Christmas tips
From twinkling fairy lights to electrical gifts, it’s important to stay safe with your loved ones and enjoy an accident-free festive season.
Christmas can bring its share of electrical dangers such as overloaded sockets, dodgy fairy lights, or poor-quality gifts bought from third-party sellers online.
Whether you’re cooking up a festive feast, or displaying your outdoor lights, it’s important to stay safe and take steps to prevent potential electrical hazards.
Follow our top tips for a truly magical Christmas.
- If you have a real tree, keep it well watered. Real Christmas trees can catch fire a lot quicker than a fire-retardant artificial one. They can absorb up to one litre of water per day, don’t let it dry out.
- Use electrical beauty products safely, especially ones that can get hot such as hair tongs and hair dryers when getting ready to go out for those Christmas parties.
- Unplug Christmas lights when you're not there and overnight. They brighten up the home but can be an electrical safety risk.
- Avoid overloading sockets and extension leads as you brighten up your home with decorations.
- Keep flammable objects such as tea towels or utensils away from the hob when cooking up a festive feast.
- If a kitchen appliance is not in use, unplug it.
- Buy your electrical Christmas presents from reputable retailers. Safe shopping,especially online, helps you steer clear of counterfeit and fake electrical products.
- Buy e-bikes and e-scooters from reputable retailers and only use the original charger that comes with the product.
- Keep a portable electric heater at least one metre from combustible materials, such as paper, furniture or curtains.
Potential risks
Watch our videos on the potential risks involved around the home during the Christmas period.
Keep your home safe this Christmas.
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Keep your home safe this Christmas.
Download our free checklist, produced in conjunction with the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT).
In our product safety section
Stay safe with electrical products
Check plugs and sockets
Don't ignore burn marks, ‘arcing’ (buzzing or crackling) sounds, fuses blowing, circuit-breakers tripping, or if it feels hot to touch.
Unplug and contact the retailer, manufacturer, or a qualified repair technician.
Protect with an RCD
An RCD (residual current device) in your consumer unit (fusebox) protects you from electric shocks if a product is faulty.
If you don’t have RCD protection, use an RCD plug on the socket where the product is plugged in.
Fit smoke and heat alarms
Ensure there is at least one smoke or heat alarm per floor in your property. Fit enough alarms to cover all areas where a fire could start.
Test alarms at least once a month. Replace them every ten years or when the replace by date is reached.
Selected FAQs
Answers to commonly-asked questions we receive about electrical safety.
You should contact either Trading Standards or Citizens Advice to register your concern.
If you want to forward us supporting documentation and images relating to the product, we can objectively review its safety. Send it to enquiries@electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk
If you have purchased an electrical product that you believe to be unsafe, you should contact the manufacturer to let them know of your concerns.
If they do not deal with this to your satisfaction, you should report the product to your local Trading Standards Office and they will be able to investigate further.
We recommend that you register all of your electrical appliances so that, in the event of a problem, the manufacturer can contact you to let you know about it. You can find out more here.
We recommend you don't bring home electrical products purchased from outside the UK.
However, an EU conversion plug could make some appliances safe for use in the UK:
- Check if the type of conversion plug is suitable for use with the EU plug.
- Follow manufacturer's instructions when fitting a conversion plug.
- Remember, travel adaptors are not a suitable or safe alternative.
- If the plug is not suitable for conversion, replace the appliance with a UK product.
To find a registered electrician near you, please go to the Find an Electrician section of this website where you will find information specific to your region of the UK.
Electrical products are recalled more regularly than you might think, but the response rate to a recall is often worryingly low. This means there are potentially millions of recalled electrical items still in UK homes.
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