New York Knows Tips for May’s National Electrical Safety Month

There are probably a few things that you are (currently) not doing at your home which could be a risk for fire. Yes, you hear the commercials, and you might hear about one or two people a year that have their home catch on fire because of a random electrical issue.

Why not take a few steps to prevent it? A bit of caution now can mean being safe later.  Here are a few things that you can do any time of the year, not just during National Electrical Safety Month:

Does everything start with batteries in smoke detectors?

You get two reminders a year to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, but do you, do it?  Do you do it at the time change? Or just when they start beeping? Take two minutes to make sure that they work.

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READ MORE: Reasons You Really Should Lock Your Car

Are power strips and extension cords always to blame for electrical incidents?

Make sure to avoid overloading your outlets. This was a surprise to me, but only because my dad is the King of using those three-prong things that go into a two-prong outlet. Do you know the ones that make a two-input outlet become a five-outlet input?

READ MORE: What to never plug into a power strip? 

Make sure you check where your power cords lie. Are your cords trip hazards? Can you run the cords along the side of the wall and not leave them right in the spots where everyone ends up walking? Also, make sure that you haven't just put rugs over your power cords. The friction of people walking all over the top of the cords actually degrades the shielding on the cords.

Do you have any tips that you want to share with us to get our homes in tip-top shape for Electrical Safety Awareness Month? Email them to us.