The holiday season is here! This is the time of year that many people spend time decorating their homes and preparing for family and get-togethers. However, being that we are currently in a Global Pandemic, there may be some adjustments you are making for this year’s Holidays. Let’s talk about how to get your home ready for the Holidays such as safety, keeping your home warm and comfortable, as well as ready for your family gatherings.

Decorating your home

According to the NRF (National Retail Federation) the average American spends around $230 on Christmas decorations every year. From Christmas lights, trees, ornaments, wall decorations, etc. One of the things that are often overlooked is when using all the extra electricity this time of year for the decorations it is important to be mindful of the capacity requirements the Christmas lights may need by using the right extension cords, making sure they are weather appropriate, etc.

Here are some safety tips to be mindful of:

Make sure you are using the appropriate lights for the environment they will be in. For example, don’t put outdoor lights on a Christmas tree, they typically run hotter than indoor lights and have been known to be a fire risk. Similarly using indoor lights for your outside decorations may not be safe.
Check your extension cords. Whether you are hanging Christmas decorations or not, always check the condition of your extension cords to ensure there is no exposed wiring that can cause electrical hazards. Additionally, it is a good idea to use outdoor extension cords to hang your Christmas lights.
Don’t overload your outlets. This is one of the most common Electrical safety issues found around this time of year. When you have several decorations or devices plugged into a single outlet you risk overloading the outlet. This, unfortunately, may cause a fire, electrical outage, or other problems. If possible, try to connect your lights from different outlets, and if using a power bar make sure it is in good condition.
Use a timer for your lights. Not only does having a timer for your Christmas lights save you on energy costs, but it’s also a great way to maintain safety. Especially when it comes to your Christmas tree, it is not safe to keep the lights on while you sleep.
Have a Ladder buddy! When hanging your Christmas lights, it’s always a great idea to have someone there with you to hold the ladder for you or hand you any items so that you can be properly positioned and balanced on the ladder.

Keep your home Safe & Comfortable

Spending a lot of time thinking about how we will decorate our home, what gifts we’re going to buy, who we’re going to have come over to our home for the Holidays, we may miss some important things on how we can keep our home safe and comfortable for the Holiday. Put these items on a checklist to make sure you don’t forget about them:

Do your furnace tune-up! Your Heating system is often something you forget about especially in the almost perfect weather we have in Southern California, however, there are times where it may get cold enough for you to turn on your Heating system. Unfortunately if by this time you haven’t done any service to your Furnace it may be too late. Call your local Heating & Air Conditioning professional to do your annual service to make sure your Furnace is up to safety standards so you can stay safe and comfortable in your home.
Planning to use your Chimney? It is important to do a visual inspection of your chimney to check for any signs that it may give you to service it. Some of the signs you want to look for are Black spots, odors coming from the fireplace, poorly burning fires.
Don’t use your oven to heat your home. This is not only an inefficient way of heating your home it is also very unsafe. Carbon monoxide poisoning can be deadly, and using the oven to heat your home puts you at high risk of doing so.
Smoke Alarms & Carbon Monoxide alarms. If you haven’t already changed the batteries on your alarms as you should yearly, make sure you replace them and test your alarms at least once a year. If the alarm is 10 years or older it is time to replace them.

When doing your Home Inspection with Diamond Property Inspections we are able to identify many of the items discussed above. We are able to provide you with our findings and the current condition of the home among recommendations on how to remedy them. Call us at (951) 351-1855 today to schedule your Home Inspection with Diamond Property Inspections in Riverside County or its surrounding cities.