Home safety for the upcoming holiday season

MERRILLVILLE, IN…

 To that end, it’s never too early to start preparing your home to be safe during the holiday season. That’s why DirectBuy, the leading members-only home improvement and home furnishings club, is offering some home safety tips to help homeowners get a head start.

“According to the National Safety Council, 45 percent of all unintentional deaths occur around the home. Add holiday items to the mix—lights, trees, candles, guests, etc.—and you up the ante on things that could possibly go wrong,” said Mike Georgeff, of DirectBuy. “By taking a few extra precautions, you can make your home that much safer, not only for the holiday season but the rest of the year.”

Some easy, cost-effective measures to improve safety in your home include:

• Regularly testing your smoke alarms and installing smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms on every level of your home -- especially near sleeping areas.

• Using insulated tape or plastic clips to hold outdoor lighting; be sure to keep electrical connectors off the ground and away from metal rain gutters.

• If your gas fireplace’s glass panel is cracked or broken, you’ll want to repair or replace it before using.

• Replace your furnace filter regularly during heating seasons.

• Keep candles away from your Christmas tree. If you’re going with a natural tree, select a freshly cut one, which are more resistant to ignition.

• Carefully inspect holiday light strings each year and get rid of any with frayed cords, cracked lamp holders, or loose connections. Be sure to unplug the light string when replacing light bulbs, too.

• Use a timer for your outdoor lights, turning them on after 7 p.m. to avoid the electricity rush hour. For indoor lights, never leave them on when your house is unattended or you are asleep.

• Never connect more than one extension cord together; instead opt for a single cord long enough to reach the outlet without stretching, but not so long that it can get easily tangled.

“The holidays are a special time of year that help foster memories that can last a lifetime,” said Georgeff. “By taking just a few precautions to be safe during the holiday, those memories can be for the special times you had and not a preventable tragedy.”

DirectBuy offers many products to help your home run more efficiently during the holiday season and the rest of the winter months—all at direct insider prices. In addition, DirectBuy also employs product specialists and designers, so if you need some assistance in selecting products or just a second opinion, you have seasoned professionals at your service.

For more information on a DirectBuy membership, you can visit http://www.directbuycares.com.

About DirectBuy

For more than 38 years, DirectBuy has been showing thousands of consumers unparalleled ways to save as they shop for virtually everything for in and around their homes – from furnishings, home improvement and flooring, to entertainment and outdoor products, accessories and much, much more. With more than 160 locations in North America, DirectBuy offers its members access to approximately 700 brand-name manufacturers and their authorized suppliers in the US, and more than 500 brand-name manufacturers and authorized suppliers in Canada.

Consumers interested in seeing DirectBuy’s savings, service and selection up close may obtain a Visitor’s Pass to attend an Open House by visiting www.directbuy.com or www.directbuycares.com.