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You can take a few steps to prolong the life of your holiday lights. Make sure to replace burnt-out bulbs as quickly as possible to avoid overloading the rest of the circuit and knocking out more lights. Before packing them up each year, plug each strand into the wall to confirm everything is still working. Wrap the lights carefully back into their original packaging or something similar—winding a strand tightly together or leaving it to hang loose in a storage bin can lead to frayed or damaged wiring. 

Testing tools, such as Christmas light testers, non-contact proximity electrical testers, and multimeters, all simplify the process of testing Christmas lights. However, without one or more of those tools, testing Christmas lights the old-fashioned way only works sometimes. Without testing tools, the simplest testing method is visual inspection, which may or may not yield positive results.

If you need to visually inspect your Christmas lights to determine which are good and which need replacement, there are a few things to look for. First, look for discoloration, such as a dark spot or two on the inside of the glass. The spot is an indication of a burnt filament. Also, look for missing filaments, cracked bulb glass, and broken sockets.

The cost to repair a short circuit depends on the type of repair. A faulty outlet or simple loose wire can be a simple fix that might only cost a handful of dollars. For example, if you need to rewire a house, you’ll spend around $2 to $4 per square foot, but replacing an entire electrical panel costs anywhere from $500 to $2,100.