“You should take down your Christmas lights on January 6th, afternoon but not before midnight.” That is, of course, provided you are available between those times. The reality is when you decide to take Christmas lights down is a choice that has as much to do with practicality and wisdom as it has tradition.
Practical Considerations
The first thing to think about is how long you want your lights to last. The longer you wait until after Christmas to take down your lights, the more damage is likely to occur. That doesn’t just mean to the Christmas lights, either. Your plants and trees may thank you for not waiting until the summer.
UV light is not good for wires over a prolonged period of time and especially not in summer. As well as damaging the wires and reducing the life of the lights, UV light will have a bleaching effect on any garlands. You could get away with keeping your lights up until April in that respect, but then you have to worry about critters coming out of hibernation.
Once things begin to thaw out, your lights are fair game to all manner of wildlife, including squirrels, which are notorious for chewing through wires that look like greenery. Because festive Christmas lights typically match this description, all bets are off for enjoying your lights into the spring. Even if your Christmas lights survive the wildlife, the wildlife may not survive the lights. Leaving Christmas lights up too long could result in the choking of plants and some trees throughout the year due to their growth.
For Christmas light installation without worrying about when they should come down, look to Roof to Deck Decoration. We install, remove and even store your Christmas lights to take the headache out of the holidays.