Quick take
- Keep anything that can burn, including curtains, bedding, furniture and clothes, at least 3 feet from a space heater.
- Plug electric space heaters directly into a wall outlet. Never use an extension cord or power strip.
- Turn heaters off when you leave the room or go to bed.
- Buy a heater with the mark of a nationally recognized testing lab, such as UL, and set it on a flat, stable surface where it can’t be knocked over.
- Space heaters and heating stoves cause about 30% of home heating fires but about 73% of the deaths, the NFPA says.
The first cool nights of fall are when a lot of people pull the space heater out of the closet. Heaters are handy, but they are behind most deaths in home heating fires. Space heaters and heating stoves account for about 30% of home heating equipment fires but about 73% of the deaths, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Nearly half of heating fires happen from December through February.
Before you plug it in
- Check for the lab mark. Buy a heater with the mark of a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as UL, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says.
- Check for recalls at cpsc.gov/recalls. The CPSC says to check before using any household product, any time of year.
Using it
- Give it 3 feet. Keep curtains, bedding, sofas, clothes and papers at least 3 feet from the front, sides and back of the heater, the CPSC says.
- Plug it straight into the wall. Never use an extension cord or power strip, which can overload and start a fire, according to the CPSC.
- Set it on a flat, stable surface where it can’t be knocked over, the CPSC says.
- Turn it off when you leave the room or go to bed, the U.S. Fire Administration says.
- Feel the plug and outlet now and then. If the plug, cord, outlet or faceplate is hot, turn the heater off and have an electrician check it, the CPSC says.
- Never use your oven to heat your home, the fire administration says.
Fuel burning heaters
If you use a kerosene or other fuel burning heater, turn it off and let it cool before you refuel it, the CPSC says. For kerosene heaters, the CPSC says to use only water-clear 1-K grade kerosene and never gasoline or any other fuel, and to run the heater with room doors open to cut down on fumes such as carbon monoxide. The CPSC also warns that fuel burning heating equipment can give off carbon monoxide, so put CO alarms on every level of your home and outside sleeping areas.
Alarms
Working smoke alarms matter most in heating season. Test them monthly. Our smoke alarm checklist covers where they go and when to replace them. For other cold weather jobs, see the fall home checklist and how to keep pipes from freezing.