Avoid Overloading Your Electrical Outlets

Web site Howstuffworks answers the age-old household safety question on everyone’s mind as they prepare to string lights up around every square inch of their home: How many things can you plug into an electrical outlet before it catches fire?

Say you’re using 2,000 watts of power with your holiday lights and other decorations. You divide that number by the volts in your house (usually 120) and you come up with 16.6 amps of current that you’re using. With a 20 amp electrical outlet, you’re using around 80 percent of the available current, which is the most you should be using per circuit.

According to the article, out of the 5,300 annual household electrical fires, about 2,000 of those occur over the holiday season. By getting a better idea of how household electricity works, you can avoid the danger and blown fuses caused by overloaded outlets.