How to Keep Your Home Safe This Holiday Season

Happy holidays! The end of the year seems to be one celebration after another; starting with Thanksgiving and ending with New Years. These holidays are associated with family gatherings, lots of food and tons of decorations. With the additional decorations, homeowners should be aware of the dangers certain decorations may have. We offers these four tips to make your holiday season as safe as possible.
1) Be Extra Careful Where You Put CandlesHaving an open flame in your home always increases the risk of an accident. If you have children or pets, make sure your candles aren’t easily tipped over by a wagging tale or errant toddler. And, as commonsense as this is, don’t use real candles to decorate your Christmas tree; it could lead to a fire.
2) Keep Your Lights SafeDo your neighbor’s lights dim when you turn on Rudolph’s nose? While you might be warning low flying aircraft of their ground proximity, having too much power going to your decorations could be dangerous. When untangling your mass of light strands, look to make sure the cords are in good shape. If the cords look worn, you should replace that light strand. If you are putting lights up on your house, use staples or clips to hang the lights instead of nails; this will keep you from puncturing the wires.
3) Purchase Safe DecorationsAn elf wearing felt clothes holding a candle may be the perfect holiday decoration, but is it safe? If you are buying a decoration that uses electricity, make sure you buy one that was tested by an independent lab, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL). And never leave any electric decoration unattended—unplug them when you leave the home or go to sleep.
4) Don’t Burn Dinner!When trying to entertain a large group, it’s easy to become distracted with all the conversations going on and trying to spend time with everyone. Not only will your guests appreciate an un-burned meal (we all know how Christmas dinner turned out in “A Christmas Story”) but unattended cooking could lead to a fire.
With New Years just around the corner, it’s a good time to check your homeowners insurance policy. While we all plan to have a great holiday season, nobody plans on losing their home in a fire; which is why it is important to check your homeowners insurance policy at least once a year. If you’re looking for a new policy, compare homeowners insurance quotes using InsWeb.com. Once again, happy holidays.