The holidays are a time to fill your Queens home or apartment with festive cheer and decorating is a great way to bring together family and friends. As the decorations go up and households entertain, safety may be overlooked.
Con Edison reminds its customers to make safety their No. 1 priority at all times, but especially at this time of year.
When it comes to lights or decorations or cooking, following simple safety tips can assure a healthy, happy holiday:
Make sure that holiday lights carry the seal of approval of a recognized safety-testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
Strands of lights can add greatly to the beauty of your live tree, but in the right conditions, they can also pose a serious electrical fire danger. When selecting a live tree, check for freshness to minimize fire hazard of dry needles.
Carefully follow the manufacturer’s instructions and safety precautions when installing lights or assembling displays.
Before reusing electrical devices that you have had in storage since last season, check for worn or frayed cords and breaks or brittleness, particularly at the plugs and connections. Replace defective lights and cords. Throw out any items with frayed wires or extension cords.
To avoid electrical overloads, use extension cords sparingly.
Outdoor displays require outdoor, exterior-rated extension cords, including fixtures, cords and bulbs.
Avoid running cords under rugs, through doorways or near furniture where they may be stepped on, tripped over or broken.
Do not place cords around or near metal pipes, appliances or anything that is damp or metal, and be certain to turn off electrical devices when making adjustments.
Avoid putting tree lights, ornaments and other small “mouth-size” decorations near the ground or on the lower limbs of a Christmas tree where they can easily be reached by a child.
Never leave a child unsupervised while cooking or when an electric or gas stove is within reach. Unattended cooking is one of the leading causes of home fires during the holidays.
Install or adjust outdoor electrical displays only during dry weather.
Set indoor and outdoor lights on a timer to help save on your electric bill.
Be sure to test smoke detectors monthly.
With the help of these safety tips, New Yorkers can easily identify and eliminate many of the potential problems that may arise during the holidays.
Con Edison wishes all of its customers a happy and safe holiday season. For more safety tips, log on to www.ConEd.com.
Marilyn Caselli is a Senior Vice President of Customer Operations at Con Edison
