Some DeLonghi Space Heaters are a menace for our community. It is important to be well informed of their consequences this winter.

If you own a portable home heater and plan to use it this winter, please note that there are a great many potential dangers and hazards associated with its use.

This blog explains what owners, realtors and fire marshals have said about using space heaters in your homes and offices. After all, space heaters can keep you warm, can save you money over using your furnace, but they’re also a possible danger if they’re one of the DeLonghi oil-filled radiator heaters manufactured between 1980 and 1988 that were found to be defective by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

What Homeowners Have Said About Using Space Heaters.
Used properly, homeowners love how efficient their portable heaters are to warm up a corner of a bedroom, living room or family room. But they’re also well aware of the hazards of using space heaters, such as:

• Only purchasing a heater with the Underwriters Laboratories logo for quality and safety.
• Keeping the heater at least three feet away from combustible items, especially a basket of newspapers, magazines, clothing, or a pile of wood.
• Turning it off before leaving a room or going to sleep.
• Always carefully monitoring use of a heater around children and pets.
• Only plugging it into wall outlets –– never extension cords.
• Never using a space heater to dry your clothes.
• Always making sure it’s cooled down completely before adding fuel.

What Realtors Have Said About Using Portable Heaters.
Realtors often recommend that their clients use space heaters, especially in old, drafty Victorian homes in San Francisco, or in living spaces with costly central heating or wall heaters.

The problem is, space heaters can run on electricity, as well as propane, natural gas and kerosene, which are highly combustible. These types of portable heaters can be efficient to heat a room and save energy for a few hours at a time, but they’re also a cause for concern for all the same reasons listed above about what homeowners have said.

What Fire Marshals Have Said About Using Home Heaters.
Fire station officials know that a space heater can warm up to 200 degrees within 30 seconds, then up to 400 degrees in one minute, and more than 600 degrees after just two minutes.

Fire marshals are aware that the U.S. CPSC estimates more than 25,000 residential fires are caused every year by space heaters, which result in more than 300 heaters and more than 6,000 burn injuries.

That’s why fire officials overwhelming agree that the biggest mistakes that most homeowners make include those also listed above, as well as:

• Having a fire start when someone ran a quick errand and thought it was safe to leave their heater in the “on” mode in its space, but when they came back, they found their home in flames.
• Getting your space heater –– and your furnace –– inspected at the beginning of the fall and winter seasons in your part of the country.
• Forgetting to check that your space heater’s power cord is not broken or frayed, as this can lead to a fire. In fact, if the cord feels hot when you touch it, the heater should be replaced.

Watch This Video About Your DeLonghi Portable Heater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEe9AZesVgc&feature=youtu.be

If you happen to have a DeLonghi oil-filled heater that was manufactured between 1980 and 1988, please participate in the heater replacement program by calling 1-800-322-3848.

The Service Representative will tell you to cut the power cord of your defective DeLonghi heater, mail it back to DeLonghi America, and they will send you a new heater to replace the potentially dangerous oil-filled space heater that you have.