When Should Christmas Lights Come Down?

The social deadline is somewhere around the middle of January. The practical deadline is set by weather, and it matters more.

The generally accepted window

Most of the country takes lights down between New Year and mid-January. Epiphany, January 6, is the traditional end of the season and a clean date to aim for. Past the end of January, lights read as forgotten rather than festive.

Why leaving them up costs you

• Weather. February and March wind and rain in this region are hard on clips, wire and bulbs.
• UV. Spring sun makes plastic brittle and fades colored bulbs.
• Roof and gutter wear. Clips left through a full year of freeze and thaw work loose and can pull.
• Rodents. Wire left in place through spring is wire something eventually chews.

What proper takedown looks like

Runs come down in the order they went up, coiled by section rather than balled up, labeled by elevation, and stored dry and out of the cold. That is the difference between lights that work next November and a box of unknowns.