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Electric Heaters and Curtains Don't Mix

By
Home Inspector with King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. Home Inspector Lic #207

Electric in-wall or baseboard heaters can present significant fire risks. Occupants of houses simply do not understand how hot the elements get. And, as often as not, I find these heaters in college rentals where the tenants have cardboard boxes and every other combustible item imaginable tight against the heaters.

Probably the most often seen problem is the house with drapes that hang down over the heaters

Baseboard heaters

In my standard home inspection report, I warn against this unsafe condition.

"Flammables, in this case drapes, are in close proximity to the electric heaters. Manufacturers' specifications vary, but electric heaters attain high temperatures. Maintain, as minimums, 6" of clearance above and at least 2"-3" of clearance in front of heaters."

It is easy to warn people as to this safety concern, but modern technology makes it possible to provide a more graphic warning. For example, recently a leading manufacturer has released an easy to carry, simple to use, and basic thermal imaging thermometer. 

When I (briefly and quickly) checked the baseboard heater in the photo up above,  the shot below is the thermal image of the left side curtain. Blue is cool and red and yellow indicate heat -- the redder it is the hotter it is. The heater below is bright red, but take a look at the trail of heat that is being transfered into the curtain itself. Now that is alarming.

This image is worth a thousand words when trying to convey to consumers the risks of placing flammables too close to electric heaters.

Posted by

Steven L. Smith

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Comments (2)

Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Why try to heat a room and then trap the heat behind a curtain anyway?

But the image says it all.  Conduction works.

Nov 04, 2015 06:28 AM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Good point Jay. Not much logic there.

Dec 19, 2015 05:14 AM