Did you know? — Space heater safety

Space heater safety

Because of the weather in San Diego, many of us don't use our central heating systems very often, and when we do get cold, we'll often jump into a warm bed or close a door and plug in the space heater for whatever room we happen to be in. We find it less expensive to heat one room than to heat the whole house, especially since we spend most of our time in our home office.

Although space heaters are an easy way to heat a room, anything that gets hot can be dangerous, and over 25,000 fires and 300 deaths EACH YEAR(!) are caused by space heaters.

Here are some tips to help you use space heaters safely:

1. Buy the best you can afford. They typically will have better safety features, such as automatic turnoff if the heater gets too hot or is accidentally turned over.
2. Look for the Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) label. These products have to meet more stringent production and safety standards in order to earn that label.
3. Read the manufacturer's user guide. This task might fall to the women in the household since guys just don't like to reading user guides.
4. Space heaters should be placed on the floor, not on tables, night stands, television stands, desks, etc.
5. Never plug your space heater into an extension cord or power strip. If you've ever done this, and I have, you'll notice that both the power cord for the space heater and the extension cord or power strip get excessively hot and can cause a fire.
6. Don't cover the power cord with blankets, rugs, or other combustible materials. Place the cord out of the way of traffic, preferably near a wall, but also keep it away from curtains, furniture, and bedding.
7. If you have cats, dogs, snakes, rabbits, iguanas, or any other pets that like to chew on things, examine the power cord before plugging it in or turning the space heater on.
8. Turn it off and unplug it! Never leave a space heater on and unattended, and never go to sleep with it on.
9. If you have a liquid-fueled space heater, use only the recommended fuel. If you have to fill the fuel reservoir, turn the heater off and let it cool before doing so.
10. Be sure that you have working carbon monoxide detectors in your home, especially if you use a fireplace, gas central heating, liquid-fueled space heaters, or anything else that uses gas or has an open flame. 

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