Metropolitan Engineering Consulting and Forensics

DO NOT USE AN EXTENSION CORD OR POWER STRIP WITH AN ELECTRIC SPACE HEATER. IT CAN OVERLOAD THE CIRCUIT AND CAUSE FIRE.

DO NOT USE AN EXTENSION CORD OR POWER STRIP WITH AN ELECTRIC SPACE HEATER. IT CAN OVERLOAD THE CIRCUIT AND CAUSE FIRE.

An electric space heater’s power cord is not intended to be used with an extension cord. If you are unable to plug the unit directly into a socket and have to use an extension cord, consider using a heavy-duty cord marked with a #14 gauge or larger wire (#12 gauge is larger than #14 gauge). An incorrectly sized cord could create a fire hazard. If the heater’s plug has a grounding prong, use only a grounding (three-wire) extension cord.

Not only is the wiring within a typical household extension cord too small for the power that the heater requires, its additional length also adds to the resistance and therefore the heat that is produced within the cords. This excess heat can lead to a fire.

In a recent deadly fire, a couple borrowed at least two space heaters from the motor home after the trailer’s furnace quit working. Extension cords running from the main house and barn powered the space heaters, frequently blowing circuit breakers. Eventually a fire ended up destroying their trailer and took their lives. All this is preventable.

In another case, a fire that led to the deaths of two people, started when sparks from an overheated extension cord ignited a mattress and bedding at an apartment. The fire had been caused by combustible materials near an electric space heater, according to preliminary findings by fire marshals.

Never, ever, EVER use an extension cord to plug in a space heater. If you don’t know what wire gauge is and what the maximum amp rating of the extension cord is and the amp rating of the space heater, then no–you can’t plug a space heater into it.

Space heaters that use cheap lamp cords to plug into the walls are the most dangerous. If you feel the wire and plug getting warm during usage, unplug the space heater right away and stop using it. Before you buy a space heater, ask the store if you can open the box so you can inspect the plug. Thicker gauge wiring on the appliance is safer.

The outlet you plug a space heater into should not have anything else plugged into it.

If you have circuit breakers and you are tripping them when the space heater is turned on, that is a BIG WARNING SIGN. You are overloading that circuit in your house–that’s why the breaker keeps tripping. It’s doing its job and trying to prevent you from setting your house on fire. Switch to a different outlet that you know is on a different circuit or start shedding load until you get it down to where the circuit can handle it.

If you’re bursting fuses when you’re running the space heater–like when your microwave oven is running the space heater is turned on, STOP. You’re risking catastrophe. Call an electrician and ask to have new service installed for your space heater. It’s either that, or search your house for a circuit that isn’t overloaded. In an old house with only 4 to 6 circuits that is hard to do with all the TVs and computers that are in old houses these days.

Never run the heater’s cord (or any cord) under rugs or carpeting.