5 KEY DOMESTIC FIRE SAFETY CHECKS FOR WINTER

Ideal for ensuring your home is safe and cosy this Christmas

As winter rolls into view and talk of a White Christmas moves from hypothetical to hopeful, you might be feeling a little trepidation about your home’s ability to cope with an increase in visitors.

Last year, our properties all enjoyed some deserved time off from the usual influx of family and friends, spillages and breakages that define the Christmas season domestically. This year, however, the festive period looks set to be bigger and better than ever, and our homes are going to need to be ready for it. 

We’re here to consider the safety of your home today, and more specifically, its fire safety. Christmas is a time of untested, intoxicated cooks stepping up to the stoves for the first time all year. As such, it’s also a time associated with an increased risk of house fires. Indeed, official statistics show that the month of December, between 6pm and 8pm, is the peak time for house fires annually. 

With that all in mind, to ensure your guests are safe, here are 5 key domestic fire safety checks for winter, IDEAL for ensuring your home is safe and cosy this Christmas.

TEST SMOKE DETECTORS

Fire alarms can be disturbing enough when the only issue is that you’ve burnt the mince pies again. But if a real fire starts domestically, it’s essential that residents and guests are alerted to it as soon as possible. With homes full during the festive season, this is even more pressing, as making a quick exit can be more difficult. 

It’s down to you, as the homeowner and host, to check that all smoke detectors are fully functioning. Most modern fire alarms have a button that allows you to test this; simply press and hold this button until the device gives you an indication that it’s working. Should the sound emitted be weak, stuttering or worse, non-existent, then change the batteries and try again. If it’s still not working, it’s time to invest in a new alarm.

CHECK YOUR FIREPLACE

Keeping with the fire theme, here, and whilst it’s been a mild autumn, as soon as the real winter and then Christmas roll around, it’s obligatory to enjoy an open fire. Doing so brings with it a festive focal point and sense of romantic, aromatic spectacle which feels so perfectly suited to the magic of the season. But before you light it up, it’s important to check your fireplace is primed and ready to spark into life.

Firstly, undertake some external appraisals. Remove tree limbs from near or above your chimney. Check the condition of the chimney cap and remove debris or any rogue bird’s nests that have fallen into the space. Onwards, and check whether or not the roof flashing is compact against the chimney, the mortar and bricks in the chimney are fine, the chimney crown is bevelled, and you can see the flue liner above the crown. All vital stuff, indeed.

Inside, make sure that the flue damper is fine. There should be no cracked bricks or mortar in the firebox or hearth and no combustible material in the flue. If you have a gas fireplace, check the gas logs, igniter, burner holes, and glass door for latch problems or cracks. 

Or, if all that technical jargon has left you a little cold, you could get a professional to do it…

GET YOUR CHIMNEY SWEPT

Hold fire before you light yours; it’s generally recommended that chimneys should only be swept in late Autumn or early Winter (as in, now). 

When the nights draw in and the temperature drops in the UK, the allure of the open fire rises in tandem. A winter sweep ensures that no birds have made their homes in your chimney over spring and summer, before the first flames lick upwards. That is not the kind of roast bird that should be on the Christmas menu this year, after all.

It’s also essential for the removal of other blockages, such as cobwebs or soot build-up, which would impede the escape of fumes. 

ROOF RECON

Such removal of blockages has to occur externally if you’re going to get a full appraisal. 

External clutter and accumulated debris, particularly from branches and twigs, can be a fire hazard, particularly at this time of year.

As such, it’s important you check your roof before the festive season hots up to stop it really, erm, hotting up. A simple inspection is all that’s required here, making sure that there’s not only any debris, but also that there are no loose or cracked tiles, or slates on your roof, as breakages or gaps could let water in. No one wants to deal with that over the festive season.

Of course, you need to keep safe at all times during such work, so it’s important you wear protective clothes to carry out any work around the house. The experts at Snickers Workwear tell us that elbow and knee pads, a PTD belt and a holster jacket will make your life significantly easier (and safer) when carrying out home maintenance at such heights. Falls may occur, so it’s best to be protected against every eventuality.

PREPARE YOUR FRIDGE FOR INCREASED USE

The fridge is one of the, if not the, most frequently used appliances in the kitchen, and over the festive period, that fridge door is getting opened and closed by one family member or another every few minutes. 

Since you’ll be cooking for guests over Christmas, it’s vital that your fridge is working properly and is sanitised, to ensure no one falls ill after eating at your home; enough to ruin anyone’s Christmas, don’t you think?

Emptying the fridge and doing a deep clean will prevent any mould or mildew build-up and allows you to throw out any uneaten food that could be taking up space. Sweeping below the fridge is important too because dust and dropped food can accumulate underneath it. 

Making your fridge run better also means you need to clean the condenser coils, which are located at the bottom or back of the fridge and can be cleaned by vacuuming or hand-dusting them. When the condenser coils are clean, you can benefit from less energy use on your next utility bill.

And with that, we wish you a very merry one!

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