Heating Safely...

Got a couple of tips for those of you needing heat this year:

 1.  Do not use any fuel-burning space heater indoors, e.g. gas stove, grill, camp stove, etc. This is very dangerous when these items are left unattended.  Find a family member or friend to stay with instead.  However, if there is no other option due to inclement weather, etc. if you decide to use these heating sources do so with extreme caution.  Use plenty of ventilation, common sense, and turn them off if you feel unsafe at any point.

2. Be sure any furnaces or wood stoves have been inspected regularly and had any problems properly fixed.  Also be sure to inspect the stovepipe on wood stoves regularly, and if any needs replacing know what type of pipe you have whether it is single wall stove pipe, or double wall stove pipe.  Also check your wood stove gasket to be sure it doesn't need replacing before using it each winter.


3. If you do use kerosene heaters make sure you have kerosene heater wicks, heater wicks come in cotton and fiberglass wicks.  Also make sure you have your manual to your kerosene heater or know where to find one online.  Red Hill General Store has several kerosene heater manuals for your use on their kerosene heater questions page.

4.  If a power outage is not expected to last very long, the best place could be to share body heat with family members snuggled up in bed and bundled in coats and warm clothing.

5.  Another tip is for those that have wood stoves, if your power is out for very long you may have to resort to using the wood stove to cook on.  In that case, use proper woodstove cookware and be sure food is cooked thoroughly as you do not want to add food poisoning to a power outage situation.

These are just a few safety tips for keeping warm this winter.  There are many more, and each tip might vary on your particular situation.  Please share other tips, or experiences with using emergency heat in our comments.