The time has come to dust off the old poinsettia you used last year. Hang up the same Christmas star and decorate outside with the same Christmas lights, before watching the same movie as last year. In 2021, we imported Christmas tree lighting for a whopping NOK 117 million into Norway, according to Statistics Norway. But the Christmas tree lighting can also cause trouble, and then it is not necessarily energy saving or the relationship with neighbors that is at stake. December and January are also the months in which there are the most house fires. Photo: Eivind Aabakken / news – Fire safety is important. I don’t want anything to happen, says Jarle Henning Norevik. He usually hits the snare drum when it comes to Christmas lights, but also takes a number of precautions to ensure that the house will stand for next Christmas as well. Good fuses, distributing the consumers over several fuses and making sure that the plug with the transformer is not covered by the combustible material, are some of these. Turn off the lights when you sleep Thinking about fire safety when decorating for Christmas is important, according to the professionals. Especially at night. – You have no control because you were asleep. If something goes wrong with the electrical system, you suddenly have a fire going on that you don’t notice until it may be too late. That’s according to emergency manager at Kinn, Robert Endestad. He emphasizes that all Christmas lights should be switched off at night or when you are not at home. Ten tips for safe Christmas lighting Check and switch off – these are the words you have to think about when making the Christmas lighting safe. Check that the cables are intact and that the bulbs work on the Advent stake, Christmas tree lights and other decorations you reuse year after year. Turn off all the lights at night – even when you are not at home. Check that there is no overheating in contacts or connections before going to bed. Do not let cables get pinched in doors or windows. If the brightness of the bulbs in a multi-arm Advent candlestick is uneven, it is a sign that something is not right. Then the bulbs should be changed. Always follow the instructions for use and do not use the lighting for anything other than what it is designed for. Old Christmas tree lighting can generate high heat. If they seem too hot, replace them. Never use light bulbs that are stronger than what the Christmas decorations are designed for. It is a fire hazard to place advent stars and double-armed candlesticks next to curtains or other Christmas decorations. Do you have outdoor Christmas lights? Remember to use skate guides that are intended for outdoor use. (Source: Frende Forsikring/Brannvernforeningen) A Christmas stake in itself is not that dangerous if everything works as it should. But for most of us, the Christmas tree only gets to see the light of day in the last month of the year. The rest of the year he is packed away, stored away in a box or in an attic. Then there may quickly be defects you haven’t seen, such as faults in the wiring and unstable light bulbs, when you first take it out. – There is a lot that can happen with electrical things that have not been checked properly before they are set up, says the emergency manager. Photo: news Even Kjetil Aspelund works in the Norwegian Electricity Authority as a supervisory engineer. He supports the emergency manager in Kinn that you should switch off the Christmas lights at night, even if they are more recent. Led is almost as scary as a slightly older type of light with halogen or incandescent bulbs. The big question, however, is whether the light is actually completely fine or not – after 11 months in the shed or in the attic. You should not take that chance without checking things thoroughly first. – There can be wear and tear, and then there can be a bad connection and cause a fire, says Aspelund. Aspelund in the Norwegian Electricity Authority says no to Christmas lights at night. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news He advises people to walk over power lines to see that there is no damage. If there is damage, you should not fix them yourself. Then they should be thrown away. Customer advisor at Gjensidige forsikring in Sogndal, Daniel Kvåle, agrees with both Aspelund and Endestad that the Christmas lights should be turned off at night. He says that the insurance still mostly covers fires that come from Christmas lighting. But irresponsible use of decorations that can get you into trouble with the insurance company, if the accident happens. – If you have connected wires to sockets that don’t look very good, make your own arrangements with old skate wires, use older types of lights or older candlesticks that are seen as very irresponsible, you will have problems, says Kvåle.
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That’s why you should turn off the Christmas lights at night – news Vestland
