Holiday light control made easy with smart plugs and kits

INDIANAPOLIS (CONSUMER REPORTS) — Holiday homes are turning into winter wonderlands with lights, music, and, in some cases, a lot more! Products to help manage your lights and kits can offer some extra fun this season.

Consumer Reports says the simplest way to control your holiday lights is honestly with a smart plug. They’re affordable, work with popular home assistants like Alexa and Google Home, and are really simple to set up to turn on and off at your specific sunrise and sunset times.

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.

Some smart plugs even offer energy-monitoring features and safety alerts. This is especially important because 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.

Before decorating, inspect all of your lights, extension cords, and plugs to ensure 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.

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