Fire Damage: Home Heating System Safety

3/10/2017 (Permalink)

fireplace safety, fire safety

As the temperature drops outside, wood and pellet stoves may be fired up inside the home. What you may not realize is that heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires during the winter months.

Did you know that heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths? With a few simple safety tips and precautions you can prevent most heating fires from happening.

Wood and Pellet Stove Safety

• Have a QUALIFIED professional install stoves, chimney connectors, and chimneys.
• Stoves should be listed by a qualified testing laboratory.
• In wood stoves, burn only DRY, seasoned wood. In pellet stoves, burn only dry, seasoned wood pellets.
• Have your chimney and stove INSPECTED and cleaned by a certified chimney sweep every fall just before heating season.
• CLEAN the inside of your stove periodically using a wire brush.
• Allow ashes to COOL before disposing of them. Place ashes in a covered metal container. Keep the container at least 10 feet away from the home and other buildings.
• Keep a CLOSE EYE on children whenever a wood or pellet stove is being used. Remind them to stay at least 3 feet away from the stove.
• Stoves need SPACE. Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from the stove.
• INSTALL and maintain carbon monoxide alarms (CO) outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. For the best protection, interconnect the CO alarms. When one sounds, they all sound.

Other Heating System Safety Tips

• Keep anything that can burn at least three-feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heater.
• Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
• Never use your oven to heat your home.
• Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instructions.
• Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
• Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
• Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel burning space heaters.
• Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Ashes should be cool before putting them in a metal container. Keep the container a safe distance away from your home.
• Test smoke alarms at least once a month.

For more information on fire safety, visit the National Fire Protection Association's (nfpa.org) website.

Contact us at 973-546-4977 if you have a service need or click here to visit our website to learn more about SERVPRO of Wayne's System Services.

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