Deck the Halls with Care! Here Are Our Tips to Stay Safe
The holidays are fast approaching again, and many homeowners will be gearing up to deck the halls with lights, ornaments, and all the other trappings of the season. But while this is a time of good cheer, it’s important to take the right safety measures while decorating your home! Keeping just a few holiday safety tips in mind can make a huge difference in ensuring your holidays go smoothly.
Here at TCA Electric, we’re excited to hang our homes with plenty of decorations to celebrate the season this winter. But as professional electricians, we’re all too aware of the risks associated with electrical lights and other decorations during the holidays. Here are our top tips for practising good decorating safety this holiday season.
Check for Burnouts and Damage
Before hanging even your first string of lights from your home, it’s important to ensure everything is working properly. Burnt out string lights can be a pain to deal with, and no one wants to hang a string of lights only to find that half of them aren’t working!
In addition to saving yourself wasted work, damaged electrical components—yes, even string lights—can create dangerous situations. As you check your decorations for burnt out bulbs and other malfunctions, be sure to give all wiring a once-over. If anything is frayed or exposed, it shouldn’t be used anymore!
Don’t Overload… Anything!
For many folks, the holidays can actually be a stressful time. But this time of year can also be very stressful for your electrical systems as well! During the holidays, many homeowners ask much more of their home’s electrical systems, as they plug more items into outlets than at any other time of year.
Overloaded breakers can trip, overloaded outlets create a safety hazard, and overloaded extension cords can overheat, malfunction, and even cause fires. One of the most important electrical safety tips to keep in mind—even beyond the holiday season—is to avoid overloading any part of your home’s electrical system. Know your home’s limits!
Practise Good Tree Safety
We’re as excited as you are to add a Christmas tree to our homes for the holidays. But as you do so, make sure to keep a few holiday safety tips in mind!
Fires are the biggest risk when it comes to Christmas trees. If you’re using an artificial tree, make sure it’s one that comes highly rated for fire resistance. If you’re using a real tree, fire safety is even more important! Make sure your tree never dries out, as the warmth from glowing string lights can create a very hazardous situation if you do.
Choose the Right Decorations
Electrical components are designed for specific use cases, and this is just as true for holiday decorations as it is for anything else. While many holiday decorations are designed to be used outdoors, not all of them are, and it’s important to know where your decorations can safely be installed. Installing decorations outdoors that aren’t made to withstand the elements will likely result in them malfunctioning or breaking altogether!
In addition, you may want to consider swapping out your string lights for new LED versions. LED lights are longer lasting and have become very affordable in recent years. LED string lights are an especially good choice for your tree, as they produce far less warmth than the burning filament of traditional incandescent lights.
The Best of All Holiday Safety Tips? Common Sense!
While all of the above holiday safety tips will go a long way toward ensuring your decorations are successfully—and safely—installed, we couldn’t cover every possible scenario. In general, though, good common sense goes a long way when it comes to both decorating and electrical safety! If something seems risky, it probably isn’t a good idea—especially when electricity is involved.
And of course, if you find your holiday decorations can’t live up to your expectations due to the limitations of your home’s electrical systems, our team at TCA Electric can help! We’ll be happy to provide you with the upgrades you need to really put on a show this holiday season. Contact us today to tell us about your electrical vision for your home!