Maybe your house doesn’t shine as bright as the Griswold’s this time of year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring some holiday cheer to the block.
You can still make your home festive, but remember to do it safely. Here are some tips and tech to help you ensure your home stays bright, beautiful, and safe.
As the holiday season approaches, families, like the Sernatinger’s, are getting ready to turn their home into a winter wonderland.
“In our house this is definitely one of our favorite seasons, to decorate and put up lights has become a family tradition,” father Mark Sernatinger said.
And while this time of year is filled with lights and decorations, too often it can also include fires.
“December is a leading month for home fires, – and fires involving Christmas trees and decorations can be especially damaging and deadly. – So, it’s important to ALWAYS make sure you have working smoke detectors,” Dan Wroclawski with Consumer Reports said.
Consumer Reports recommends the First Alert 3120B or the Kidde P12010.
But before decorating, inspect all of your lights, extension cords, and plugs to make sure they are in good condition. Only use outdoor extension cords and decorations outside, and indoor ones inside!
Never overload your outlets! It can cause electrical fires. And ALWAYS unplug all of your holiday lights before leaving home or going to bed.
“The simplest way to control your holiday lights is honestly with a smart plug,” Wroclawski said. “They’re affordable, they work with popular home assistants like Alexa and Google Home … And they are really simple to set up to turn on and off at your specific sunrise and sunset times.”
Some smart plugs even offer safety alerts and energy-monitoring features.
For outdoor lighting, choose a smart plug specifically rated for outdoors, like this one from AmazonBasics for about 24 dollars.
Be careful when you’re hanging those holiday lights! Each year, almost 6,000 people visit the ER related to injuries from falls putting up holiday decorations. So before you climb, put on sturdy shoes - and check your ladder for loose parts, sharp edges, or bent rungs.