Skip to main content

What not to do when it gets cold outside

By

This cold snap may lead some to take drastic and potentially dangerous measures to stay warm.

It is cold here in New England and not that oh it's January it's suppose to be cold, cold. With the wind chill last night, January 7-8th it was a balmy -29 outside. This may lead many who can't afford to heat there homes through traditional means like heating oil, natural gas, or propane to use unconventional or unsafe measures to stay warm.

You should never ever ever, did I say ever use a cooking appliance such as an oven, stove, or cook top as a source of heat. This refers to opening up an oven door and turning the heat to 100, 200, 300, 400+ degrees.  When it comes to an electric unit, this is a waste of electricity and with electric prices the way they are right now will cost you more in the long run.  If you have a gas fired oven, using it as a heating source is dangerous as carbon monoxide can leak into your home. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas that when expose to for an extended period of time can lead serious health issues.

 Others may resort to the use of space heaters, while these can be a great source of heat in close proximity they still carry risks.  Space heaters should be at least three away from anything from clothing, bedding, and any other substances that may be able to catch on fire. Make sure that you are using the correct model type for your needs, space heaters are available for personal use or whole rooms.  

 Recently we saw a news report regarding a fire that was started in an attempt to warm up an outdoor oil tank.  While it is more common to find oil tanks in the basement of homes, there are still older homes with outside oil tanks.  The home owner noticed that the heat wasn't working and believed that the oil in his outside tank had froze.  Even with the extreme temperatures that we saw, home heating oil doesn't freeze at those temperatures. It can however become sludgy, clogging the the fuel line.  In an attempt to unfreeze the oil that he believed was in the tank, the home owner put hay below the tank to act as an insulator.  The home owner then used a blow torch to heat up the tank, the flame from the torch caught the hay on fire, which then spread to the home.  While there isn't much of a risk of creating an explosion from this method, this isn't something that should ever be attempted. Luckily in this situation only minimal damage was caused to the home, however it could have been a lot worse.

 When extreme cold sets in it's best to stop and think before you do anything that could be dangerous to in an attempt to stay warm.  If you notice that your heating system isn't working, contact your heating company they are trained and licensed to handle the equipment in your home.

 Author:
Robert Stahelski

 ckSmithSuperior, Santoro Oil, Gas Doctor 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cold Moves in the Spring

By
What do you do when it feels like Fall instead of Spring Mother's Day is right around the corner, Memorial day and the unofficial start of Summer is a few weeks ahead. The temps should be getting warmer or at least staying in the 60's, but the next week is going to feel more like Fall than Spring. With night time temps dipping into the high 30's and low 40's I've found myself turning on my heat for an hour or so to get the cold out. Many of us turn off our heating systems for the Spring and Summer once we see temps in the 70's. A few weeks ago we had a 80 degree days and now we'll be lucky to see temps in the 60's. You can turn on your heating system to get the cold out but there are a few other things you can do to combat the colder temps. Keeping the window shades open during the day to let in the sun's natural warmth will help keep your home comfortable. Make sure to close them during the evening to trap the warm air in. If you want t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Service Calls

By
What do you expect when you need service on your heating system? It's the middle of the night in the middle of winter and you wake up to a freezing house, your first thought maybe "why isn't the heat on". So you check the thermostat, it reads that the temperature is much below what you set it at. Your next step is head downstairs and check the heating system. Come to find out it isn't running, what do you do? First check a few things. Does your tank have oil it? When the temperature drops you may begin to burn more fuel than you anticipated and a run out may be the culprit. Many full service companies will be able to deliver an emergency amount of fuel to get you through the night until a more substantial amount of fuel can be delivered. Has your emergency on/off switch been flipped for some reason? This can usually be found heading down to your basement or around the heating system itself. You can also hit the burner reset button once...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thermostat Tips and Tricks

By
It's time to lock down the thermostat In many homes now that the temperature has started to dip the thermostat might have become a point of issue. One person in the home wants the house warmer while someone else wants it colder to save on money. The thing that everyone can agree on is that heating your home while no one is there is a waste of energy and money. Programmable and smart thermostat allow you to set an away temperature. With programmable thermostat you have to manually go in to set the time for each day it's suppose to go to "away". Smart thermostats like the Nest learning thermostat learn over time based on a week or so of manual temperature changes. Other smart thermostats including the Nest will go into "away" mode based on a cellphone gps location. The upside of these is never having to manually change the thermostat. In some cases the thermostat will start the heat the home before someone gets home so it'll warm and comfortable bef...
Post a Comment
Read more