Outlet Extenders
While Know Before You Buy Home Inspections loves Christmas and the decorations just like everyone else, we often see some signs of concern. In many homes that we will go into around the holidays, we begin seeing the ‘innovative’ ways people hang their Christmas lights. These ‘innovators’ will find any possible way to connect as many lights, trees, and decorations into a single outlet. This is where we see many homeowners using outlet extenders to allow for all the lights and decorations to power on together. However, these outlet extenders, especially the ones that are decades old sitting in your decorations bin all year, can cause catastrophic damage.
Outlet extenders are a very common solution to get power from a single outlet far away to the lights you are trying to power. We often see these outlet extenders ran multiple feet away from the outlet and have multiple things plugged into the single outlet. This is just asking for some type of short, whether it is from over-draw of power, a faulty outlet extender, or other possibilities. These shorts can cause a Christmas decoration to become kindling to your entire house right before the holidays. It is important to understand the risks of using these outlet extenders and oversupplying them with multiple different sources that draw power. A surge protector is a significantly safer option. We do realize that these might not enable you to turn on the lights that are across the room, but they do enable you to leave the lights on without the constant anxiety over starting a fire.
The Dangers Of Outlet Extenders
Remember, we are not trying to scare anyone away from decorating. We are trying to ensure you have the safest holiday possible, and minimize your risk of something catastrophic happening to your home. The purpose of this article is to inform people of the potential risks of outlet extenders to those who may not know. While you may have ‘done it this way for years,’ that does not mean it is safe. Also, using the same cord for years that is shoved into a bin for a year at a time. is probably playing with fire (metaphorically, of course). Know Before You Buy Home Inspections is dedicated to helping clients and potential readers stay safe over the 2022 Holiday Season. If you have a question about the safety of certain things, or have any other home related questions, feel free to reach out to Know Before You Buy Home Inspections online.
