Christmas is a wonderful time of year: decorations, lights, laughter, guests and all the festive trimmings. But with the added electrical load in homes – extra lights, more plugs, new devices and seasonal heating – the risk of an electrical fire rises. According to the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), the risk of a home fire in England is about 53% higher on Christmas Day than on an average day, and there is a 10% uplift in risk across December.
In this post, we explain how you can keep your home safe from electrical fires this Christmas, and how to spot signs that decorations or electrical items may need replacing.
Why Christmas Time Means Greater Electrical Risk
Several factors increase the risk:
– More appliances and lighting in use for longer periods (for example, extra fairy lights, outdoor lights, new gifts being charged, more cooking)
– Homes may have older wiring or sockets coping with new demands
Decorations (often made from flammable materials) are placed near heat sources or overused.
– Items left switched on overnight or when the house is empty, for example, one survey found over three million households in the UK leave their Christmas tree lights on all the time or overnight, exposing themselves to a fire risk.
– New items bought online or from unfamiliar retailers may lack adequate safety certification
How to Keep Your Home Safer This Christmas
1. Inspect Lights & Decorations
- Ensure fairy lights, outdoor lights and tree lights have a recognised safety mark (for example, the British Standard or UKCA mark).
- Check for signs of damage, frayed wires, cracked insulation, exposed conductors, loose plugs or sockets.
- Avoid daisy-chaining extension leads (plugging one into another) or overloading sockets.
- Always switch off and unplug lights and decorations when you go to bed or leave the home. According to fire-safety research, leaving.
- Christmas tree lights on overnight is a common fire risk.
2. Position Decorations Safely
- Keep trees well-watered if real, as a dry tree can ignite quickly.
- Do not place decorations too close to heaters, radiators, fireplaces or candles.
- Avoid placing flammable decorations on or near light strings or sockets.
- Outdoor lighting should be properly rated for exterior use and used with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)/Residual Current Device (RCD) if required.
3. Use Power Sources Responsibly
- Use good quality, properly fused plugs and sockets. Beware cheap, uncertified items.
- Only one high-drawing device (e.g. a heater) per socket is advisable; multiple devices may cause overheating or overloading.
- If an extension lead feels warm to the touch when in use, switch it off and investigate.
- Ensure any new device or present is compatible with UK plug and wiring standards rather than relying on adapters or foreign plugs.
4. Smoke Alarms
- Ensure you have working smoke alarms on each level of your home and test them weekly. This is especially important given the higher fire risk in December.
- Plan and communicate a fire escape route with your family or guests.
- Know how to operate fire blankets or extinguishers if you have them.
- Never ignore signs of overheating sockets, blinking circuit breakers, or frequent tripping.
Signs Your Decorations/Electrical Items May Need Replacing
- Lights that flicker, go out entirely, or cause sockets to trip the circuit breaker.
- Wires that are brittle, cracked or show copper conductors.
- Plugs or sockets that feel hot to the touch or show burn marks.
- Extension leads or power strips with scorched slits, burn marks or melted plastic.
- Tree lights or strings that have been used for many years without inspection.
- Decorations sold as second-hand or bought cheaply from unknown online sellers with no safety mark.
- Any item that fails when you plug it in, trips a fuse or emits a burning smell.
When in doubt, replacement is far cheaper than a fire claim. Poor quality or damaged decorations are one of the contributing factors to the rise in electrical fires during the festive season. Find out more here.
Keeping Your Home’s Electrics Safe
At JPR Electrical, we are always happy to help if you would like advice on your home’s wiring, inspection of your sockets or any electrical work ahead of the festive season. A quick professional check can bring peace of mind and help you celebrate safely.
