The holiday season is here! It’s time to bake cookies, wrap gifts, and put up decorations that give your home a warm, festive feel.
While making your holiday home, it’s important to remember to handle decorations, especially those you put outdoors, carefully. In fact, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, emergency rooms treat more than 12,000 people every holiday season for injuries such as falls, shocks, and cuts caused by unsafe handling of decorations.
Follow these outdoor decorating safety tips to get the holiday pizzazz you want without harming yourself or your property.
Preparing to Decorate
Before you head outside, read the manufacturer’s instructions that come with decorations so you know any potential safety concerns. Make a design plan, gather your supplies, and then get to work!
1. Inspect walkways before you get started. Shovel snow, melt ice with salt, then look for any tripping hazards and repair them. Check handrails and steps for stability. When it’s time to decorate, be sure cords and yard ornaments don’t create a tripping hazard.
2. Clean gutters to help avoid a fire. Before you hang the first string of lights, clean dried leaves out of gutters and any other place they accumulate around your home. Hot lights resting on dry leaves creates a fire hazard.
3. Check lights and decorations for damage. Inspect holiday lights and other yard decorations carefully before using them. Look for broken or cracked sockets, loose connections, and damaged cords that may make the decoration unsafe. If you find any damage, don’t use the decoration.
Putting up Outdoor Lights and Decorations
Remember these safety measures when turning your home into a winter wonderland.
4. Use ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). Outdoor electric lights and decorations should be plugged into outlets protected by GFCIs. If you don’t have GFCI outlets, or don’t have an outlet when you need one, you can buy a portable outdoor GFCI at your local hardware store. A GFCI will shut off the lights should a current leak through damaged wires.
5. Buy only Underwriters Laboratories (UL) tested lights and decorations. To help avoid a fire, shock or other dangers, be sure the lights and ornaments you buy have the UL label. This means the lights have been tested and meet the strict safety requirements of UL.
6. Purchase LED lights for energy savings and safety. LED holiday lights use up to 90 percent less energy than incandescent lights and last longer. They cost more upfront than traditional lights, but will save you money in the long run. Plus, LED lights are considered safer than incandescent lights because they’re shatterproof, shock resistant, and don’t overheat.
7. Don’t overload electrical circuits. It’s easy to mistakenly overload your home’s electrical circuits. Circuits in newer homes can handle 2,400 watts, but circuits in older homes may only be able to carry 1,800 watts each. To determine how many watts your holiday lights are using, multiply the number of bulbs by the number of watts per bulb and then add in any other devices that are also on that circuit, such as appliances.
8. Avoid using 7-watt bulbs. Because of their brilliance and size, some homeowners prefer to use 7-watt bulbs over traditional bulbs. But 7-watt bulbs can get dangerously hot and also use more energy than traditional bulbs. If you aren’t ready to sacrifice the appeal of larger bulbs, then consider switching to 5-watt bulbs. A string of 5-watt bulbs uses roughly one third less energy than a string of 7-watt bulbs.
9. Look for lights with the UL’s red holographic label. Lights created for indoor use are not designed to withstand weather conditions. If used outside they could short-out and possibly cause a hazardous situation. When decorating outdoors, only use lights that have been certified safe for outdoor use. Lights with the UL’s red holographic label have met the UL’s safety requirements for outdoor (and indoor) use.
10. Use the proper extension cord. Never use extension cords designed for indoor use, outside. Just like indoor lights, they aren’t insulated to withstand winter weather conditions and can short-out, presenting a hazard. Instead, use a heavy duty extension cord that’s specifically designed and rated for outdoor use. Check the extension cord before use to be sure it’s not cracked or otherwise damaged.
11. Hang decorations with mounting clips. Using nails or staples to secure holiday lights can damage the cord’s insulation and expose dangerous live wires. Instead, use mounting clips that are designed to safely secure lights and other decorations.
12. Purchase an outdoor timer to control lights. Plug decorations into a timer designed for outdoor use and you’ll never make the mistake of leaving the lights on all night again, reducing your safety risk and your power bill.
13. Keep your distance from power lines. Be conscious of where power lines are located and keep equipment and decorations a minimum of 10 feet from them.
14. Leave the ladder in the shed; opt for a light-hanging pole. For safety’s sake, consider using a light-hanging pole instead of a ladder when hanging lights in a tree or around the perimeter of your home. If you must use a ladder, be sure it’s stable and always use a spotter. To help avoid falls, wear shoes with gripping soles and never use a ladder when it’s extremely windy, raining, or snowing. A metal ladder can conduct electricity, so it’s best to use wooden or fiberglass ladders. If you’re hanging lights along the edge of your roof, use an extension ladder that extends at least three feet past the edge of the roof.
To help prevent a dangerous situation, keep these important outdoor safety tips in mind, and before you know it your home will be filled with holiday cheer!
Holly King is a contributing safety expert for Safewise.com. She researches and writes about all things home, tech and safety related. You can find Holly on Google+.