Whether your favorite holiday is Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years, the Holiday season is quickly approaching. With Holiday season comes Holiday decorations, which means lights, signs, ornaments, plants etc. But is your home currently ready to take on all the electrical sides of the Holiday’s? From outlets, to timers, there are several steps to be taken to prepare for the Holiday Season. If you are a fan of decorating not only the inside of your home, but the outside too, there are several items you need to check off before safely hanging up your holiday decor.
First and foremost, you want to make sure that your outlets are safe and working correctly. Faulty outlets and wires are a leading cause for house fires during the Holiday season, and with the differing weather conditioners through the next few months, your outdoor outlets are even more susceptible to those outcomes. When it comes to outlets, the best option is to have ones that are protected by a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. A GFCI will keep those spooky Halloween decorations and pretty Christmas lights safe against damaging electrocutions.
Next, you’ll want to make sure all your outdoor outlets are covered by a weatherproof cover. These keep your outlets safe from moisture, rain, dew and other weather conditions that can lead to shock or fire. Without protection from the weather, outlets and anything plugged into the outlet can be very unsafe for the condition of the decoration and for your safety as well.
Then, you’ll want to check if your outlets are functioning correctly. You’ll want to do this by checking both in the front of the house and the back of the house. Before plugging anything into the outlets you’ll want to consider the previous items in reference to the safety of the outlet before the functionality. This will keep you safe from any electrocutions while decorating. If you can’t check off these three things from your list, you’ll need to upgrade your outdoor outlets before hanging the decorations up!
An indoor upgrade to make to your home for holiday season include installing a timer switch. There are several perks that come with installing one of these timers. The first being the automated functions. You’ll be able to automate everything from the switch, that way you won’t have to remember to turn all the decorations on everyday.
They also allow you to save energy. Since you don’t have to worry about remembering to turn the lights on, you also don’t have to remember to turn them off. You’re saving money and energy with little to no effort. You’ll also be getting actual use out of these decorations since they’ll automatically be turned on for everyone to see versus not being visible because you forgot to turn them on, yet again. This also calls for a more safe option to decorating.
These timers are also fully programmable- you can adjust the decorations to be turned on and off as you please. You can set this up for all 7 days of the week in just a few minutes and don’t have to worry about it again. If you ever find you need more or less lighting, the programming can be easily overrun. When it comes to safety you’ll want to be sure to have those lights programmed for times that you are both home, and awake, that way you can keep an eye on all the lights and such while you are present in case anything goes wrong.
For more advice and opinions pertaining to your electrical needs from experts, check out Electrical plus! Our website has a live chat option to answer any questions you might have. Click HERE to chat with us today, or give us a call at 484 459-4940! We would be happy to provide a complimentary consultation.