Can My Outdoor Outlets Handle My Holiday Lights?

Start by counting watts, not strings

Every light string has a rating printed on the tag or the plug. Add up everything you intend to plug into one outlet — strings, inflatables, a projector, the timer, the extension cord run to the tree out front. A 15-amp circuit is rated for 1,800 watts, but anything running for hours counts as a continuous load, so plan around 1,440 watts, and remember the garage door opener, freezer or shop outlets may be on that same circuit.

This is also why LED strings changed the math. A long run of LED strings often draws less than a single old incandescent string, which is why people can now decorate a whole roofline on the same outlet that used to trip with two strands.

Why the outdoor outlet trips in December

• It is overloaded — the simple case, and the easiest to fix by splitting the load.
• It is a GFCI and it is doing its job. Exterior receptacles are GFCI-protected, and cold nights, sprinkler overspray, a cracked cord or a light string with water in a socket will all cause leakage the GFCI has to act on.
• Too many light strings on one GFCI. Each string leaks a tiny amount by design; enough of them together can add up past the trip threshold with nothing broken.
• A damaged cord. Cords stored in a hot Phoenix garage or attic for eleven months get brittle insulation, and UV on a patio does the same thing.
• The receptacle or cover is worn out. A weatherproof cover with a broken lid is an open invitation for moisture.

What we see go wrong on Phoenix homes

Indoor-rated extension cords run out a window or a garage door is the most common one. Daisy-chaining cords is next: each junction is a place to heat up, and a cord buried under gravel or a doormat cannot shed that heat. We also get calls about staple guns through cord insulation, and about roof clips that were swapped for nails driven straight through a string.

Attaching lights to a service mast, a meter, or anything near the overhead service drop is a different category of problem. Do not lean a ladder on or run lights near those conductors, and keep the same distance from any pool or water feature lighting you would keep the rest of the year.

When it is worth adding a circuit

If you decorate the same way every year and reset a breaker every year, a dedicated exterior circuit with weatherproof, in-use covered receptacles at the corners of the house solves it permanently — and those outlets earn their keep the rest of the year for patio fans, string lighting, landscape power and pressure washers. Homeowners adding a timer or smart control usually want that circuit in place first so the controller is not sitting on an overloaded run.

October and November are the right time to do this. Once the season starts, everyone who waited is calling at once.

Who to call

B and D Electric LLC is a family-run Phoenix electrical contractor, Arizona ROC 361086, with two owners and over 40 years of combined electrical experience. We are insured at $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate through Clear Spring Property & Casualty and bonded through RLI Surety. Call (480) 828-1181 and tell us what you plan to plug in and where.