Frigid winter temperatures can drive people to get creative with their heating, such as extra use of space heaters, and can result in frozen pipes in the home. The Ithaca Fire Department shared with us some tips on handling all this safely.

“The cold weather presents and worsens a lot of challenges and hazards to our community,” IFD Assistant Chief Jim Wheal tells 14850 Magazine. “It makes our heating appliances work harder than usual, it often requires supplemental heating with space heaters and auxiliary heaters, and threatens our plumbing systems. It can encourage some to consider using unsafe heating methods as well. The cold weather also makes firefighting more difficult and hazardous.”

“While IFD did not respond to the big fire in Ovid, our thoughts are with the displaced residents, the owners and employees of affected businesses, the Ovid Community, and the firefighters who truly fought fire and ice through the night trying to save what they could,” Assistant Chief Wheal adds.

Related: Numerous area fire departments battle a major fire in Ovid on Tuesday night

“Use space heaters carefully, don’t overload electrical circuits, and never plug them into extension cords,” says AC Wheal, who says space heaters should only be plugged directly into a wall outlet, never an extension cord or power strip. “The problem is that a space heater draws nearly the capacity of the circuit with everything in good condition. An extension cord adds two more friction connections and the added resistance of the cord itself.”

“This often results in heating of the circuit,” he says. “That can occur in the cord, the outlet itself, or inside other outlets on the circuit and wire inside walls. If unrecognized, a fire could result. This is especially true in older homes that typically have less robust wiring and loose/old outlets. We have a large number of older homes in Ithaca that were wired when the primary use of electricity was for lighting, and they just can’t handle the big loads.”

“These devices are not designed to handle the higher current of portable heaters,” Neptune Hose Co. #1 of Dryden said of power strips and extension cords in a similar statement earlier this month. “They can overload, melt, and catch fire. Plug portable heaters directly into a wall receptacle and remember to keep curtains, bedding, clothing, and other combustible items away from the heater.”

“In order to avoid damage to your home, always keep the heat set to 55 or greater,” says Wheal. “Open under sink cabinets and let faucets drip during especially cold spells. It is always best to repair the reason for freezing pipes than use workarounds. Never use torches to melt frozen pipes.”

Instead, he suggests placing a space heater near the frozen pipes (plugged directly into a wall outlet), or using a hair dryer to warm up the pipes. Even if the freeze is deep in a wall, warming up the pipe carefully, wherever you can get to it, will eventually melt the ice.

“Don’t use your cooking range to heat your home,” he suggests. “Keep heating equipment and their venting systems in good repair. If you are struggling to afford heating energy, call 211 and ask for assistance. If you smell smoke or burning odors inside or if your carbon monoxide detector is in alarm, call 911!”

“The most important thing you can do at home is make sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors,” Assistant Chief Wheal tells us. (Tompkins County Whole Health’s Healthy Neighborhoods Program can provide free smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.) “Remind family members of your fire safety plans.”

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