Five Winter Heating Safety Tips

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, January typically sees a peak in residential fires caused by heating equipment each year. Heating is the second leading cause of home fires after cooking.

We’ve compiled this helpful list of winter heating safety tips to keep our customers and their families safe and sound throughout the season. With a little planning and a few simple steps, any homeowner can make sure their family stays warm — and safe — throughout the heating season.

Five Winter Safety Tips

Tip #1 – Keep flammable materials at least three feet away from furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves and space heaters. Twenty-nine percent of fires that spread past the object of origin happened because the heat source (space heater or fireplace) was too close to things that can burn.

Tip #2 – Never use an oven or stovetop to heat your home. Kitchen ovens were never designed for heating homes, only for cooking food.

Tip #3 – Have a qualified professional inspect and clean your heating system annually. Check the area around your furnace or boiler. Many heating equipment fires are a result of flammable materials and substances being kept too close to the furnace. Keep trash, paint and other flammable materials far away from your heating system.

Tip #4 – Never leave space heaters unattended or run them overnight while you are sleeping. Space heaters should also be plugged directly into a wall. Do not use an extension cord or power strip as they can overheat and cause a fire.

Tip #5 -Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors once per month. During a winter storm, smoke alarms dependent on your home’s electrical service may not work during a power outage. If your smoke alarm uses a back-up battery, install a new battery at least once a year.

If you’re using space heaters to warm rooms in your home, give us a call to schedule a heating service appointment. Uneven heating is one of the most common issues we hear from customers and our experienced service technicians are ready to find out what is causing the problem.