6 on Your Side Consumer Confidence: Use smart plugs for safe holiday lights

6 on Your Side Consumer Confidence: Use smart plugs for safe holiday lights

6 on Your Side Consumer Confidence: Use smart plugs for safe holiday lights

(ABC 6 News) — Whether you want your holiday lights to dim or dazzle, a Wi-Fi-connected smart plug can help.

Consumer Reports shares some simple tech tips to ensure your home stays bright, beautiful, and safe all from an app on your phone or even your voice. One way is to use a smart plug, Consumer Reports’ Dan Wroclawski said.

“They’re affordable, they work with popular home assistants like Alexa and Google Home,” Wroclawski said. “They are really simple to set up to turn on and off at your specific sunrise and sunset times.”

Wroclawski said if you don’t have the tech skills to pull this off, there are products to help manage your lights and kits that can offer up some extra holiday fun this season.

Setting up a smart plug isn’t complicated. Most are set up using an app you download on your phone.

Once you create an account you can add your smart plug to the app. From there you can create routines to have your lights turn off and on automatically.

For outdoor lighting, choose a smart plug specifically rated for outdoors, like a top-rated one from Wyze. For indoor use, CR likes one from TP-Link.

Some smart plugs even offer energy-monitoring features and safety alerts… something that’s especially important this time of year!

“December is a leading month for home fires, – and fires involving Christmas trees and decorations can be especially damaging and deadly. – So it’s important to always make sure you have working smoke detectors.”

CR recommends a smoke detector from SimpliSafe.

Before decorating, inspect all of your lights, extension cords and plugs to make sure they are in good condition. Only use indoor extension cords and decorations inside!

Never overload your outlets, and always unplug all of your holiday lights before leaving home or going to bed.

Be careful when you’re hanging those holiday lights! Each year, almost 6,000 people visit the ER related to injuries from falls putting up holiday decorations!

Before you climb, put on sturdy shoes – and check your ladder for loose parts, sharp edges or bent rungs.