4 Heating Safety Tips You Need To Know If You Use A Space Heater In Your Home

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If you use a space heater in your home and you want to reduce the risk that your heater ever causes a fire, you need to know how to safely use your space heater and protect your home. Here are a few safety tips that you need to know as a homeowner who relies on a space heater for warmth. 

#1 Keep Other Objects Away From Your Space Heater

When using any type of heating equipment in your home, it is vital that you keep other objects, such as furniture, clothing, and toys, away from your heating equipment. Your space heater puts off heat, which means that it can warm up your home, but also means that when it comes in contact with the right type of materials, it can start a fire in your house. You should not put furniture right next to or against a space heater.

You should stress to everyone in your home that clothing and blankets should never be left on the ground or thrown around near your space heaters and that they should be given plenty of space to operate. 

#2 Always Keep Up On Maintenance

Make sure that you keep up on the maintenance requirements for your space heater. Many space heaters use filters; if your space heater uses a filter, make sure that you clean and replace it as recommended by the manufacturer. If your space heater starts to develop any strange noises, see if the manufacturer sells replacement parts or will fix your heater if it is still under warranty. If you use portable space heaters, only use them for the lifespan indicated on their boxes; after that timespan passes, for your safety, you should invest in a new space heater. 

#3 Have Working Fire Alarms

No matter how safe you try to be or how well you try to take care of your space heaters and other heating equipment, accidents happen, which is why you need to make sure that you have working fire alarms in your home.

On most fire alarms, there is a button you can push to test and make sure that the battery is still working in the alarm. It is a good idea to change out the batteries in your fire alarms on a yearly basis.

You should also make sure that you have enough fire alarms in your home; you should have one in your kitchen, main living area, and inside and outside of all bedrooms. You should have a fire alarm present in any room that you use heating equipment in. If you don't have enough fire alarms in your home, you can easily purchase and install one yourself; it simply requires putting in the batteries and attaching it to your wall with either nails or screws.

#4 Install Central Heating

Using space heaters to heat your entire home puts you at an increased risk of fire. If you want to stay warm and keep your family safe, you should contact an HVAC installer and get a quote this summer for a central heating and cooling system. This will give you time to budget and plan for the installation costs; some HVAC companies will even let you set up a payment plan to pay for this upgrade. Ideally, space heaters should be used as a supplemental heat source and not your primary source of heat in your home.    


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