Detangling your Christmas tree lights is the second worst thing about the holiday season. The first-place winner? When you’ve gone through all that hassle, undone all the knots and kinks, and you plug in your beautiful lights to find them totally dead.
Hours of work for nothing. Plus, you then have to brave the cold weather, crowded stores, and close calls in the parking lot to get new strands of lights. (Or you just buy them online, but it’s still a hassle.)
We want to take the stress out of your holiday season. So, let us give you an early Christmas gift! Follow these steps to find a bad bulb on your Christmas tree lights.
First, make sure your lights are really plugged in. (We know it’s silly, but we’ve all done it!) If you’ve plugged in your lights and nothing happened, unplug them and plug another appliance into the outlet. If that appliance doesn’t work either, find your circuit breaker and check for a flipped switch. You can also test the outlet with a circuit tester.
You might have noticed this when you were doing all that untangling, but check again. Look for any broken strands with wires poking through them. If you find any, it’s time to toss the lights and get a new set. If you don’t want all your hard work to go to complete waste, you can take off all the bulbs to use as replacements in the future!
Christmas lights usually have little cartridge fuses inside the plug. They look like tiny glass cylinders with internal metal filaments like a lightbulb. Pop open the fuse cover and replace the fuses with those of identical size and rating.
This is probably the most time-consuming step. Depending on the lights, you might not know where the outage actually begins. Some lights have a single circuit, so the whole strand goes out if a single bulb isn’t working. Others have multiple strands, so only half your lights go out. To check the bulbs, follow these steps:
If you need to get some new lights, we recommend upgrading. LED Christmas tree lights are more durable and efficient, and they often come in cool colors or with fun features.
Sometimes trying to fix your Christmas lights means discovering more problems with your home’s wiring. If you notice issues with your circuit breaker or outlets during this whole process, take a deep breath and call us. We bring cheer to our Denver electrician customers all year round. Give us a call today!
We’re ready to answer your questions or schedule your appointment, call now or book online!
Bell came out and replaced our sewer line from the house to the middle of street. They were professional, fast and cleaned up the yard before leaving. Their price was in the middle of the three bids. Only four stars because of the poor response to a sinking sidewalk... Read more
I found every person associated with Bell Plumbing incredibly professional, engaging and displayed a great work ethic. I can’t say enough about Noah, Nathan, Chris, Dante, Kyle and everyone else.
I have worked in the construction business for over 40 years and have worked with... Read more
We’ve used Bell for all of our maintenance needs over the last 5 years, and we’ve been pleased each time. We recently had a plumbing issue that needed prompt attention. The technician was on time and professional. Our issue was resolved quickly and at a very reasonable price.
Jordan from Bell Plumbing did an outstanding job with a preventive drain cleanout at my home. He even located an additional access point in our main drain line I didn’t even know existed! We’re good to go for a few years for only $89 — we have used Bell in the past for major... Read more
Dylan was very professional, thorough, and courteous. He double checked everything to make sure our leak was stopped. Suggested getting upgrades to prevent any further issues. Let us know that Bell Plumbing also does remodel work if we decide to go that route. He cleaned up... Read more
Difficult to reach someone by phone to schedule an evaluation. Requires at least 2 phone calls and takes several minutes. If you aren’t available to answer your phone when they call back, you have to start the procedure all over again. The technician (Chris) was knowledgeable... Read more
Ben was great!! He was thoughtful in listening to are issue with our furnace and corrected the problem with little or no time wasted. He also was a very kind and relatable in explaining the issues and what he did to correct the problem and for that we are thankful to him as... Read more
We had a leak in our 1980’s bathroom that was getting worse by the day. Dylan showed up on time, quickly diagnosed the issue, and had it fixed in no time. He was super professional and respectful of our home. The pricing was fair and transparent, and he explained everything... Read more
Bell Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, & Electrical is incredible, especially the electrical team. Huge thanks to Jeremiah, Trey, Nick, and Micah, who exceeded all expectations! They completed a large project, including a new main panel, and it's a work of art - the overhead... Read more
I recently had the pleasure of working with David Agosto from Bell for some plumbing issues at my home, and I couldn’t be more impressed with his work. David arrived on time, was extremely professional, and took the time to thoroughly assess the situation. He explained the... Read more
We have used Bell Plumbing throughout the twenty years we have owned our home. From bathroom updates to a complete re-piping of our water lines Bell has always been professional. They recently replaced our furnace and within the first year it had some issues. The technician... Read more
Joined Bell membership a few months ago. Hugh did a great job adding an adjustable wire cover at the electrical panel to help prevent the wires from exposing in an event of ground settling.
This time we gave Bell a call for furnace service. Mike McGowan showed up next day and... Read more
Bell Plumbing and Dylan were great to work with. Prompt, efficient, thorough, and very nice. Dylan identified a couple of code issues that two other companies had missed and explained everything in detail before and after work. I actually felt like I knew something about... Read more
I can’t express enough how much I appreciate the work that Chris completed for a boiler repair. He answered several questions and ensured the repair approach was correct and then far exceeded my expectations. The boiler is working exceptionally well and my customers are very... Read more
Jordan was efficient and executed the repair quickly. His assessment and feedback helped me to know what the scope of the issue was and how the task would be completed. Jordan then went about completing the repair and notified me when he was finished. I appreciate the... Read more
Bell has been awesome to work with. Levi helped us out of an emergency plumbing situation. He thoroughly explained what was needed and followed up the next week for a complimentary camera inspection of the sewer line issue. Fair price. Great people.
Jeremiah was awesome. He explained everything to us in a way we could understand. Very professional and cared about his work and how we were treated. I would highly recommend him and if I need an Electrician again, I know I will ask for him. A great asset to your company.
Jeremiah replaced the electrical panel on our home recently. We have complete confidence in the workmanship, and he was a pleasure to work with. Earlier in the year Bell replaced our water heater, and that was a great experience as well. Everyone we have interacted with at Bell... Read more
Tech arrived on time . Called before for his timeline . Very professional. Clean attire. Respectfull, of me and my house . Got the job done quickly . Explained the procedure to fix the problem. Very clean didn’t make a mess .. highly recommend this tech and Bell plumbing . ... Read more
We had several Electric Vehicle charger installation bids from other companies and Bell Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, & Electrical worked with us to match the lowest cost bid, as well as installed the EV charger in our home about a month sooner than the other company.
We... Read more
Nick at Bell came to check hot water heaters which were old and needed replacing. Very quick on response/appointment and installed new ones same day. Very professional and Good communication throughout job. Very happy with results
I had 2 (unrelated) issues over the past week: a bathroom faucet/handle dripping/not working properly and a leak under the K sink. The technicians (Alex and Thomas) were both professional, knowledgeable and thorough and fixed both issues. The Bell process is very efficient: a... Read more
I used Bell for a clogged drain. Very professional from beginning to end. The person taking the appointment was thorough, communicating what to expect. The dispatcher provided the appointment details and communicated that a tecnician was available early. The technician (Levi)... Read more
Dan was beyond helpful and knowledgeable! He fixed our problem quickly and even better than it was before the issues began. The best part, though, is that Dan gave us three different options, and the least expensive option ended up working great AND ended up costing less than... Read more
