Christmas lights in the rain?

[Guinevere]

It's supposed to rain really hard for the next couple of days. I put the extension cords away, but should I be worried about the lights I have outside?

[frugalmamatx]

As long as they are rated for indoor/outdoor use, they'll be fine. 

 

I leave mine up all year long {it's hard to get them installed}. I've not lost any yet except for the hailstorm. 

[Guinevere]

They are outdoor lights. Thank you!

[Arctic Bunny]

Ours are outside in the snow....

[TechWife]

Mine are on outside in the rain. Should I unplug them tonight if it's still raining? They are usually on a timer so I don't have to think about it. 

 

 

[Pawz4me]

If you're using both lights and extension cords rated for outside use then it's fine to leave them out and on as usual in wet weather. If the lights and extension cords are for indoor use only then they shouldn't be used outside at all (regardless of weather) except maybe on a very deep covered porch. I wouldn't even do that, though.

[GailV]

Related story -- we use lights and extension cords rated for outside.  In spite of this, when we have heavy storms sometimes the lights on the west side of the house, plugged into the outdoor outlet on the back patio,  go out.  The first year in this house took FOREVER to figure out how to get them back on.  We eventually discovered that they had tripped the circuit breaker in the outlet in a 2nd floor bathroom that's on a different side of the house than the back patio.  

 

Sometimes I wonder what the electrician was thinking.  Were they pranking the original owners?  

[mamaraby]

Related story -- we use lights and extension cords rated for outside. In spite of this, when we have heavy storms sometimes the lights on the west side of the house, plugged into the outdoor outlet on the back patio, go out. The first year in this house took FOREVER to figure out how to get them back on. We eventually discovered that they had tripped the circuit breaker in the outlet in a 2nd floor bathroom that's on a different side of the house than the back patio.

 

Sometimes I wonder what the electrician was thinking. Were they pranking the original owners?

The outside outlets at my house are controlled by a switch in the basement. This is also the only thing that switch controls. Took forever to fogure out why the outside outlets only worked intermittently. I now have the switch covered with painters tape otherwise the kids will shut the switch off when they shut the basement lights off.

 

I think they’re pranking us all.

[xixstar]

Related story -- we use lights and extension cords rated for outside.  In spite of this, when we have heavy storms sometimes the lights on the west side of the house, plugged into the outdoor outlet on the back patio,  go out.  The first year in this house took FOREVER to figure out how to get them back on.  We eventually discovered that they had tripped the circuit breaker in the outlet in a 2nd floor bathroom that's on a different side of the house than the back patio.  

 

Sometimes I wonder what the electrician was thinking.  Were they pranking the original owners?  

 

I would guess that was just the easiest way to link into the GFCI circuit. My house all the GFCI's are linked - so all outdoor outlets, kitchen and the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.