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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.

Step 1: Check the Outlet

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.

Step 2: Check the Wires

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!

Step 3: Check the Fuse

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.

Step 4: Check the Bulbs

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:

  • Identify the affected area: which will either be the whole strand or part of the strand, depending on the kind of lights you have.
  • Start at the problem area and inspect each bulb: You’re looking for any bulb that is loose in its socket, darker than the others, or has an apparent break in the filament or casing. 
  • Tighten or replace problem bulbs: Make sure all the bulbs are tight, so you don’t have to go over the strand again!
  • Test each individual bulb: If the previous steps didn’t help, it’s time to test each bulb separately. (Sorry. It’s the worst.) Take out each bulb from the problem area and place it in a bowl. While you have all the bulbs out, check the sockets for corrosion or debris you can clear out. Plug in the strand and insert each bulb, one by one, back into a socket. If it lights up, take it out, and place it in a separate bowl to use when you’re done testing the others. If it doesn’t light up, throw it away and replace it with a brand-new bulb. Or? Purchase a light tester.

Step 5: Make an Upgrade

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. 

Step 6: Give Us a Call!

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 Calgary electrician customers all year round. Reach out to us at ClearView Services to get help with your condensation problems and stop them once and for all.

Give us a call today!

Serving Calgary, AB and surrounding areas

We take immense pride in providing Calgary, AB and surrounding areas with top-notch plumbing, heating, and cooling services, ensuring every home and business operates smoothly year-round. Our team’s expertise and dedication shine through in every project, earning the trust and satisfaction of our valued customers across the city. Serving you isn’t just a job for us; it’s a commitment to excellence and a testament to our passion for keeping our community comfortable and thriving.

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A job well done.

The appointment to come to check my boiler was prompt and early I’m the day so I didn’t have to wait the whole day. I received a call 15mins before the arrival. An email and a text was sent earlier. Gerry introduced himself and told me his purpose. He checked my boiler for a while then explained clear to me what the problem was, it was relief to know that it is nit necessarily a serious one. He made further checks and made some recommendations for change of some worn out parts, the re-glycol – 10yrs overdue and some leak that…

Roland B.

Barry did a great job in replacing a leaking Hot Water tank. Just a bit shocked at how much the cost of a new tank has increased over the years. We would certainly use ClearView for future jobs.

Ken Stowell

Thank you! Your service has always been reliable, professional,and friendly.
Rural folks can depend on you, as We have for more than 30 years, for both our property and others.
If you say you’re coming – you show up- or you promptly let us know of any delays! AND do a fantastic job. We’d asked for certain day & hours, as our neighbour has a B&B, didn’t want to cause issues with septic removal smells for them. YOU DELIVERED! Thank you. The Jackson’s.

Robert Jackson

We could not do the water valve replacement because the city could not shut the water off. I was warned ahead of time that this might happen so was not worried. Yamil was courteous and professional and I look forward to his return when the city can fulfill there end of the job. Justin and Sean were great with the furnace install. It went smoothly and Justin explained the new thermostat fully. The walk through on the furnace was useful and timely. Justin and Sean were friendly and professional and great to work with. John who came out for the initial inspection…

Paul Palardy

Barry was fantastic. Explained the steps that would be required to detect the leak and then proceeded with the work. He was professional and managed to fix our issue same day. He left our home clean and tidy before leaving. Overall very happy.

Jonathan Wilson

Jon was on time and dispatch team did their best to get him to the property to do an inspection on leaking pipes and backup sewer system. Jon then immediately got another job into the system to have a deeper inspection of the entire system to determine where the blockage was.

David Crawford

I felt the company is oriented on quality of customer service , they send me the track link when dispatch the plumber, and the plumber is super on time too . I really appreciate Richard , he is supper patient to help me find out what is the best solution, focus on customer’s interest . Thank you again , I will definitely use your service again when I having plumbing problems, which I hope it will never happen.

Jing Huang

Our hot water tank blew and fortunately we noticed right away. We called Clearview Services late in the evening and we were answered right away. We were kept in the loop throughout the entire experience and Gabe Colpitts was the service technician who visited the next morning. He was very professional and spent the time to explain and educate the different options that were available. We were up and running with hot water the very next day.

Mike Mario

Drake Ahern did an awesome job cleaning the ducts. Was very friendly and professional. Worked hard and paid attention to all the details. I’d definitely have him back next time.

David Dickinson

John came out to review our heating and AC set-up. He was very knowledgeable and patient as he walked us through the various units and proposed maintenance program. Would highly recommend.

Lucus Tomei

Had them update and install our infloor heating two zones, and add tank less hot water on demand and install a water softener. Our technician was very professional kept his work area tidy, cleaned up after himself. He also wiped down all the equipment used including piping and tubing. He was friendly, kept us informed on his progress. You could tell he enjoys what he does… great job Thank you so much.

Carol Hill

Heinz was professional and honest. He gave me options and the price. The price was the price and there were no extra charges. He worked on a boiler system that was having issues. He flushed and cleaned system and everything is back up and running. When he was finished he asked if I had any question. I look forward to him coming back to service this system again.

Curtis W.

Can’t say enough about the great service I received from Heinz regarding some concerning alerts we got on our Ecobee Smart Thermostat yesterday. I felt cared for and trusted that he was focused on the necessary followup to assure our safety. Heinz is very good at his job.

Kim Koch

Arrived on time and did a quick and efficient replacement of my kitchen sink faucet. Also took the time to further explain the operation of the water softener installed on the last visit.
Richard was friendly and knowledgeable. Great service!

Marybeth Marrow

I had furnace venting replaced. This company is efficient and very professional. You know who is coming to do the work and given notice of when they’ll arrive. Heinz was very knowledgeable, professional, was not bothered by all my questions. He gave full explanations, reasons why, and great advice on maintenance care. He showed that he cared about what he was doing and was very efficient in getting the work done quickly. I highly recommend this company and Heinz.

Elsa Krienke

Clearview was excellent to deal with. Very professional in their approach and the picture sent of the plumber before hand is an excellent idea. Richard was great to deal with. He gave me different options to resolve the problem.

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