Christmas lights are plugged directly into your home's outlet, that moisture-related trip will knock out power to everything else on that circuit. Depending on your home's wiring, that could mean losing power to your garage, exterior outlets, or even parts of your interior.
With a portable GFCI outlet between your lights and your home's outlet, the trip stays isolated. Your lights lose power temporarily, but everything else stays on. Just reset the portable outlet once things dry out and you're back in business.
A Small Investment That Pays Off
Portable GFCI outlets typically cost between $10 and $15, and you can find them at just about any hardware store or home improvement center. For homeowners in Prosper, Waxahachie, and throughout North Texas, this small investment is well worth the peace of mind it provides.
Pick one up before you start your light installation this year. Your future self—and your home's electrical system—will thank you.
Watch the video below to learn more about why a portable GFCI outlet is essential for your Christmas light display.
For professional Christmas light installation in Midlothian and Prosper, contact Vista Lawn and Pest.
