Remember electrical safety amid holiday decorating

Many people enjoy celebrating the season with holiday decorations. As they “deck the halls,” Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is Powering the Next Level of Safety to keep everyone’s holidays a joyous time with these electrical safety reminders.

Lighting safety

Inspect, discard and replace damaged sockets, loose connections and frayed or bare wires before starting to decorate.

Unplug lights when changing bulbs. Don’t connect lights while adjusting them on a tree or your home. Don’t let bulbs touch flammable material, including needles, branches and other decorations.

Check for overheard powerlines before using a ladder outside while hanging lights.

Turn off all holiday lights and decorations when leaving your house or going to bed.

Electrical cord safety

Avoid overloading electrical outlets with too many decorations or electrical devices. They can overheat and cause a fire.

Never use staples and nails to secure lights or decorations as they can damage electrical cords.

Never use more than three standard-sized sets of lights per extension cord. Also make sure to use outdoor and indoor specific light strands/extension cords accordingly.

Plug exterior lights into ground-fault interruptible (GFI) outlets only. If your home lacks outside GFI outlets, call an electrician to install them.

Before decorating, determine how many outlets are available and where they are located. Plan your displays accordingly to avoid tripping over cords.

There are also ways people can make the holidays glow and not their energy bill; decorate with LED lights as they use 90% less energy than traditional bulbs. For more ways to decorate your home efficiently, visit Electricideas.com.