It appears as though this will be the last warm day of the fall season. For the past few days weve seen temperatures ranging from 40 degrees to 80 degrees. Yes, you read that correctlylast Friday was 46 degrees and today they are anticipating hitting the 80 degree mark.(Hellllllo allergies!)

Sometimes in order to keep the peace in your household the heat needs to be set at less than pleasing temperature. Of course this means you may be freezing while the others are pleasantly comfortable. Do you go ahead and purchase a space heater to help compensate for your coldness? Or is a space heater too much of a fire risk?

Here are the facts:

For starters, which type of space heater are you looking into purchasing? A convection or radiative? A convection heater warms the air directly and a radiative heater causes heat to pass through a certain spectrum and bypasses the heating of the surrounding air. Sounds complicated, but really a radiative heater has a tendency to heat your body faster due to its ability to skip heating the surrounding air.

But are they safe? Studies have shown that there are an average of 25,000 fires a year caused by space heaters. Out of those fires came 6,000 injuries and 300 deaths. The statistics are scary no matter which way you look at it, but in turn if you correctly use your space heater a fire can easily be avoided. The number one most important rule with a space heater is to never leave it unattended! If you cant watch the heater, simply dont leave it on. (We understand that sometimes you just forget, it happensbut do it often and you may not be so lucky.) Also remember to keep the heater on a solid, steady surface. This ensures that the heater wont risk tipping over causing the carpet or other objects on the floor to catch fire.

The choice is really up to you when it comes to purchasing a small space heater for you home, just make sure its completely safe in the surroundings.

If youre in need of some heating assistance, call the experts at Poormans Heating and Air Conditioning (260.422.3534). Emergency services are available 24/7. Poormans specializes in heating systems, air conditioning units, plumbing services, geothermal and indoor air quality. You wont be disappointed with Poormans quick response and affordable, outstanding service. Dont forget to check out Poormans Facebook page! Like us!