Winter
Heating Safety
Captain
Joseph C. Mauro
As the cold weather approaches and the cost of heating your home is stretching
people to the financial limits, the need to keep warm and safe this winter
should be a top priority, especially for the aging population. A great
number of people may have to choose between heating the home and other
necessities and may try to find alternative sources of heat to save money and
keep warm. Some of these alternatives may be dangerous and can result in
fires that cause serious injury or death. To avoid the danger of a fire
occurring there are several things that you can do to keep warm and keep safe.
The first thing that people can do is ensure that there are working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed in all levels of the home.
If your home was not constructed with hardwired, electrically interconnected smoke detectors, then you must install battery operated detectors on all levels of the house.
All smoke detectors should be tested at least once a month and the
batteries changed twice per year. “Change your clock; change your
smoke detector battery”.
Your home also is required to have working carbon monoxide detectors on all levels, one each on each level, and must be within ten feet of all the bedroom doors.
These detectors can either be battery operated or a plug in type to a wall outlet with a 9 volt battery as a back-up.
Carbon monoxide detectors are only required for homes that have fossil fuel producing appliances or attached garage.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced
from burning fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, propane, wood and coal and
is commonly referred to as the silent killer.
The most important item requiring attention after ensuring that you have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors is that the central heating unit is in good working order and is cleaned & serviced on an annual basis by a qualified technician.
Heating equipment in the home may consist of liquid fuel appliances such as an oil burner and gas fired appliances supplied from natural gas or propane.
Servicing these units will ensure that they are clean and
running efficiently, the chimney connections and flues are intact, clean and not
leaking gases back into the house, and the combustion chamber is not cracked
causing fire or gas to escape.
Another concern with central heating equipment is the storage of combustibles near the appliance.
If storing items in the area of the heating unit, you must keep all combustible items at least five feet from the unit in all directions.
You should also not use the heating unit to dry wet clothing
or other items by placing the items onto the hot unit.
While most people have oil fired or natural gas/propane heating units as the primary source of heat for the home, the cost of fuel has caused people to search for alternative sources of heat to save some money.
One of the most common heat sources is solid fuel equipment such as a fireplace, woodstove, pellet stove or coal stove.
If using these appliances, prior to the start of the cold weather season, you should have the chimney liner checked and cleaned by a professional to ensure that the liner is not damaged and any creosote build up is removed.
A dirty chimney with creosote build-up is
the leading cause of chimney fires. Chimney fires burn very hot and can cause
serious damage to the liner and may even ignite a fire in the house if the liner
is already damaged or cracked.
For anyone contemplating a woodstove, pellet stove or coal stove, you must obtain a building permit from the building inspector prior to having one of these appliances installed.
They must be inspected by the building inspector prior to use to ensure the proper installation as required by the Massachusetts State Building Code.
If you bought a house with a stove already installed, you can also contact the building department to ensure that the stove is installed correctly and is compliant with the building code.
Additional safety requirements for wood, pellet and coal stoves is:
Allow a minimum of three (3) feet of clearance around the appliance to prevent combustibles from coming in contact with the heat source.
Also, the chimney flue
can not be
shared with the flue for other gas or liquid fuel equipment such as an oil
burner or gas burner.
Prior to using a wood, pellet or coal stoves:
Make sure that the damper is open prior to lighting a fire,
Never use flammable liquids to start the fire,
Never leave small children unattended near the stove,
Use a fireplace screen to prevent sparks and embers from flying out on to the floor.
Once the fire has burned down, remove the ashes into a metal bucket with metal lid and place the bucket on the ground outside away from the building.
Never
place the ashes in a paper bag or in the trash. Ashes can stay hot for
several days and ignite combustibles.
Aside from the above mentioned methods of heating the home, the most popular items used to supplement heat are space heaters.
Space heaters come in various sizes and types and are intended for temporary heat only.
While fires from space heaters are not frequent, they are the deadliest of all heating appliance fires.
When using a space heater you should ensure that there is a three (3) foot radius from combustibles such as drapes, furniture and other materials.
The heater must be placed on a firm level surface in an area where it can not be bumped or knocked over.
Never use a space heater when unattended and turn it off and unplug while you sleep.
If you must use an
extension cord, make sure that it is a heavy duty cord with a power rating at
least as high as that on the label of the heater.
There are other means that people will use to try and keep warm this winter that should never be used.
Never use the gas stove to heat your home. Gas stoves will produce greater amounts of carbon monoxide and the open flame from gas stoves can ignite combustibles in the vicinity.
Never use unvented kerosene, diesel or propane heaters inside of a building. These items are illegal for use in habitable buildings and also produce a large amount of carbon monoxide and heat that can ignite combustibles.
Do
not use any other type of open flame or non-vented device within a
building.
In order to ensure proper safe heating within your home this season, please only
use properly installed and maintained appliances designed for heating your home.
Fireplaces, Wood, pellet or coal stoves and space heaters are acceptable means
of supplemental heat but use them with care and per the manufactures
recommendation.
If you have any questions about home heating safety you can call you local fire
department for assistance. The number for the