Ensure space heaters are used safely as the temperature drops

As fall rolls on and the temperature continues to drop, make sure you are taking steps to reduce fire hazards as you take steps to warm your home.

“With space eaters, plug them right in the wall,” said Radcliff Deputy Fire Marshal Tommy Crane. “Don’t plug them into an extension cord or power strip. Make sure they’re in good shape. If you’ve had them in storage, make sure that they’re clean and nothing’s around the vent and the fan area.”

Crane recommends you get a space heater that has tip-over protection, especially if you have kids or pets. When it comes to space heaters, make sure you give them “space”.

“Three feet is what we tell people, so that way, you don’t put it too close to some curtains or too close to a stack of papers or stuff like that, or if you put it close to a piece of furniture like a couch or a recliner that you’re not close enough to throw a blanket over it and wind up covering it up inadvertently,” Crane said.

With furnaces and fireplaces, Crane recommends having them serviced at least once a year. Changing the filter on your furnace regularly can go a long way.

“In some furnaces the filter is designed to be changed monthly, while some of them with the really thick HEPA filters it’s like six months or a year, so just make sure you’re checking them and even then, if you have pets, like in our house we have three hairy dogs so we have to change our filter a little more often because it’s picking up lots of dog fur,” Crane said “Even if you brush them it seems to be everywhere.”

If you are turning on your furnace for the first time after it has been off for some time, you might smell some heat as it burns off the dust.