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How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

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Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#31

Post by brudgers »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #19
brudgers wrote: post #13

Magnet attaches to the roof edge flashing which is metal. In the US, there is a substantial probability the flashing is non-magnetic aluminum. So test first.

Most places in the world with metal flashing, metal gutters, or other metal on an exterior will have aluminum. It’s old houses that might have steel. If you have a new house, I guarantee this won’t work. If you have an old house it’s worth checking, though.

I qualified my comment with "in the US" because that is the limit of my informed opinion.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#32

Post by Zircom »

bombcar wrote: post #12

You can get led strips of lights designed for outdoors that when off are just a clearish rope. Install those permanently and when they’re not on they’re basically invisible.

We tried that with some lights we in our bushes thinking it'd be fine to just keep them off, they're not even visible unless you were on our porch with your nose against the bushes looking for them. HOA ended up fining us anyways, nosy fucks.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#33

Post by Symbiote »

fbdab103 wrote: post #28
Xylakant wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still use those.

Why? That looks like a guaranteed way to result in an accident for a pretty minor novelty. If nothing else, using leds that look like candles would be less maintenance with the huge upside that they are incredibly unlikely to be able to start a fire.

Some people in Central Europe still use real candles on the Christmas tree. Of course, you place the candles carefully and don't leave them unattended.

(I have no idea how common it is, but I've seen the candles and brackets for sale.)

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#34

Post by nemo44x »

ian-g wrote: post #29
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most places in the world with metal flashing, metal gutters, or other metal on an exterior will have aluminum. It’s old houses that might have steel. If you have a new house, I guarantee this won’t work. If you have an old house it’s worth checking, though.

And you can tell from the style that OP's house is old. It could easily predate the great depression

Yeah it looks like an early 20th century 1920s Craftsman style home. (1905-1929) It’s likely made of extremely high quality old growth wood and a rather lovely home to live in if well maintained.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#35

Post by brudgers »

mindslight wrote: post #8
senthil_rajasek wrote: post #4

"The carefully split the wire part" in many places has me concerned about electric shock. Is this wiring upto code in the U.S? Also, the comment at the end to use "hooks" beats the whole point of using magnets.

Haha, code. IIRC, Christmas lights have their own exception in the NEC, as the things are wildly unsafe by general NEC standards. For example, nothing stops you from plugging a space heater into the outlet at the end of a string. But relax, it's Christmas! Having said that, OP's lights are built a bit more solid because they look like the 120V parallel-wired style, rather than the series wired tiny lights. I'd be com…

wondering if my gutters are steel.

Are they rusting?

If not, probably not. [1]

[1] To coma, stainless steel is not magnetic.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#36

Post by nemo44x »

fbdab103 wrote: post #27
ProblemFactory wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Despite the electrical risks, it's crazy how much Christmas safety has improved. I remember https://i.imgur.com/vKbfzEs.jpg from my childhood. Small metal clips to attach real candles to the Christmas tree. 20-50 open flame candles on a dried out Spruce, one of the best fire starters possible.

It somehow never occurred to me that - obviously the traditional Christmas lights were candles. Unless the original method was to cut at tree, decorate a still wet one for a day, and then toss it - how did anyone ever consider that a good idea?

You would be present when they were burning which I assume was on Christmas Eve in most places. Tree was probably cut down the same day too.

But yeah it’s an awful idea. People YOLOd more back in the day.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#37

Post by alpaca128 »

fbdab103 wrote: post #28
Xylakant wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still use those.

Why? That looks like a guaranteed way to result in an accident for a pretty minor novelty. If nothing else, using leds that look like candles would be less maintenance with the huge upside that they are incredibly unlikely to be able to start a fire.

If it was a guaranteed accident like you suggest people wouldn't have done it for decades. Not the safest thing, but judging by the news it seems not even close to all the injuries weeks later from fireworks.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#38

Post by deelowe »

martyvis wrote: post #15
senthil_rajasek wrote: post #4

"The carefully split the wire part" in many places has me concerned about electric shock. Is this wiring upto code in the U.S? Also, the comment at the end to use "hooks" beats the whole point of using magnets.

Surely that cable is single insulated, so low voltage application (less than 32V)?

Looks like pretty standard “lamp wire” to me. Single insulated and rated for 120v ac.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#39

Post by bombcar »

factsarelolz wrote: post #24
bombcar wrote: post #12

You can get led strips of lights designed for outdoors that when off are just a clearish rope. Install those permanently and when they’re not on they’re basically invisible.

The clear plastic in which they are housed (think rope light) will turn yellow and brittle after a season of sun. Places like Florida, might have to replace due to sun degradation.

You can get more expensive ones designed to last - but they’re nowhere near as cheap as the simple spools you find at Walmart etc.

Re: How I hang Christmas lights without a ladder

#40

Post by silisili »

bombcar wrote: post #12

You can get led strips of lights designed for outdoors that when off are just a clearish rope. Install those permanently and when they’re not on they’re basically invisible.

Agreed. My wife's been buying these. We have two plugin type, and I think 4 solar type.

The solar type seem to only last a year or two, but really nice for wrapping far away bushes and such.

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