If you’ll be spending some time in the next few weeks decorating your Roanoke home by hanging lights on trees, roofs and eaves, using your stove more to make delightful treats or by affixing other electrical decorations around your home, you should also spend a little time ensuring that your electrical system can handle the extra usage.
Big family dinners and lighting ceremonies are part of celebrating the holidays, but they can also increase the likelihood of electrical accidents and fires. Following these tips can make your home safter this holiday season:
- Do not overload electrical outlets. This is the number one cause of most electrical fires during the holiday season and can be easily prevented. Using surge protected electrical plug boxes can help solve this problem, but those can also be overloaded. It’s better to split up the plugs between outlets or forego a decoration or two.
- Limit the use of extension cords and check their rating. Many decorations use a lot of wattage. Be sure the extension cords you’re using can handle the extra power and try not to use too many extension cords throughout your home and outside.
- Water your tree and/or use low energy lights. If you still have a live tree in your home for Christmas, keep it moist. Many fires are started because the tree becomes too dry, which gives the lights on the tree ample kindling. Also consider moving to LED lights. Not only will this save you some money on your electric bill, they do not generate enough heat to start a fire.
- Turn off all lights and decorations before going to bed or leaving home. Unattended lights are often the source of house fires during the holidays.
- Keep traditional candles away from flammable objects. If you light candles, make sure they are not near tablecloths, curtains or the tree. Consider using battery-operated candles near fabrics, paper or cardboard to reduce the use of open flames.
- Have an electrical inspection. Even if you follow the tips above, your home’s walls could be hiding an electrical issue that you have no idea is brewing. Calling your Roanoke electrical experts at Southern Trust Home Services to check your wiring and identify potential hazards could prevent a disaster.
The experts at Southern Trust Home Services want your family to have a joyful holiday season, but we want to keep them safe, too. Holiday decorating should be fun and relaxing. Heed these safety tips to help prevent electrical fires or other damage to your home.
We are here to serve all your electrical needs no matter what season. Call us at (540) 343-4348 if we can help make your house safe for the holidays.
