Make sure you check that room heater before using it this winter

SOME OF THE BASIC SAFETY FEATURES INCLUDE A THERMOSTAT FOR HEAT REGULATION, A TIP-OVER SHUTDOWN WHICH ENSURES THAT IT SHUTS OFF IF IT TIPS OVER AND AN OVERHEAT PROTECTION

In the second week of January this year, two women admitted to the ICU ward of a private hospital in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh died, not from any health-related problems that they were suffering, but from the fire that broke out in the ICU. And the cause of the fire was sparks from one of the three convection room heaters in the ward.

About 10 days before that, Manohar Lal, a 50-year-old resident of Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, met a similar fate — he died of 90 per cent burns he suffered when his bed caught fire from the electric room heater that he had turned on before going to bed.

Delhi too has witnessed such tragedies: in January 2015, 37-year old property dealer Abdul Rehman, his wife and their two-year old child, died of asphyxiation caused by a fire that started in their electric room heater.

I quote these cases to draw the attention of consumers to the risks posed by these room heaters if they are of sub-standard quality or used without adequate precaution. As temperatures dip across northern India, many of you might be looking for an ideal electric room heater to purchase. Well, whether you buy them online or offline, remember that the heater has to have a mandatory third-party guarantee on the safety of the product, issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in the form of an ISI mark.

Under the Electrical Wires, Cables, Appliances and Protection Devices and Accessories (Quality Control ) Order, 2003, all electric room heaters must have the mandatory safety certification in order to sell. The relevant BIS safety standard (IS 302-2-30) covers convector heaters, fan heaters, liquid filled radiators, panel heaters, radiant heaters, tubular heaters and heaters for use in greenhouses. The obvious purpose of the order is to ensure the safety of these heaters, but in the absence of strict enforcement, consumers continue to be exposed to unsafe room heaters.

In the United States, where product-related complaints and accidents are closely monitored by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and unsafe products are recalled, over 350,00 units of China made electric space heaters — Vornado VH101 — were recalled this August, following 19 reports of the machines overheating and catching fire. There was also a death from a fire started by the heater.

So buy only safety certified heaters. Remember, those heaters being sold in violation of the law could well give you an electric shock , burn injuries or even start a fire. In fact, some of the basic safety features in a heater include a thermostat for heat regulation, a tip-over shutdown which ensures that the heater is automatically shut off if it tips over and an overheat protection that shuts the machine in case of overheating for any reason.

Since many fires are caused on account of keeping heaters close to flammable materials, always make sure that they are at least three feet away from the bed, furniture or other flammable substances. And they must be placed on the floor and not on carpets or furniture. Similarly, it is always prudent to heat up the bedroom before sleeping and switch off the gadget before going to bed. One should also switch off these gadgets before leaving the room.

If you are using a heater bought in the previous year or years, make sure that the appliance is in good working order. Have it checked up and serviced by a qualified electrician or the company’s service centre and make sure that there are no loose connections or broken wires and the machine is securely connected to a threepin plug. If you find the plug or the socket getting heated up, get them checked up immediately.