If you have a space heater you want to use when it gets cold, you must use it in the right manner. Ignoring safety can put you and your family in danger. Fires related to heaters are very common in the winter and they can be avoided if you use the following safety tips.
If you have a room that you want to heat, make sure someone will be in it to keep an eye on the heater. Rooms that you're not using should never be heated for no reason because you won't know if there are issues that you need to be aware of. Never place a heater under a desk or in any kind of enclosed space. Even if the part blowing the hot air is pointing towards an open area, the rest of the heater can get hot enough to cause a fire if anything is close to or touching it.
Do you have a heater that has tip over protection or some kind of safety feature in case something happens to it when you're not around? Some have to be placed on a hard surface because they have a button on the bottom that controls whether the heater is on or not. Then, it a pet or child were to tip it over, it would shut off completely until it was placed in the proper place again. There are also options with internal overheating protection that will shut off if the components inside the heater start to get too hot. You can read more about home heating & cooling maintenance to find out more information.
A heater must be plugged directly into the wall outlet. Using an extension cord or power strip could be a fire risk. It's also not a good idea to plug 2 heaters into the same outlet at one time. Try to spread them out around your home because having too many heaters in one place can actually cause surges that blow fuses. Try to go with the best possible heater so that you don't have to use a lot of them. The more you have turned on at once, the more expensive your bills will be and the more fire hazards you'll have.
Following the above space heater safety tips during the winter could save your life and your home. People tend to ignore safety until it's too late. Don't be the homeowner that loses everything over a space heater you weren't careful with.
Want to read more about home energy tips? Check out this post on hot water heater repair.
Also check out M. J. Mac Inc for help this winter.
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