Safety First – November 2025

Electricity powers modern life, but it is dangerous if not handled carefully. Check back here each month for new tips on how to stay safe around electric power at your home or business. If your house is the gathering spot this Thanksgiving holiday, electrical safety needs to be part of the meal plan.

• Burning the turkey is an obvious worry, but overloaded outlets can cause a kitchen fire.
• With oven and stovetop space at a premium during meal prep, cooks might turn to extra appliances that, when all used at the same time, can wreak havoc on the electrical system, overloading circuits, tripping breakers, and potentially damaging whatever is plugged in.
• Cooking appliances draw a sizable amount of electricity — about 10-12 amps for a roaster oven, 8-12 amps for a hot plate, and 2-6 amps for a slow cooker. These quickly add up to overloading the normal 20-amp outlet capacity.
• It’s tempting to turn to extension cords and multi-outlet splitters to plug in those extra appliances, but this is never recommended. A regular extension cord can handle about 13 amps, and unless you do the math right, extra appliances can quickly overload its capacity and even cause a fire.