Fall’s first real cold front is forecast this week for Northern California and it’s expected to cause temperatures to drop by 15 to 20 degrees and perhaps bring showers and snow to some locations by Friday, so Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is urging customers to be cautious when heating their homes.
Electric heating devices, such as space heaters, are a fire hazard when not properly used or monitored. Fuel-burning appliances, such as gas furnaces, stoves and water heaters, can increase the risk of carbon monoxide when they are not working properly. High levels of carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, can be generated by appliances that are defective or improperly installed or maintained. It’s also a good time of year to change the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
According to PG&E meteorologists, a weather system will move into the region out of the Pacific Northwest Thursday night into Friday, and it will bring precipitation and significantly cooler temperatures with it.
PG&E urges customers to focus on safely heating their homes as temperatures drop and offers the following tips:
- Place space heaters on level, hard, nonflammable surfaces, not on rugs or carpets.
- Don’t put objects on space heaters or use them to dry clothes or shoes.
- Keep all flammable materials at least three feet away from heating sources and supervise children and pets when a space heater or fireplace is being used.
- Turn off space heaters when leaving the room or going to sleep.
- Never use cooking devices such as ovens or stoves to heat your home, and never use products inside the home that generate dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, such as generators, barbecues, propane heaters and charcoal.
- Install carbon monoxide detectors to warn you if concentration levels are high. As of 2011, all California single-family homes are required to have carbon monoxide detectors. Make sure they are installed near sleeping areas and replace the batteries at least twice a year.
- When using the fireplace to stay warm, make sure the flue is open so that the byproducts of combustion can vent safely through the chimney.
If customers suspect there is a problem with a natural gas appliance inside their home, they should call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.
A gas service representative will be dispatched to do a thorough inspection at no cost to the customer. If you detect carbon monoxide in your home, you should get out immediately and call 911.
Seriously?! It is NOT even going to be that cold! (inserts eye roll emoji)
I might use heat in the mornings but the rest of day gets bundled up and extra blanket on the bed if needed.
We are allowed to heat our homes!
Oh my goodness, something we can do without permission from the government.
Sorry, I’m feeling sarcastic today
Will do. Just got a load of firewood in. Thanks PG&E for caring about my wellbeing.
What a joke! Does PG&E think we’re all idiots? Sure there’s plenty of them in this state, but please spare me with the childish PSA
It was so cold tonight that we had to eat dinner outside in the back yard. I want to thank P,G, and E for this issue.
Hey PG&E: maybe get your own equipment in check before you start giving other people advice.
Bingo! You win.
OK, I will agree not to use a space heater or oven to heat my house. So why will my bill still be double of what it was last year? Honestly, we have conserved electricity and have not run our a/c since August and still our bill is doubled. Pretty much sucks since we have both lost our jobs and just barely getting by. Actually, no longer getting by…. lights are on and rent is paid and that is about it.
Maybe they can instruct us on wiping our butts more efficiently to dissuade the next T.P. shortage… it takes a village.
Thank you PG&E for allowing me to turn on the heater in MY HOUSE if needed.
What a joke!
PG&E is just trying to put a freeze on this year’s Darwin Awards.
They also forgot “Don’t run with scissors” and Don’t play with matches”.