With Halloween just around the corner, now is the perfect time to embrace the spooky spirit of the season by creating a thrilling outdoor lighting display. In addition to decorations, props, and maybe even a ghoul or two, outdoor Halloween lighting is an excellent way to transform your everyday day home into a haunted one just in time for trick or treaters. But the only thing more frightening than a homemade haunted house is one with Halloween lighting that wasn’t safely set up.
If not properly installed, Halloween lighting displays can quickly go from awe-inspiring to an electrocution or fire hazard. Furthermore, poorly placed extension and power cords can lead to injuries such as slips and falls. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), roughly 4,400 people in the United States sought emergency medical treatment for Halloween-related injuries in 2013.
With over 40 years of combined experience meeting the electrical needs of Lafayette, New Iberia, and surrounding communities, our team of skilled electricians is happy to provide Halloween tips to ensure your lighting displays are frightening, fun, and most importantly safe!
Here are three simple safety tips to safely and effectively set up your lights:
- Don’t overload your outlets: Most homes have more than one outdoor electrical outlet, so be sure to take advantage of all of them. Plugging too many lights into the same outlet can overload it and cause a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker. As spooky as this can be, it’s a pretty easy fix. Turn off all appliances in the room or area of the house where the lights went off and go to your home’s electrical panel. If you have a fuse box, fuses that show signs of damage such as burnt metal or discoloration need to be replaced. For circuit breakers, simply switch any breakers that have moved into the “off” position back “on”.
- Tape extension cords down and keep them away from heavy foot traffic: Extension and power cord safety is essential for any holiday lighting display, especially Halloween. If possible, keep cords away from high traffic areas such as driveways and sidewalks where unsuspecting trick or treaters can easily trip and fall over them. This can be prevented by taping cords down with duct tape. But before you even break out the duct tape, inspect your extension and power cords to ensure they’re in good condition, and never use cords that are meant to be used indoors outside. For added peace of mind, use lighting and cords that have been tested, reviewed, and approved for safety by respected laboratories such as the Underwriters Laboratory (UL).
- Use zip ties to fasten lights around your home: Before you reach for your hammer and nails, consider using zip ties to secure hanging lights. Zip ties can be used to keep hanging lights out of harm’s way. They’re perfect for fastening lights to fences, railings, banisters, tree branches, and more. Not only do they require just a few seconds to secure, but they leave absolutely no surface damage behind, unlike nails. For extra safety, consider the benefits of security lighting. While they’re not meant to be decorative, they can help keep your family and trick-or-treaters safe.
At Pipes and Plugs, LLC., we love Halloween just as much as you do. Our experienced Lafayette electricians are on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help you have some safe, frightening fun this Halloween with our lighting design expertise. Give us a call today to see how!
