Lighting Checks Before Winter

Winter is when the power is most likely to fail and when the failure hurts most: the dark comes early, the house is cold, and the phone is your only line to the outside world. The single most useful thing you can do before winter is check your lighting. Keep a battery or wind-up torch and spare batteries at home, because torches are safer than candles¹. Make sure you have more than one torch, along with extra batteries, so a flat battery in one does not leave you in the dark².

Then deal with the candles. Candles start 850 accidental fires in the home every year in England³, and around 30% of fires started by candles and attended by fire and rescue services result in death or injury⁴. If you keep candles at all, keep them for the table and the power cut, not for the bedroom, and put them out before you leave the room or go to bed⁵.

Finally, look at anything electrical that only comes out in winter: the fairy lights, the outdoor Christmas lights, the electric blanket. Lights that are damaged, old, misused, or plugged into overloaded adaptors or extension leads can cause electric shock or fire⁶. A ten minute check now is easier than a fire in December.

Your winter lighting checklist

Work through this list once, before the clocks change, and again if a warning is issued. Each item takes minutes and each one is there because the guidance says so.

1. A battery or wind-up torch for every floor. Keep a light or torch handy in case of a power cut or failure⁸.
2. Spare batteries that fit your torches. Make sure you have spare batteries if the torch is battery operated⁹. A torch with a flat battery is a paperweight.
3. Multiple torches, not one. Make sure you have multiple torches along with extra batteries².
4. A torch by every bed. The NHS suggests a lamp, night light or torch by the bed in case you need to get up during the night¹⁰. This is the item most households forget.
5. A charged power bank. Keep a charged power bank, a torch and spare batteries at home, and keep important telephone numbers written down somewhere accessible¹¹.
6. A wind-up radio. Basic supplies should include a wind-up radio to get updates during a power cut¹².
7. Battery tea lights or LED candles if you want candlelight. LED candles and lights, battery or wind-up torches are safer products to light your home¹³.
8. A check of every candle holder. Always burn tea lights in or on a suitable, non-flammable holder on a heat resistant surface⁷.
9. A check of the Christmas lights before they go up. Look for damage, age and overloaded adaptors before you plug anything in⁶.
10. A decision about where candles are allowed. Not in bedrooms, and not anywhere you might fall asleep⁴.

Why a battery or wind-up torch beats a candle

Use battery-operated lights or torches as an alternative light source during a power cut¹⁴. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service put the reason plainly: use a standing electric torch or battery-powered lights, because candles are a fire risk¹⁵. The government's own preparedness campaign says the same: keep a battery or wind-up torch and spare batteries at home, and torches are safer than candles¹.

The difference is not about how much light you get. It is about what happens when you are tired, distracted or asleep. A torch that falls over goes out. A candle that falls over lands on the carpet, the curtain or the wrapping paper, and it keeps burning. That is why the National Risk Register lists a torch and batteries, which is safer than candles, among the basic supplies a household should keep¹.

There is a practical side too. A torch can be stood on its base to light a room, hung from a hook, or worn on your head to leave your hands free. The NHS, writing to families of children who depend on medical equipment, recommends chargeable lamps and headtorches because they allow your hands to be free for care, and suggests getting them early in case of shortages in the shops¹⁶. The same logic applies to anyone changing a fuse, lighting a boiler or helping an older relative in the dark.

If you want the look of candlelight without the risk, battery LED candles are the obvious answer. LED candles and lights, battery or wind-up torches are safer products to light your home, and it is much safer to use an LED candle or torch to light your way¹³. For more on choosing between the two, see LED Candles or Real Candles: Which Is Safer?.

Candles cause around 850 house fires a year in England

The figure is stark and it is official: 850 accidental fires in the home are started every year in England from candles³. Fire services across the country see the same pattern locally. North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service says candles cause over 800 fires in UK homes every year¹⁷. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service attends over 20 fires every year caused by candles¹⁸, and responds to 20 fires every year caused by candles¹⁹.

The consequences are worse than the numbers suggest. Around 30% of fires started by candles and attended by fire and rescue services result in death or injury⁴. That is roughly one in three candle fires that a fire crew attends ending with someone hurt or killed.

Candles are not the only winter ignition risk, and it helps to see them in context. In England alone, there have been 254,030 accidental dwelling fires over the last ten years²⁰. December is the worst month: the number of accidental fires in the home spiked in December 2015, with an average of 102 fires per day in England, an 11% increase on the average number of fires during other months of the year⁶. Some of the other causes are worth knowing because they share the same fix, which is to check your electrical kit before winter. Faulty electric blankets cause 5,000 fires a year²¹, and 12,000 chimney fires occur every year on average in the UK²¹.

Where candles must never go, and how to burn them safely

If you are going to keep candles for a power cut, treat them like a small open fire, because that is what they are. The rules below come from UK fire and rescue services and from the government's fire safety guidance, and they are not optional.

Where they must never go:

• Not in bedrooms, and not anywhere you might fall asleep. Don't use candles in bedrooms or anywhere where you might fall asleep⁴. The London Fire Brigade adds that if you do use candles, take extra care, and always put them out before leaving the room or going to bed⁵.
• Not near anything that can catch fire. Never burn a candle on or near anything that can catch fire, and never use a candle as a nightlight²².
• Not in a draught. Always burn candles in a well-ventilated room, out of drafts, vents or air currents, which helps prevent rapid or uneven burning, soot and dripping²³.
• Not unattended, ever. Never leave a lit candle alone¹⁴, and never leave burning candles unattended: always extinguish before going to sleep and be sure the wick ember is no longer glowing²².

How to burn them if you must:

• Put candles in a holder and keep them away from things that may burn, and never leave them burning when you are not in the room²⁴.
• Always make sure candles are in a suitable holder and away from anything flammable²².
• Always burn tea lights in or on a suitable, non-flammable holder on a heat resistant surface⁷.
• If you must use naked flames, take extra care and make certain that they are put out before you go to bed²⁵.

Candles, children and fancy dress

Children and naked flames do not mix, and the fire services are direct about it: keep children away from any naked flames, including sparklers²⁶. Halloween is the pinch point. The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service advises avoiding a naked flame or candle in pumpkins and using a torch, glow stick or battery-operated candle instead²⁶. Take extra care to keep candles out of reach of small children or pets¹⁵.

The same applies at Christmas and at birthdays. If a child is in fancy dress, use battery lights, not candles, and check the costume label. For more on this, see Torches, Candles and Children: Keeping Them Safe and Should You Use Battery Tea Lights in a Pumpkin?.

Check electrical lights and decorations for faults before winter

Winter brings out the electrical kit that sits in a box for eleven months, and that is exactly when faults show. Electrical Safety First warns that lights which are damaged, old, misused, or plugged into overloaded adaptors or extension leads can cause electric shock or fire⁶. Before you put anything up, check the plug, the cable and every bulb, and replace rather than repair anything that looks worn.

Sockets matter as much as the lights. The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service says never overload sockets and always turn Christmas lights off before going to bed or if you are leaving the house, and reminds households to use one plug per socket⁷. If your electricity does go off, check that other electrical appliances and machinery are switched off at the wall²⁵, so that nothing surges or restarts unexpectedly when the power returns.

There is a wider point about winter electrical load. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service attends around 60 fires each year which start from an electrical issue, such as a laptop or desktop PC, wiring or cables¹⁹. Charging phones, power banks and torches adds to that load, so charge during the day when you are awake and unplug when done. For more, see Charging and Storing Rechargeable Torches Safely and Should You Unplug Fairy Lights at Night?.

Keeping the kit ready through the winter

A checklist is only worth the state of the kit behind it. Do a five minute pass at the start of winter and again after any long power cut.

• Test every torch. Switch each one on, check the beam and the switch, and note which batteries it takes.
• Check the spares. Make sure you have spare batteries if the torch is battery operated⁹.
• Keep the power bank charged. A charged power bank, a torch and spare batteries at home can provide reassurance¹¹.
• Write the numbers down. Keep important telephone numbers written down somewhere accessible¹¹, because a phone with a flat battery cannot look them up.
• Tell everyone where the kit lives. Make sure everyone in your home knows where the torches and batteries are kept²⁷.
• Watch for warnings. The Met Office issues weather warnings that flag power cuts in advance, and its advice is to gather torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items before the weather arrives²⁸. Warnings are published for all four nations, and the arrangements for reporting a loss of power differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so check your network operator's number before winter rather than during an outage.

For the wider picture, see Emergency Lighting at Home: Torches, Lanterns and Candles and Lighting Your Home Safely When the Power Goes Off. If you would like someone to check your home fire safety, your local fire and rescue service offers free home fire safety visits.