41–50 of 82 posts
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.
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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 wonder which places still use any metal at all. I haven't seen those in decades. It's all plastic here.
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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
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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.
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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.)
You must observe some safety rules, have a bucket of water or an extinguisher at hand (not under the tree) and never leave the candles unattended. And yes, be careful where you place the candles. Can’t have a branch that’s hanging over them.
"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…
IIRC because they're designed to chain but not for high power applications, Christmas cords are one of the few extensions which routinely include a fuse[0], usually 2.5 to 5 amps.
So you can plug a space heater at the end of the string, not much should happen.
As opposed to using a 15A extension to plug a 20A device into a 20A circuit, which you can absolutely do, and which will burn your house down.
[0] in the US, as opposed to the UK where everything includes a fuse because ring circuit baby
"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.
Yeah why not use the eyelet and a 1cent cable tie? I really don't get the lack of calling this out. I'm ok with a little fudging with outdoor lights but this here doesn't make sense.
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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.
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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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Confirmed, 1908 craftsman :) The roof is 20 years old, maybe that’s when the switch to aluminum started?
Most likely the roofing people replaced with like material where possible. That’s a fairly common choice on old homes, unless the old material is unsafe, not good, or impossible to source.