Indoor heat is a necessity in the winter. There is no getting around it.
And there is no getting around the fact that the temperature gets colder when the Sun goes down and it’s time to sleep.
And for the many people that have inadequate heating in their home, it is a tough call to tell somebody that they shouldn’t sleep with a space heater running.
The truth is that it is unsafe to sleep with a space heater.
There is no company or business that’s going to tell you that it is okay to leave a space heater unattended even if unattended even if that means you’re in the same room with it, asleep.
The amount of house fires that are started by space heaters is astronomical. And deaths caused by fires originating from space heaters are also insanely high.
If a company were to tell you it is okay to sleep with a space heater, the resulting lawsuits, even from one fire, would bury them before they got started.
But unsaid, it is known that people are going to sleep with the space heater running at some point.
And that is why safety is the number one priority when purchasing a space heater.
And even more so if the space heater in question uses a gas like propane.
Table of Contents
Is it safe to sleep with the propane heater?
It is not safe to sleep with a propane heater.
But if a person was in a position where the only heat they had available was a propane heater,
Here’s a couple of things to think about.
1.Only use a propane heater rated for indoor use.
Never use an outdoor propane heater inside of a house. They are meant to be outside because ventilation is not an issue when you are burning propane outdoors.
Indoor propane heaters have an oxygen depletion sensor that shuts them down if the oxygen in the room becomes too low.
2. Ventilation
Indoor propane heaters have an oxygen depletion sensor because there is a chance that the oxygen can become too low in a room while heating with propane.
That means that you should provide extra ventilation to a room when you are using a propane heater. Even cracking the window a little bit.
3. Carbon monoxide detector
One of the reasons heating with propane can be considered dangerous is because propane creates carbon monoxide as a byproduct.
Carbon monoxide can lead to poisoning or even death at too high of a level.
And even scarier, you cannot smell it or taste it.
A carbon monoxide detector is a must when using a propane heater.
4. Propane detector
Even if you have a carbon monoxide detector, it will not tell you if you have a propane leak coming from your heater.
A propane detector will ensure that you are alerted if there is a propane leak.
5. Plenty of space
One of the biggest reasons that fires get started from using a space heater is that they are placed too closely to items that can catch fire.
Never place a space heater too close to a combustible item like a bed or curtains.
6. Keep items off of the heater.
Never use a space heater to dry your clothes or to hang your clothes.
Summary
No one’s ever going to tell you that it’s safe to sleep with a space heater. Including me.
But anytime that you are using a space heater, especially a space heater that uses propane gas, you should take extra precautions.
1. Only use a propane heater that is rated for indoor use.
2. Ensure that there is plenty of ventilation. Oxygen can be displaced by carbon monoxide if you do not have proper ventilation.
3. Carbon monoxide detector and propane detector.
A carbon monoxide detector will alarm you when the carbon monoxide in the room becomes too high.
A propane detector will alarm you if you have a propane leak.
4. Make sure the heater has plenty of space around it and that you do not have anything on or hanging off of the heater. Like clothes for instance.
