Home Heating Safety Tips
Have Your Furnace Inspected Each Year
Home fires occur more in the winter months than any other time of the year.
Follow these heating tips from the U.S. Fire Administration to help prevent fires and to stay safe:
Furnace
- Have your furnace inspected each year.
- Keep anything that can burn away from the furnace.
Space Heater
- Keep anything that can burn, such as bedding, clothing, and curtains, at least 3 feet away from the heater.
- Make sure the heater has an automatic shut-off, so if it tips over, it shuts off.
- Turn heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room.
- Plug portable heaters directly into outlets and never into an extension cord or power strip.
- Only use portable heaters from a recognized testing laboratory.
Fireplace
- Keep a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace to prevent embers or sparks jumping out.
- Do not burn paper in your fireplace.
- Put the fire out before you go to sleep or leave your home.
- Put ashes in a metal container with a lid, outside, at least 10 feet from your home.
- Make sure your wood stove is 3 feet from anything that can burn.
- Do not burn paper in your wood stove.
- Put the fire out before you go to sleep or leave your home.
- Have your chimney inspected and cleaned each year by a professional.
Kerosene Heater
- Only use kerosene heaters from a recognized testing laboratory.
- Make sure the heater has an automatic shut-off, so if it tips over, it shuts off.
- Refuel your cooled heater outside.
SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration
