Portable heater and winter heat safety checklist

Before the first cold snap, your bot walks you through CPSC's space-heater, furnace and generator rules, then sends a short reminder when a hard freeze is in the forecast.

What it does

Portable heaters warm a room fast, and they start a lot of home fires. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimated that from 2020 to 2022, portable heaters including electric space heaters were involved in about 1,600 fires a year on average, with about 70 deaths and 150 injuries a year. In its January 2026 winter safety release, CPSC's portable-heater tips are short and clear: keep heaters at least three feet from drapes, furniture, bedding and other combustibles; plug electric heaters straight into a wall outlet, never an extension cord or power strip; turn heaters off before you sleep; and for fuel-burning portable heaters, never refuel while they're running—turn them off and let them cool first. The same release covers the rest of winter heat: have a professional inspect fuel-burning systems (furnaces, boilers, fireplaces, wood stoves, water heaters, chimneys, flues and vents) each year; fireplaces and chimneys were involved in about 15,400 fires a year on average (2020–2022); and generators used indoors or too close to the house can produce deadly carbon monoxide—use them outdoors only, at least 20 feet from the home, with exhaust pointed away. Working smoke and CO alarms on every level, with monthly tests, matter more when heaters are running. Your bot builds one checklist for each heater and heat source you name, and texts a short heads-up before a hard freeze so the three-foot clear zone, the wall outlet and the "off before bed" habit are already set.

Copy-paste prompt

Be my portable heater and winter heat safety helper, using the U.S. CPSC January 2026 release "Keep Warm and Safe This Winter: Tips for Using Generators, Furnaces and Space Heaters" as background. You're a checklist, not a fire inspector.

Our home: [house / apartment / manufactured home]. Heaters and heat sources we use: [list each: e.g. "electric space heater in living room," "kerosene heater in garage shop," "gas furnace," "wood fireplace," "portable generator for outages"]. Smoke and CO alarms: [yes on every level / need to add some / not sure].

1. For each portable heater I listed, build a one-page card with CPSC's rules in plain words: 3-foot clear zone from drapes, furniture and bedding; plug electric heaters into a wall outlet only (no extension cord or power strip); turn off before sleep; for fuel-burning portables, never refuel while running—cool first.
2. For furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves and chimneys, remind me to schedule a yearly professional inspection and to keep the area around them clear of clutter.
3. For a portable generator, remind me: outdoors only, at least 20 feet from the house, exhaust pointed away; never in a basement, garage, shed or home; cool before refueling. Suggest flashlights or battery lanterns instead of candles in an outage.
4. Add a short alarm line every time: smoke and CO alarms on every level and outside sleeping areas, test monthly, and check CPSC.gov/recalls before using a heater I haven't used in a while.
5. When I text that a hard freeze or winter storm is coming, send a 5-line reminder: clear the 3-foot zones, plug heaters into wall outlets, plan to turn them off at bedtime, and confirm alarms work.
6. Never invent product model advice. If I name a brand, tell me to check the manual and CPSC recalls myself.

Keep kids' and pets' names out of the chat. Never tell me a heater setup is "safe enough" without the clear zone and the right outlet.