Come winter, you can hardly afford to live in your home or stay in your office and business premises without a heating system installed. Though it is a necessity to avoid exposure to cold, it also comes with the danger of fire catching your home or office.

Since you cannot live without a room heater or heating system installed in your concrete structure during the winter months, the issue of how to safely heat your living space and prevent fire becomes prominent.

Living comfortably in a warm area in winter is certainly a necessity, but you must also think of heating your home safely using electrical appliances meant for room heating purposes.

Here are key considerations you should keep in mind when using a room heater:

How to Heat Your Home Safely

Now that you know you will be frozen in winter unless you use a room heating system, the issue of how to heat the living space safely arises automatically. Though there are several ways to heat the room safely, we are listing below five of the best options for this specific purpose:

Precaution in Placing the Heating System

If you are using a room heater or space heater to heat the room, it is imperative that you keep the system at least three feet away from flammable items. You should place the system on a level, hard, and non-flammable surface that is dry. According to the American Red Cross, you should place the heating system on a ceramic tile floor.

Cleaning of Heating Equipment

To prevent fire hazards, you must regularly clean the heating system you have installed in your home or living space. Since the whole system operates electrically, there is a chance of the equipment catching fire due to dirt present inside the system. You must also regularly check the external wires, as rats or rodents may gnaw on the plastic wiring. In such a case, a short circuit may occur, putting your life in jeopardy.

Don’t Keep Your Room Heater on a Floor Carpet

This is very important for your safety. Rugs, mats, and woolen carpets are highly flammable. It is particularly risky if the wires of the heater or heating system run through the rugs or carpets. If there is any power leakage from the wire, it can have grave consequences, as the rugs will catch fire within a very short time.

Periodic Replacement of Cords and Wires

According to the Grandview Research Report, the buying trend for fire protection equipment is growing rapidly in the USA and Canada. This is due to the rising cases of home fires caused by heating systems. The report states: The North American fire protection system market size was valued at USD 29.09 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% from 2024 to 2030.

You never know when electricity will leak or a short circuit will take place. It is possible that these mishaps occur when you are in deep sleep at night. The best way to prevent this grave danger is to immediately replace old wires with new ones if you have been using them for a long time. This is one of the key reasons why most people prefer buying new room heaters to reusing the old or problematic ones. Don’t take any chances.

Always Plug Directly Into the Switchboard/Outlet

A large number of home fire cases occur due to the plug being fixed on an extension cord instead of the switchboard. A fire incident may occur if your extension cord is overloaded with too many plugs. This is because all heating systems consume a massive amount of power. As a result, it is always preferable to plug directly into the switchboard.
The American Red Cross has been running its home fire campaign for about 11 years in the USA to educate heating equipment users about the right way to use them. The above five guidelines can greatly help you prevent home fires caused by room heating systems.

Furthermore, if you want to stay safe from fire hazards and electric shocks or short circuits, you can install a smoke alarm system, keep a fire extinguisher within your reach, and don’t keep inflammable objects near room heaters.

Conclusion

Protection against fire incidents has become a necessity due to frequent fire cases in homes, shops, supermarkets, high-rise residential flats, schools, colleges, and stadiums. Most of these architectural structures are currently installing PAVA (Public Address and Voice Alarm) systems to warn residents and those present in shopping malls and other public places to immediately vacate the premises to save their lives.