News Release > Keep Safety First When Decking the Halls

Keep Safety First When Decking the Halls

11/25/2014

BATON ROUGE — The holidays are just around the corner and our thoughts are turning to festive times spent with family and friends. As you dust off the decorations and prepare to deck the halls, Entergy reminds you to keep safety as your top priority. Check out these important safety and energy-saving tips when lighting up the season.
 
Keep Your Distance
"Respect electricity at all times,” said Sheila Pounders, director of customer service. “If you’re putting up outdoor lights, stay away from overhead power lines and the line that brings service to your home. Use a fiberglass or wooden ladder that doesn’t conduct electricity, and never replace bulbs when the electricity is on.”

When outdoors, also make sure that the lights used are designated for outdoor use and keep connections and lights off the ground by hanging them over wooden stakes. For outside use, work only with three-wire grounded extension cords.
 
Complete Your Inspection
Always inspect your lights before you use them – if the cords are worn or frayed, throw them away. Make sure the lights have been tested for safety by an independent testing laboratory.

“Always make sure all of the light sockets have bulbs in them,” Pounders said. “Children are fascinated by lights and could put their fingers in empty sockets.

“Better yet, for greater efficiency and safety, use smaller, cool-burning LED lights,” Pounders said. “LED bulbs use up to 90 percent less energy than a traditional bulb to produce the same amount of light.”

Whichever type of lights you choose be especially careful not to overload extension cords, outlets or even whole circuits in the house.
 
Watch the Tree
One of every three home Christmas tree fires is caused by electrical problems. That’s according to the National Fire Protection Association, which notes that while Christmas tree fires are not common, when they do occur, they have a higher chance to be deadly. This NFPA video shows how flammable a dry Christmas tree can be as opposed to a tree watered regularly.

“A heat source too close to the tree causes about one in every six of the fires,” Pounders said. “Other causes are candles, electrical malfunctions and decorative lights.”

When decorating with live trees, keep your family safe by following these tips:

-If using a live tree, make sure it is fresh and green, with needles that are hard to pull from the branches.

-Place the tree in a stand with water, well away from heaters or the fireplace. Check water daily.

-Keep bulbs from touching tree branches. Never burn candles on or near the tree and never use flammable decorations.

-Never use lights on a metallic tree. If the lights become faulty, the entire tree could be electrified.

“Finally, whether your holiday lighting is indoors, outside or both, always turn holiday lights off when away from home or asleep,” Pounders added. “You’ll save money and help ensure a safe and happy holiday season.”

Entergy's Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. provide electric service to more than one million Louisiana customers. Additionally, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana provides natural gas service to nearly 93,000 customers in the greater Baton Rouge area. With operations in southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,000 employees.