An electrical fire can happen at any time of the year, but they do seem to happen more frequently during the holiday season. Dry trees, too many things plugged into one outlet, or a thousand other things can help ignite electrical fires and we want to make sure that they never happen to you.

Here are 8 electrical tips to stay safe this holiday season:

Purchase only UL-rated Lights

Lights that have an UL-rating are deemed safe for everyday use in homes. We also recommend that you only purchase UL-rated decorations that light up as well, to decrease your risk of fire.

Use Caution with Outdoor Decorations

All those cute indoor decorations might also look cute outside, but you are taking a risk when you expose those items to the elements. Any moisture or precipitation can cause electrical shocks and fires to start. We also want to encourage you to plug any outdoor decorations into GFCI outlets with covers, so that everything will turn off automatically if they do happen to get wet.

Check for Damage

Over time, strands of lights or the cords on other decorations can deteriorate or fray. We urge you to throw those items out instead of taking a risk and using them for just one more season.

Use the Same Wattage when Replacing Bulbs

Not everyone keeps a stash of replacement bulbs in their house for the holidays, which is why it is so common for people to try to replace bulbs with what they have on hand. Unfortunately, this can cause fires, especially if you use a wattage that is higher than what is recommended.

Plugging in Too Much

Yes, you may love that your house looks like the North Pole, but please be careful as to how much you are plugging into each circuit. We recommend finding out exactly how many items you can plug into each outlet before you start decorating.

Use Caution with Extension Cords

Extension cords are great, because they allow you to plug things in further away from an outlet. However, you can easily overload these cords, especially if you use them for more than one item. These have the same rules as regular outlets, which means that you need to know how much they can handle before you start plugging away.

Turn Off Lights at Night

Those holiday lights might be pretty, but they need as much of a break as you do. We do not recommend leaving them on all day and all night and we feel strongly about the necessity of turning them off before you go to bed. After all, during the day, you can catch issues much faster since you are awake. At night, those same issues can quickly get out of control as you snore softly under your covers.

Keep Real Trees Watered

Real trees can dry out quickly, and when that happens, the lights on them can cause them to catch on fire. While we recommend watering your tree at least once a day, you can also install one of those automatic watering gadgets to do it in between.

Electrical fires are quite dangerous, because sometimes they can burn deep within the walls of your home for a little bit before you become aware of them. If you follow these tips this holiday season, and the rest of the year, you will lessen your chances of becoming a victim to these fires.