Electrical Safety and Halloween Decorations

Greenville, AL, October 1, 2010

More and more people decorate their yards for Halloween with elaborate lighting displays with as much enthusiasm and materials as they do for the Christmas holidays! Strings of decorative lights, fog machines, strobe and black lights, animatronics, electrically powered decorations and more all add to the ambience of your haunt, but improperly used, can create added dangers of fire, shock and other potentially disastrous accidents.

Pioneer Electric wants to urge everyone to use caution and look for potential hazards while decorating and operating these displays. 

“Many of these decorations have been packed away since last year in basements, garages and sheds,” says Jason Settle, Pioneer’s VP of Engineering and Operations. “Weather, time and even mice can damage cords and insulation on electric decorations, making them unsafe. Make sure you discard any damaged sets and buy new.”

Pioneer Electric offers these tips:

• Carefully inspect each electrical decoration. Cracked or frayed sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may cause a serious shock or start a fire.
• Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house walls, or other firm supports to protect the lights from wind damage. Use only insulated staples to hold strings in place, not nails or tacks. Never staple or nail through light strings or electrical/extension cords, as the damage to the wire or insulation could lead to an electrical shock or fire. You can also run strings of lights through small hooks (available at hardware stores).
• Don't overload extension cords or allow them to run through water or snow on the ground.
• Before using any light strings, animated displays or other electrical products outdoors, make sure the product is approved by a nationally recognized certification organization such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and marked "for outdoor use."
• Follow the use and care instructions that accompany your electrical decorations. Most light sets and props will include how many can be safely strung together. Use no more than three standard-size sets of lights per single outlet.
• Don't use electrical decorations or light strings on materials that could catch fire.
• Plug outdoor electric lights and decorations into outlets protected by ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). If your outdoor outlets don’t have them, portable GFCIs should be used.
• Lastly, turn off all electrical light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed.

Avoid Halloween electrical spooks to keep it scary and safe!

For more information and videos about electrical safety, visit www.pioneerelectric.com and visit our electrical safety section under “Our Programs.”  Angela Green is the Communications Specialist at Pioneer Electric Cooperative.  Her monthly “Thinking Green” editorials can be found in Alabama Living Magazine.