For those who remember the oil embargo of the 1970s, it was a sad day indeed when President Jimmy Carter asked all Americans to forego using outdoor Christmas lights. Not since World War II had Americans pulled together to conserve energy for the national interest. And Christmas was never more lackluster.

Christmas 1997 is obviously a very different time and place. Cars are creeping back up in size (see AgentNews' Dec. 17 story, "Size Does Matter: Bigger Homes Command the Market"), houses are bigger than everand the American public is back in the black with an almost-balanced national budget. In celebration of record unemployment, higher salaries, low inflation, and a number of other positive economic indicators, many homeowners have forgotten that there ever was or still is an energy crisis. We are shouting from the rooftops, "Let there be lights!"

But before you traipse out into the snow to festoon your house with the zeal of Chevy Chase in the hit movie "Christmas Vacation," here are a few tips to keep you from blinding your neighbors with more light than the North Star.

1. Make sure the lights you are buying are really OK. Several brands of "icicle" lights recently were recalled. Although it's fun to have the latest thing, buying lights from companies that have been in business a long time with good track records will help prevent a problem.
2. Check first to see where your outdoor sockets are located. That will help you plan where to begin stringing your lights. Have extra extension cords on hand. You'll need them.
3. If your budget permits, put the lights on a timer, so they can go off in the wee hours when the general public is not available to appreciate your light show. Get your child to program it. They learn how to do all that in school. While they're at it, have them bookmark AgentNews for you, too.
4. Twenty-five feet sounds like a lot of lights, but when you are stringing lights on an outdoor tree or across the frontage of your house, you may find you need quadruple that number or more. That's an awful lot of plugs. If you are planning several hundred feet in lights, try to purchase them from an industrial decor source, or at least buy lights in increments of 100 feet or more. Make certain the lights are designated for outdoor use.
5. Instead of using a staple gun, screw in little hooks so that lights are easy to put up and take down every year.
6. Turn on the lights to make sure they all work. Sometimes, if one light is out, it will cause the whole circuit to fail. One bulb changed on the ground is better than wobbling on your ladder trying to screw in a light on the roof or a treetop.
7. Keep scale in mind when planning your design. Less can be more with a small yard. A safe choice would be just to outline the structure of your home, and drape the front bushes with lights. Many choose to wrap tree trunks and create a canopy of lights inside the branches.
8. No one will admire your time management skills when you decide it will be easier to leave the lights on the side of the house until next Christmas. Not only is it a lazy, Grinchey thing to do, but on the practical side, few lighting products can withstand that much weather safely.
9. Hey, wait a minute! Weren't we just talking about how great things are in 1997? Don't you have lots more disposable income? Then hire a landscape or landscape-lighting company to hang those lights for you. You can justify the expenditure based on the time, trouble, and skill it would take for you to hang your lights yourself. These professionals are looking for ways to maximize their productivity during the fallow winter months, and you can take full advantage of their expertise. Not only can they suggest ways to complement your home with lighting; they can place the lights to your best advantage. They have the personnel, the equipment, and the resources to decorate your home in style. So have someone else climb that tree, hang those lights, and better yet, take it all down after the holidays while you stay warm and cozy indoors. Another advantage is that you can rent the lights, giving you the option to change styles every year if you wish.

Published: December 19, 1997

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