11/23/2018
Christmas Light Safety: Island cares about keeping your home safe during this holiday season, many electrical fires are caused each year due to improper installation of Christmas lighting here are a few pointers to follow:
-When outdoor lighting is put up, ensure they are plugged into a GFCI receptacle (Ground Fault circuit interrupter). This kind of receptacle monitors the balance between the current carrying conductor and non current carrying conductor and will instantly trip at a unbalanced measurement of .5 milliamps which will prevent persons or pets from any type of electrical shock.
-Extention cords are a primary source of electrical shock hazards, fire hazards and physical trip hazards. Ensure to properly check your cords jacketing along with male and female connection points. The gauge (thickness) of the wiring inside the cord is key to handling the continuous load capacity and will also detour any voltage drop issues. This is the number one cause of almost all electrical related fires during the holiday season. Many new homes recently built have arc-fault circuit breakers for on all branch wiring which will detect an arc at extremely low levels, older homes to not have this type of technology.
-Receptacle loading and the use of PDU (power distribution strips) devices are also misunderstood, try not to load a bunch of items on a single receptacle of PDU, this will keep heat build up minimal.
-Energy Management and ease of lighting being turned on and off can be easily handled by a plug in receptacle time clock or the kind with an integral photocell sensor to automatically turn lighting on at night and off in the morning.
-Christmas tree's that are dry to include artificial and live are the second biggest cause of electrical fires, try to purchase tree lighting with inline fused protection. Most Christmas lighting is "series" wired which means electricity has to pass through each bulb to maintain continuity, if you have a strip of lighting that is out don't just disregard try to find the faulty bulb and replace it.
Hope this helps everyone this year!!!