How to avoid a space heater fire hazard!

Many people use space heaters to warm up their living rooms and bedrooms. Plugging a space heater into the wrong outlet or plugging in too many heaters can create a dangerous situation anytime day or night.

Despite potential dangers, many homeowners use space heaters during the bitter cold. Plugging more than one space heater into outlets that feed into the same electrical circuit is asking for trouble.

“It’ll typically cause the breaker to overload and trip,” said master electrician Charles Otstott with SAFE Electrical.

Not many homeowners actually know the electrical layout of their houses. Otstott said an easy way to find out is to turn off all switches on the electrical panel and flip on each one individually to find the areas in the house powered by each switch.

An extension cord is another thing to avoid using with space heaters. Extension cords are not made well enough for such a high demand of energy.

“The fire department tells us it’s a fire hazard and you can create fires from extension cords. They are not designed to have large loads run on them,” Otstott said.

If you notice dark markings around the electrical outlet or the space heater plug-in, stop using it.

“It’s telling you, you have a faulty outlet. Once this goes bad, you can’t use it any longer,” he said.

If you do use a space heater, of course, keep it away from furniture, clothing, or anything which can spark a fire.