A safe home should be a priority all year long. However, during the holiday season, there may be more potential hazards than during other times of the year. In addition, residents may be distracted by all the enjoyable seasonal activities and could overlook some very important safety measures.

Nothing puts a damper on the holiday spirit like damage to the home — or, worse, injuries to its occupants — due to hazards that could have been avoided. Here are a few things you can do to ensure a safe home during the upcoming holidays.

• Keep any flammable items at least 3 feet away from heating sources such as candles, furnaces, space heaters, stoves, and a fireplace that is in use.
• Do not plug space heaters into extension cords. They should always be plugged directly into a wall outlet.
• Don’t overload electrical circuits by joining more than three strings of holiday lights together. Also, inspect the light strings for melting or frayed insulation that could present a fire hazard.
• A fireplace adds warmth while enhancing the interior holiday atmosphere. If the chimney hasn’t been inspected in more than a year, schedule an inspection by a professional, this is important whether you have a wood burning, pellet, or gas fireplace. Also, before using the fireplace, make sure that the chimney damper is fully open for proper air circulation. A spark screen should be in place in front of the fireplace to prevent airborne sparks from causing a fire.
• Before you leave the house or go to bed for the night, always extinguish any candles, turn off lights on the Christmas tree and elsewhere, and unplug any space heaters to help ensure a safe home.
• Keep the cooking outside and don’t bring the grill inside during inclement weather. Charcoal and other cooking fuels emit deadly carbon monoxide in an indoor environment.
• If you’re not already doing so regularly every month, test the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the house.

A safe home means happy holidays for everyone. For professional inspection and service of your furnace and HVAC components this season, contact Jackson & Sons.