Home Security

Holiday Safety Tips To Keep The Season Merry and Bright

By Ring on December 10, 2022

It’s that time of year again when your home becomes a workshop, banquet hall, and cookie factory. And amid the excitement of bustling family gatherings, hours of careful gift wrapping, and marathon movie sessions with your little ones, it can be easy to forget one of the most important items on your to-do list — brushing up on home safety for the holidays.

Luckily, you don’t need any holiday magic to keep your winter wonderland safe and secure. Follow our top five holiday safety tips to help protect your home (and all the little elves inside) this festive season.

Tips for Staying Safe During the Holidays at Home

If you’re planning to stay in with plenty of hot cocoa and fluffy blankets this year, here are some holiday safety tips to help ensure your home stays as safe as it is cozy.

Follow Decorating Safety Guidelines

Nothing says “the holidays are finally here!” quite like a home covered in twinkling lights, garland, and tinsel. But before you pour yourself an extra big cup of coffee and pull out the ladder on decorating day, make sure you know these safety guidelines we collected for you:

Inspect all indoor and outdoor lights for frayed or bent wires, broken or loose bulbs, burn marks, or broken sockets before you hang them.

Look for flame-resistant labels on all your decorations, especially artificial garlands and trees, and don’t place any flammable items near candles or fireplaces.

Keep breakable ornaments, small toys, poisonous mistletoe, and holly berries away from kids and pets.

Only use a ladder — not a lawn chair or wobbly railing — to hang lights and decorations outside, and have a family member or neighbor act as a spotter when you use an extension ladder.

Unplug all your electric decorations before leaving home or going to bed.

Watch Out for Common Fire Hazards

Some of the best holiday traditions involve fire, from lighting a menorah or advent wreath to gathering fireside and singing carols on chilly winter nights. These tips we gathered can help ensure extra sparks don’t fly and add too much excitement to your festivities:

Before you fill your home with the nostalgic scent of a holiday candle or a warm glow from the fireplace, move any fire hazards out of the way — so you don’t end up with a burn hole in your stocking.

Keep your Christmas trees hydrated since dried-out trees catch fire and burn extremely quickly.

Avoid overloading your circuits. Plugging too much into one outlet can cause your breaker to trip or overheat your wiring system.

Your fireplace may seem like the perfect place to toss that extra wrapping paper after a busy morning exchanging gifts, but you might accidentally cause a chimney fire. Don’t burn anything that’s not seasoned, dry wood — that includes your Christmas tree!

Your fireplace may look just fine to you, but it takes an expert’s eye to notice safety hazards like creosote, cracks, or blockages. According to the National Fire Protection Association, you should have a professional inspect your fireplace, chimney, and vents once a year — and right before the holidays is the perfect time.

Cook Carefully

Executing the perfect holiday dinner is a tough task for even the savviest cooks — and if you’re not cautious, your carefully planned meal can turn into lumps of coal. We put together these holiday safety tips from experts like the Red Cross, CDC, and others to help prevent common kitchen mishaps, from tummy aches to singed aprons:

While stirring a pot of gravy or baking snowflake-shaped sugar cookies, never wear loose or dangling clothing.

Stay in the kitchen while you’re cooking. If you leave, turn off every burner and appliance.

After you slide a tray of cookies into the oven, set a timer, so you don’t lose track of time flipping through holiday recipes or wiping flour off the counters. Once you’re done baking, turn the oven off right away.

The smell of roasted brisket or simmering gravy is sure to draw your kids (and pets) straight into the kitchen, but you should always keep them away from hot appliances.

Move flammable items away from the stove while you’re cooking, so you don’t scorch your favorite holiday cookbook.

Clean your cooking surfaces regularly to prevent grease buildup.

Check your appliances before going out or heading to bed to ensure everything is turned off.

Be cautious when handling hot foods or liquids.

Know how to put out cooking fires. Your first instinct may be to pour water on the flames, but that can make the situation worse. Instead, place a lid over the pan and turn off the flame, or have baking soda handy to sprinkle over small grease fires. Turn off the oven and keep the door closed if your holiday casserole or cake catches fire. As a last resort, you can spray the fire with a class B fire extinguisher, but you should leave the kitchen and call 911 if fire and smoke start to spread quickly.

According to the CDC, you should always keep meat, seafood, and eggs away from other items in your shopping cart and refrigerator to avoid cross-contamination.

Cook meat thoroughly and avoid the “danger zone” (40–150 degrees Fahrenheit) to prevent bacteria growth.

Don’t sneak a bite after whipping up dough with raw eggs or flour (and wash your bowls and spoons quickly, so your kiddos don’t get tempted to lick them clean).

Wash your hands throughout the cooking process to prevent germs from spreading.

Holiday Home Security Tips

You don’t need to rig your house with icy steps, swinging paint cans, or a floor full of glass ornaments to keep unwanted visitors away. Here are a few tips to help keep your home and family safe while you get into the holiday spirit.

Install a Home Security System

Between last-minute grocery store trips, holiday shows at your little one’s school, and car rides searching for the best light display in town, you might spend more time away than at home around the holidays. But with a DIY security system, you can still keep an eye on things from afar. Your system will send notifications to your phone when a sensor gets triggered.

You can also use video doorbells and security cameras to see exactly what’s happening in and around your home, whether it’s a neighbor stopping by with a plate full of cookies or a delivery driver dropping off a package. After getting a Motion Alert, you can use your app to check Live View and chat with your visitors using Two-Way Talk.

If you have a Ring Alarm Security Kit, you can even add a Flood & Freeze Sensor to your system and get real-time alerts if there’s a leak or the temperature has dropped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. When you leave for a holiday road trip or a weekend visit to the in-laws’, you’ll have extra peace of mind that your pipes aren’t about to burst back home (which is especially helpful if you set the thermostat low to save some energy).

Looking for an extra level of security this holiday season? Learn more about the perks of DIY security systems, how they work, and the different ways you can customize them to fit your needs. Read Our Blog

Don’t Advertise Your Holiday Haul

One of the best parts of the holiday season is seeing the joy on your loved ones’ faces when they open a gift from their wish list. And if everyone is on the nice list this year, those gifts may be extra special — like the newest tablet, game console, or smart TV.

If you plan to do a lot of your shopping online this season, track your shipments and quickly bring them inside when they arrive, so you don’t have a huge box sitting in plain sight on your porch. The same rule applies once your family unpacks their new gifts and starts setting them up around the house. Empty boxes on the curb are like a billboard for the new electronics sitting inside — so you should always break them down and put them in garbage bags or cans before pickup.