After many years of owning multiple portable space heaters and window air conditioners, I have learned a few things about safety with these units.
First I will discuss the portable space heaters. While they are very nice to have around the house and I like to keep one in my sitting area to keep my feet warm, there are a few fire hazards you can easily avoid. The first is to keep the space heater away from any fabric. I once had one of my grandchildren move my portable space heater next to my couch so it was blowing hot air directly on my fabric couch. We didn’t think anything of it until we smelled something burning and found a hole in the couch from the space heater. The next tip is to keep it away from children, as my last tip pointed toward this, when a portable space heater is running, it gets very hot and can burn an unsuspecting child very badly. Next let’s go over window air conditioners. I have heard of a common problem with many people’s window air conditioners which can be easily avoided if you used common sense. First, make sure there is nothing under the back side of the air conditioner because it leaks water. I didn’t know that window air conditioners leak water until after it leaked all over my closed in porch. You could put a bucket or something to catch the condensation, just don’t forget to empty it often. Lastly for window air conditioners, make sure you check the air filters often as they tend to over fill and cause lots of problems.