How to choose a Christmas tree garland

With the approach of the New Year holidays, the topic of choosing and acquiring a quality New Year's garland becomes more and more relevant. One way or another, a beautiful illumination, designed to emphasize the atmosphere of the holiday, able to please you and your guests with colorful bright lights, should be completely safe.

In the current situation, it will be a big mistake to decide that buying a garland in a store, and not in the market, will guarantee your safety, this is by no means the case. There are low-quality products in the markets and in stores, and vigilance is not necessary to lose anyway.

Let’s remember what you should pay attention to when choosing a garland in order to protect yourself from electric shock, and property - from a fire.

Often you can find Chinese Christmas tree garlands with the possibility of extension, in which each link is equipped with a socket for connecting the next.

Pay attention to the design of this outlet: it should not be too small so that accidentally, when connecting the next link, do not touch the plug pins and not get an electric shock. Such a socket must have reliable insulation.

You cannot connect many such garlands in series, since in this case the current load on the very first link of the garland can exceed the critical limit, and the thin wire simply overheats and can burn out - remember this!

The manufacturer does not always indicate this information on the package, so you should analyze how you plan to use this garland, whether such a device is suitable for your purpose.

The garland packaging should be marked, where the manufacturer must indicate all the parameters of the product: power, type of lamps, protection class, date of manufacture. You can often find garlands without marking, such products are not worth buying.

According to the admissibility of use: only indoors or it is possible to use outdoors, this is also indicated in the instructions. The instructions should include an exhaustive description of whether it is necessary to remove the garland from the packaging, whether it can be switched on without removing the packaging, whether it is permissible to connect with other garlands, etc.

The wires should be thick enough and securely connected to all elements, both with bulbs and with a plug, and with blinking controls. Near the controls must be present tension protection.

If there is no protection against tension, then in case of accidental jerking, the wire can simply come off and cause the product to become completely unusable. The same applies to the thickness of the insulation of the wire, if the wire is thin, then it is worth accidentally pulling it, and it will break, while a person can get an electric shock.

The controls must have a durable body made of non-flammable plastic so that it does not crack from an accidental impact, and does not catch fire when in contact with a flame.

When some Chinese garlands were checked by specialists, plastic cases were easily ignited from the slightest contact with the flame, although they had to go out instantly - special plastics that do not support ignition have this property.

This also applies to insulation of wires, so that from a casual contact, for example with an outstanding cigarette butt, a garland would not light up, and then a tree and an apartment. There is also the risk of ignition from overheating of the wire and ignition of poor-quality insulation.

Since everyone has their own taste, we will leave the question of choosing the number of colors, the number of bulbs, and possible options for making garlands to your personal discretion, and dwell only on issues of quality and safety.

So, here are the details that you should first pay attention to when choosing a garland:

• It is mandatory to have a certificate and instructions with comprehensive characteristics and a detailed description of the operating conditions of the garland. This is the guarantee of the manufacturer.

• The voltage of each bulb should not exceed 26 volts, and the total power of the garland should not exceed 65 watts so that the product does not heat up to a fire hazard.

• The wires should not be too thin so as not to break from a slight pull or accidental jerk. Their insulation must be reliable so as not to ignite from overheating.

• More economical and safer are LED (LED) garlands. LEDs do not heat up as incandescent lamps, so garlands from them are safer for decorating the Christmas tree.

• Garlands for the street should be protected from moisture and dust.

Safety precautions:

• Garlands should be connected by adults.

• Do not place Christmas garlands in the children's room.

• Do not disassemble the included garland.

• Do not allow water to enter indoor garlands.

• Avoid hazardous physical activity on garlands.

• Do not use indoor garlands on the street.

• Do not use garlands in severe frost.

• Take care of high-quality power supply of Christmas garlands.