Winter safety in four lines
- Home heating is the leading cause of U.S. home fires in December, January and February.
- Plug space heaters straight into a wall outlet, never a power strip or extension cord.
- Use outdoor-rated lights and cords, and plug them into GFCI-protected outlets.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms before the cold sets in.
Why winter is the riskiest season for home fires
The National Fire Protection Association reports that home heating equipment is the leading cause of U.S. home fires in December, January and February. January is the peak month. Space heaters cause the largest share of those fires.
Use space heaters the safe way
- Plug directly into the wall. Heaters draw a lot of power. Power strips and thin cords can overheat.
- Give it 3 feet. Keep beds, curtains, paper and furniture at least 3 feet away.
- Choose tip-over shutoff. Newer heaters turn off if knocked over.
- Turn it off when you leave the room or go to sleep.
- One heater per circuit. Two heaters on one circuit often trip the breaker.
If you run a heater every day in the same room, that room may need its own circuit. We can add Dedicated Circuits and 240V Outlets so heaters stop tripping breakers. A heater that trips the breaker is a sign to read Why Your Breaker Keeps Tripping.
Roof heat tape and pipe heating cables
Heat tape on roofs and gutters helps stop ice dams, and pipe heat cables keep pipes from freezing. Both run for hours in cold, wet conditions.
- Plug them into a GFCI-protected outlet. Outdoor de-icing equipment needs ground-fault protection.
- Check cables each fall for cracks, crushed spots or brown marks.
- Never wrap heat cable over itself unless the maker allows it.
- Use an outdoor-rated outlet cover that stays closed with a cord plugged in.
No outlet near the roof line? We can install one safely as part of Outdoor and Landscape Lighting or a separate circuit.
Holiday lights and outdoor decorations
- Use lights marked for outdoor use outside, and indoor lights inside.
- Throw out strands with broken bulbs, cracked sockets or bare wire.
- Don't staple through wires. Use plastic clips.
- Use a timer so lights aren't on all night.
- Don't link more strands than the package allows.
Outdoor outlets should be GFCI protected. If yours trips every time it snows, the outlet or cover may be letting water in.
Extension cords and power strips
Extension cords are for short-term use. In winter they often end up running heaters and lights for months.
- Never run cords under rugs or through doorways where they get pinched.
- Match the cord to the load. A thin cord on a heater can melt.
- A warm cord or plug means too much load. Unplug it.
If you rely on cords every winter, you need more outlets. That's a simple job for our Outlet and Switch Repair team.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Furnaces, gas fireplaces and water heaters work hardest in winter. Carbon monoxide has no smell, so alarms are your only warning.
- Test every alarm with its test button.
- Replace alarms that are about 10 years old.
- Put CO alarms near bedrooms and on each level.
We install linked smoke and CO alarms, including Kidde models. See Smoke and CO Detector Installation for details.