With the cold upon us, more people will be looking for ways to supplement the heating in their homes. Those with no heat could use alternative heating sources to heat their homes, which is, in many cases, dangerous. According to the National Fire Protection Association, half of fires from home heating equipment occur from December through February, the coldest months of the year. If you are going to use space heaters, fire places and wood stoves as supplemental or primary heating, be sure you are doing it safely.
Prevent Heating-Related Fires
Regardless of the type of heating source you are using, keep any flammable items away from it. This includes:
- Furnaces,
- Heaters,
- Fireplaces,
- Wood stoves, and
- Portable space heaters, regardless of their power source.
If you have children or children often visit you, make sure you have a gate or screen at least 3 feet away from the heat source to keep the kids away from it. This includes portable heaters. And, with portable heaters, shut them off before you leave the room and when you go to bed. Never leave them unattended.
Additional tips include:
- Never use the oven to heat your home.
- Have a qualified professional clean and inspect chimneys every year, especially those that are used for wood or coal burning stoves.
- Make sure you use the proper type of fuel for fuel-burning space heaters.
- Call a qualified professional to install space heaters that are meant to stay in one place, central heat and air conditioning units and hot water heaters.
- Test the smoke alarms in your home at least once per month.
- Keep a sturdy screen in front of the fireplace so that an errant spark won’t make its way to flammable items.
- Contact Parker Young Construction for help with installing equipment that you cannot install yourself.
Contact Parker Young
In the event that you do have a fire, you could have smoke and water damage. Parker Young, a Macon disaster repair service will be able to clean up the damage for you.
