Christmas is all about cookies, presents, Christmas trees, and Christmas lights. But what if you don’t have an outdoor outlet in your house? Your house won’t be covered up in Christmas lights. Imagine how sad that’ll look.
How to plug in Christmas lights without outdoor outlets to save Christmas?
For outdoor Christmas light borrow power from your basement. To do this, you need an extension cord. All you have to do is plug one of its ends into the outlet in your basement and take it out through the window. The other end gets connected to the Christmas lights.
But that’s not all. There’s much more than what meets the eye. So, do you wanna know more about this?
Well, then stay with us: we’ll walk you through the entire process in detail.
5 steps on how to plug in Christmas lights without an outdoor outlet?
Christmas is the perfect time to bake cookies and decorate your entire house with Christmas lights. But you might find it difficult to light up the outer part of your house if you don’t have an outdoor outlet.
Don’t worry; we came up with a way to take power from your basement for this process. So, let’s get started, shall we?
Step 1: Select the right power outlet in your basement
The first task that you have to do is to select the right power outlet in your basement. You see, later on, you’ll have to work with an extension cord. And it’s not long enough to take a lengthy trip.
Thus you need to pick the outlet that’s close to the outward-facing window. This will cut down the distance that the cord has to travel.
Moreover, you’ll have to connect a few wires together. Although you won’t have to do major electric work like plugging 4 wire lines in 2 wires so you don’t have to worry too much about it.
Now while picking the outlet try to pick out one that has an on/off switch. This way you can have full control of those Christmas lights from your basement.
Otherwise, you’ll have to insert a power strip into the outlet. This will give the outlet the on/ off switch option.
Step 2: Plug in an external cord into the outlet
Once you find the right outlet you can plug in the extension cord that we were talking about. And if your house is under construction then be aware of the water in the basement. They can cause trouble for the electric wires.
At the same time, make sure that the extension cord has some sort of safety measured built into it.
Although the Christmas lights don’t suck in too much power, it never hurts to be a bit careful. So, ensure that the cord has a preinstalled fuse or circuit breaker in it.
Step 3: Take the cord to the Christmas lights through the window
The next thing you have to do is take the extension cord through the window. For this gently roll the extension cord out through the window and take it to the place where you want the Christmas lights to go.
Now, you might get worried about the freezing wind rushing in through the window. We know how frustrating it is when the wind decides to play pranks.
Like blowing shut the double gates or sneaking into your basement to make it cold. But don’t worry; we’ll show you how to stop the wind in its trail. So, just keep on reading.
Step 4: Close the window and insulate it
By now you must have gotten the Christmas lights out through your window. Once that’s done you have to close the window. That’s because the gap can lead the snow inside your house making it super chilly.
In fact, it’s a good idea to close up all the gaps, even the ones between tub and floor tiles. They can attract water that can permanently damage your tub.
Anyway, for this process close the windows as much as you can. And we know that there will be a small opening that’ll have to be closed up.
So, for the small opening use small pieces of foam boards. And then cover up space with it. For this, stack up as much foam as you can and make sure there is no space between the foam.
Otherwise, the sneaky chilly wind will rush in through that space. Afterward, wrap duct tape all around the foam board and secure it in its place. That’ll do the job.
Step 5: Plug the Christmas lights into the power strip
As for the other side of the window you need to put the Christmas lights into the electric cord. Now, you cannot directly plug it into the extension cord.
This can be quite dangerous and you don’t want a disaster on Christmas, right? So, get another power strip first. Make sure it’s an external graded one.
And then insert the power strip into the extension cord. After that plug the lights into the power strip. And you’ll have a pleasantly lightened up house for the holidays.
Another alternative is to use lawn stake. You can use it with an extension cord and take power from any outlet inside your house.
If you want you can even take it from the porch outlets. One more option is to use rechargeable USB lights. Their coolest feature is that they detach at the end.
Plus they are very cheap. In fact, they cost around 10 dollars per piece. So, do check them out.
FAQs
Question: How many Christmas lights can you plug in together?
Answer: You can plug 4 to 5 Christmas lights if you’re using the traditional mini lights. However, for the LED light strings you can go up to 50.
Question: What happens if you plug too many Christmas lights together?
Answer: The light strings tend to have a fuse installed with them. So, if you go plug too many lights it blows up and the beautiful lights turn off.
Question: Do Christmas lights get hot enough to start a fire?
Answer: The Christmas lights do not produce enough heat to burn anything, let alone start a fire.
To wrap up
Well, now you know how to plug in Christmas lights without an outdoor outlet. Now, you can go out there and save your Christmas.
And we bet Santa will love seeing your house lit up with Christmas lights. Anyway, Merry Christmas, folks. Stay warm and stay safe. Adios!