Daft question - outdoor Christmas lights

[GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat]

How do you power Christmas lights on the front of your house if you don't have an outdoor power socket?

So many houses round here have them - I'd like to join in and add some warm white ones to the shrubbery in my front garden (not a euphemism).

I've tried the battery timer lights but they seemed to run down my decent rechargeable batteries very quickly. The battery packs were fixed with 4 tiny screws which were very fiddly to unscrew every few days/ every week.

I don't have a porch or side access (mid terrace).

Put cable through window. Shut window. The cable is thin, it fits and doesn’t seem to get damaged.

Solar

Not a daft question at all - watching with interest.:)

Put cable carefully through window frame avoiding the metal hinging that will sever the cable when you close the window...

@BogRollBOGOF

Put cable carefully through window frame avoiding the metal hinging that will sever the cable when you close the window...

Does this mean drilling a hole through the plastic? I rent so I can't do this if so ☹️

Interesting Theotherrudolph
I was picturing the type of flex on a table lamp. I don't think my windows would close over that.

I have some solar fairy lights but they don't come on at this time of year. They generally fail over time due to water ingress and I'm keen to avoid landfill.

I know I could do fancy things with sealant but who has the time

Well how do your neighbours do it?

Most neighbours with lights up are homeowners with semis. I suspect a combination of drilling through wall/window, outdoor power supply/garage or somehow risking their home security via open porch or slightly cracked window.

I was wondering whether there were any methods other than those.

I have wood sash windows but the cable goes under the sash and I can close it still. Not sure if you have PVC windows may not shut.

We don't have a socket out front and we don't drill. As pp above I put the cable through open front window and plug it in in the house. Shut window gently and lock it. Wire and lights work fine

Mine are pvc and they shut with the wire in them

We used to run through garage via a hole that was drilled in the wall. Now we do as others suggested and run the cable through the window, usually have to leave on vent though at least to fit the cable.

No drilling needed, the wire fits under the window frame when you close it.

What other posters have said - through the window and close it after. If you get them, make sure you choose ones with no controller or one with a controller that is far away from the first bulb or you don’t have enough cable to get back into the house!

Thanks all! I'll have a look at some and see if closing the window over is a possibility

For some reason I thought they had a really chunky waterproof flex. I'm probably 20 years behind!

My neighbour puts the cable through the letterbox

Letterbox & duct tape might work for us actually- was looking at £50 extension leads just then....

Oh that's a good idea (letterbox). Unfortunately I don't really have a hall nor any sockets on that side of the house!

It’s a thin cable!!!

The cable is thin, mine fire under my front door.

This is wonderful thank you!

So we're just talking about putting up outdoor lights now, husband has bought 600 more today (Every year there's a reason we need more lights!) Plus an outdoor sealed socket box so were thinking the extension could be ran out of a window. Extension cable is much fatter than flat cables that lights tend to have however, so decided wasn't ideal. Remembered we have a redundant old aerial cable coming through the front wall, so now going to take the plug off to pass through the wall in to the living room and rewire the plug. Thinking this may be an option for others??

Cable runs under the front door and to an inside socket.

We put ours up at the weekend op - we’ve just run the cable through the window upstairs, as pp said it’s super thin and just slots into the pvc frame.

We had the battery powered solar lights for a few years (we don’t have an outdoor socket either) and they’re rubbish. We just unplug the new ones before we got to bed.