Winter Heating Safety Tips
Brought to You By Bisnar & Chase
Space Heater Devices Are Associated with 21,800 Fires and 300 Deaths Annually
Consumers should be aware that older space heaters might not be safe for use as there are new safety standards regarding space heater devices. Unsafe space heater devices can result in fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Some safety tips from the CPSC for buying and using space heaters:
- Select a space heater with a guard
around the flame area or heating element. Place the heater on a
level, hard and nonflammable surface, not on rugs or carpets or
near bedding or drapes. Keep the heater at least three feet from
bedding, drapes, furniture, or other flammable materials.
- Choose a space heater that has been tested and certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. These heaters meet specific safety standards.
- Keep doors open to the rest of the house if you are using an unvented fuel-burning space heater. This helps prevent pollutant build-up and promotes proper combustion. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to provide sufficient combustion air to prevent CO production.
- Never leave a space heater on when you go to sleep. Never place a space heater close to any sleeping person.
- Turn the space heater off if you leave the area. Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
- Have a smoke detector with fresh batteries on each level of the house and a carbon monoxide detector outside your sleeping area.
- Be aware that mobile homes require specially designed heating equipment. Only electric or vented fuel-fired heaters should be used.
- Have gas and kerosene space heaters inspected annually.
For more information and for a free booklet about space heater safety, contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission at www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/hard.html.
When outside temperatures drop, its time to check your wood stoves and fireplaces to make sure they operate safely and perform efficiently.
With the sharply rising costs of home heating, fireplaces and wood stoves can become a viable alternative for keeping you and your family warm this winter.
- Fireplaces should be inspected yearly and if your last inspection was over a year ago you are due for one. Your inspection should include a cleaning of the entire chimney. Special attention should be paid to the removal of any blockages that will interfere with the operation of your fireplace.
- Excess creosote and bird nests can create obstructions causing smoke and carbon monoxide to build up and enter your home or can create fires in your chimney.
- Choose wood that is seasoned and has been cut and split for at least one year. Hardwoods such as oak, maple and hickory are best to burn. Avoid using softer woods such as pine or fir or newly cut green or wet wood.
- Never use your fireplace to burn plastics, trash, colored paper, chemically treated wood or pine boughs as these materials can corrode your chimney. Such materials can also float out of your chimney and ignite your roof or the roof of a neighbor's house.
- Make sure that fires are extinguished before leaving home.
- If you own a wood stove, inspect your chimney connections at the beginning of each heating season and before use.
For more information on fireplace safety and Red Cross Health and Safety Tips go to: http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/november/novtips.html
- If your home has an oil, gas or electric furnace check with your service company or fuel provider to understand what routine or preventive maintenance has been performed if required.
- Check to see that all dust vents or screens have been cleaned or replaced in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.
- Improperly operating furnaces should be turned off and inspected by a service technician immediately.
- Check with your home insurance company to see if they require any documentation after the installation or maintenance of heating appliances.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 200 people across the nation are known to die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by problems in the venting - out of their homes - of toxic gases produced by their heating systems. In addition, around 10,000 cases of carbon monoxide-related injuries are diagnosed each year. Because the symptoms of prolonged, low-level carbon monoxide poisoning mimic the symptoms of common winter ailments (headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, even seasonal depression), many cases are not detected until permanent, subtle damage to the brain, heart and other organs and tissues has occurred. The difficulty of diagnosis also means the numbers of people affected may be even higher.
Why is Poisoning from Carbon Monoxide Rising?
Today's houses are more air tight due to energy conserving measures. Because of this there can be less fresh air coming into a home and not as many pathways for stale or polluted air to leave it. Many newer houses are so airtight that powered exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom can overcome the draft in the furnace chimney and literally pull the toxic gases into the living space.
New high-efficiency gas and oil furnaces, when hooked up to existing flues, often do not perform at an optimum level. This can result in conditions that allow combustion byproducts to more easily enter home living spaces. Damaged or deteriorating flue liners, soot build-up, debris clogging the passageway, and animal or bird nests can obstruct chimney flues.
Preventing Problems
Numerous agencies and organizations including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Fire Protection Association and the American Lung Association now recognize the importance of annual heating inspections and the role maintenance can play in protecting lives, preventing carbon monoxide poisoning and maintaining a safe home.
Carbon Monoxide detectors are available at most hardware stores and no home should be without at least two, one near the furnace and one near the sleeping area of the home. Detectors are NOT a substitute for routine maintenance, but can be a lifesaver should problems occur.
For more information on Carbon Monoxide hazard and chimney safety from the Chimney Safety Institute of America go to: http://www.csia.org/
Top Consumer Products Safety Commission suggestions for a safe new year:
- Make sure all candles are extinguished before bedtime. Candle fire deaths increased 750% from 1980 to 1998.
- If you own a Lane Cedar Chest replace the locks. The old automatic locks on chests manufactured before 1987 can lock automatically and suffocate children. Obtain free new locks from Lane at 888-856-8758; lanefurniture.com
- Get in the helmet wearing habit to prevent serious head injuries while cycling, skateboarding, scooter riding, skating and playing snow sports.
- Disable latched on old freezer chests. Freezer chests made between 1945 and 1970 can trap and suffocate children.
- Check to see that all your smoke alarms are working. Batteries should be changed once a year.
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