TEXARKANA-Southwest Electric Power Company encourages the public to pay attention to electrical safety during renovations during the holiday season.

SWEPCO provides the following seven safety tips:

n Before installing lights or other outdoor decorations, please look up and stay away from overhead power lines. Keep ladders, lights, tools, and yourself at least 10 feet away from the power cord.

n Check whether tree lights and outdoor lights are damaged before use every year. Discard lamps with frayed wires, loose connections, and damaged or broken sockets. Only use lights and extension cords that are safety certified by an accredited testing organization (such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL)).

n Choose extension cords, lights and other decorations suitable for indoor or outdoor use.

n Avoid overloading the wall outlet or extension cord due to excessive lights and decorations. Connect the light to a power board with multiple sockets and built-in circuit breakers.

n Do not lay electrical wires under the carpet, because daily walking and wearing will cause wear and overheating.

n Outdoor lights and decorations should be inserted into the circuit protected by the ground fault circuit breaker (GFCI)

n Turn off all holiday lights when leaving home or sleeping.

In order to save energy this holiday season, SWEPCO recommends using LED (Light Emitting Diode) string lights.

"LED string lighting uses about 90% less energy than standard incandescent string lights, which means that the cost of lighting a typical tree with LEDs is about $1 per season," said Chelsea Adcock, SWEPCO Consumer Program Marketing Coordinator .

"The upfront cost of LED holiday lights is a bit more expensive than incandescent lights, but the cost can usually be recovered with the energy savings of the first year. LED lights generate much less heat and feel cool to the touch. This is also a good safety feature, and It can last up to 10 years."

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