Posted by Dave Woodward
Holiday decorations such as Christmas trees, lights, inflatable yard decorations, window candles, and other electrical, lighted items are great to look at but can bring electrical problems, higher bills, and dangers. There are holiday lighting safety precautions you can follow to keep your family and home safe and still enjoy these great times of the year.
Unplugging
Make sure that after a certain period of time each day that your decorations are unplugged. If Christmas tree or holiday lights are left plugged-in, there is always a possibility that an electrical fire may start. These decorations should be unplugged before going to bed and when leaving the home for periods of time. This is even more important if you have indoor pets.
Save Some Dough
Aside from fire hazards, it is also a good idea to unplug decorations and lights because they increase electrical bills by being plugged-in for extended periods of time. The holidays are one of the most expensive times of year so it is a good idea to try to save as much money as possible. Un-plugging lights can help.
Timers Can Help
If you don’t want the burden of remembering to un-plug everything, or you are not going to be at home to do so, you can use timers. Some sets of lights, as well as other decorations, come with timers attached or built into them. These timers can be set so that your Christmas tree lights or outdoor decorations turn on and off at pre-set times.
Items that do not come with this timer can be hooked-up to separate timer adapters. These timers are set in the same way, so that you won’t have to worry about turning your electrical Christmas decorations on or off.
To ensure that you do not have an electrical fire it is a good idea not to overload any one outlet or power strip with too many cords or wires. Having too many devices running at one time off of the same electrical source or circuit can cause problems such as tripped breakers, fires or can cause a power outage in your entire home.
