Fall has fell, it is getting colder, and some of us need a little extra help with heating our homes. However, safety must be first and foremost on your mind when using any portable heater, such as electric heaters, wood burning stoves, or kerosene heaters.
Here are a few tips and tricks to keep you both warm AND safe this winter:
Fireplaces and Wood Burning Stoves
A wood stove should be placed on an approved stove board to protect your floor from heat and hot coals. Make sure the flue is open before lighting a fire, and NEVER EVER close the flue while a fire is still smoldering.
Use a fireplace screen to prevent any sparks from reaching out and igniting nearby objects. I know it is cozy to sit close to the fire wrapped in a blanket, or worse, a Snuggy, but be mindful of sparking onto fabric.
Never use gasoline or lighter fluid to start a fire. Duh!!!!
The immediate area in front of a fireplace (approximately 3 feet) should not have a rug, carpet or exposed wood flooring. Sparks DO fly occasionally.
When lighting a gas fireplace, strike your match first, then turn on the gas. You don’t want to turn on the gas first, giving it time to build up, and possibly blow up in your face.
Burn only dry, seasoned wood, and dispose of the cooled ashes in a closed metal container outside and away from your home. Green wood smokes and smells bad anyway!
Never leave a fire burning unattended in the fireplace.
Allow enough clearance between a wood burning stove and combustible materials such as walls, floors, ceilings and especially drapes
Portable Space Heaters (Electric/Ceramic)
When buying a space heater, look for a control feature that automatically shuts off the power if the heater falls over.
When buying a space heater, also look for a control feature which shuts off when the desired temperature is reached.
Never leave a heater on when you are not in the room or when you go to sleep, and do not leave children or pets unattended around any heating source. Unplug the heater when you are not using it.
Don't use an extension cord with an electric portable heater. The current to the heater could melt the cord and cause a fire. **Most portable heaters pull upward of 1000 watts
Don't plug more than one heating device into an outlet. Doing this is just asking for a blown fuse or fire
Never use electric heaters near water - as in your bathroom or near a water heater.
Kerosene Heaters (Which I Do Not Recommend)
Make sure the room has proper ventilation.
Fill your heater with only crystal clear, K-1 kerosene. Do not use any fluid that is not recommended for your heater. Refuel outside, and only after the heater has cooled down.
Check the wick every couple of weeks during the heating season. If the wick is dirty, clean it according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Because a kerosene heater has a constant open flame, it should not be used in a room where there are flammable solvents, aerosol sprays, gasoline or any type of oil.
I do not recommend using Kerosene heaters indoors due to the very real risk of fire, asphyxiation and death.
"According to the National Fire Protection Association, space heaters account for one-third of all home heating fires. The 2006 statistics reveal space heaters accounted for three-fourths of all deaths associated with home heating equipment. The statistics did not state any differences between portable and stationary units. "Home Fires Involving Heating Equipment," a report by John R. Hall published in January 2009 states that between 2003 and 2006, keeping space heaters too close to combustible materials such as furniture, window treatments and clothing was the main cause of fires related to space heaters."
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Comments: 26
-R.
You no in our part of the woods a bug got loose, clear over to Wyoming I think they said. It road along in firewood.
Amazing how many people run such things as generators in there garages to run heaters and such..... just not thinking...
I hope everyone has a safe/warm winter this year!
-R.
I very nearly died of asphyxia from an improperly installed gas stove, and I can say one thing. No matter how well you know the warning signs, you will get so stupid so fast that you will be unable to make any kind of intelligent decision. I lay on the couch listening to the gas hissing out of my stove and thought nothing of it. It wasn't until I could no longer walk or control my body that I finally realized I was in trouble. My son was asleep through the whole thing. Luckily we were OK once we got oxygen, but we very nearly fell asleep and didn't wake up.
You can get carbon monoxide detectors and I recommend them for anyone using any kind of open flame in the house. Most people can smell a gas leak, but I couldn't. Carbon monoxide itself has no smell, so unless the gas company has added it, you won't know it's there. A smoldering stove will produce CO and the only odor will be from the smoke, if any.
I keep a window cracked all the time the kerosene heater is in the house, whether it's on or not. That way, if I forget to open one, I still have a source of clean air.
People are always placing heaters under curtains, or too close to flammable furniture.
They had to remodel the last apartment I lived in before I could move in because the heater caught a sheet on fire while the tenant was at work.
It gutted the apartment.