The 12 Days of Electrical Safety: Our Tips For a Warm, Worry-Free Holiday Season

The holidays are a time for gathering, decorating, cooking, and staying cozy – but they can also be a time when electrical systems work overtime! From plug-in decorations to cold-weather heating, a little preparation goes a long way in keeping your home bright and safe.

With this in mind, we’ve come up with our top seasonal safety tips to help you enjoy a comfortable, stress-free holiday. Think of it as the 12 Days of Christmas, EB Horsman & Son style!

Holiday lights look magical after dark, but they don’t need to be on around the clock. A timer or smart plug lets you schedule lights to turn on at dusk and switch off automatically at bedtime, so you’re not wasting energy or worrying that a string has been left on all night.

Extra cooking, appliance use, and more people sleeping under one roof all increase the importance of up-to-date alarms. Modern combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors offer reliable sensing and clear alerts, helping you catch problems early so everyone can rest easier during overnight visits.

Before you hang a single strand, give every set of lights a quick inspection. Look for frayed wires, cracked sockets, or broken bulbs, especially on older strings that have been coiled in storage for years. Swapping out aging incandescent bulbs for modern LEDs can also reduce heat and energy use while giving you brighter, crisper holiday lighting.

It’s tempting to plug multiple decorations, speakers, chargers, and small appliances into one outlet, but that’s a common way to create overheating and trip breakers. Using a quality, surge-protected power bar spreads the load safely and offers extra protection for your electronics if voltage fluctuates.

Indoor extension cords simply aren’t built for snow, rain, and freezing temperatures. For outdoor inflatables, light-up figures, and roofline lighting, choose cords designed for exterior use so they can handle moisture, abrasion, and cold without breaking down. The right outdoor-rated cord keeps power flowing safely to your holiday display.

Before the house fills up with guests (and extra cords, slow cookers, and kettles), take a minute to test the GFCI outlets in your kitchen, bathrooms, garage, and any exterior plugs. Press the “TEST” button to make sure power cuts out, then press “RESET” to restore it. If an outlet doesn’t trip or won’t reset, that’s a sign to call a licensed electrician and get it looked at – especially in areas where water and electricity can come into contact.

Holiday cooking marathons mean lots of chopping, carving, and checking recipes. Good task lighting under cabinets or over work surfaces helps you see clearly, reduces eye strain, and makes it easier to handle knives and hot dishes safely. It also gives your kitchen a warm, welcoming glow when friends and family gather.

When temperatures drop, plug-in space heaters often get pressed into service in bedrooms, basements, and home offices. To stay safe, heaters should be on appropriately sized, dedicated circuits, kept clear of furniture and decorations, and never plugged into basic power strips. Where possible, upgrading to properly installed baseboard heating with a thermostat gives you steady, even warmth without the risks of portable units.

Holiday cooking, extra heaters, and festive lighting can put added pressure on your circuits. Taking a few minutes to clearly label which breaker controls each room, outlet, or key appliance makes it much easier to respond if something trips. In the event of an outage or overload, you’ll be able to restore power safely and quickly – without guessing in the dark or flipping switches at random.

Short winter days and icy paths can make it tricky for guests to find their footing, especially when they’re carrying gifts, food, or luggage. Adding low-level path lighting or step lights along walkways and stairs improves visibility, reduces the risk of slips, and adds a welcoming, festive feel to your home’s exterior.

From trees and garlands to mantel lights, holiday decor can be scattered throughout the house. Smart plugs make it simple to bring everything under control from your phone, grouping decor into scenes or schedules so lights and displays turn on together — and shutting down automatically when the evening winds down.

A well-timed winter storm can mean flickering lights or full outages right in the middle of a family dinner or movie night. Having backup lighting and a small uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for key devices keeps essentials running long enough to safely wrap up what you’re doing, stay connected, and move around your home without fumbling in the dark.

With thoughtful planning, the holidays can be as safe as they are joyful. Whether you’re decorating your home, preparing for gatherings, or managing winter weather, EB Horsman & Son offers trusted electrical and lighting products to help keep your household bright and protected all season long.

Need help choosing the right products or upgrading your home’s electrical safety? Reach out to your local branch – our experts can help you design a safer, smarter holiday setup from the panel to the very last strand of lights.