If something does go wrong with your home heating system, or there’s an area of your Harrisburg, Hershey, Carlisle, Middletown and Palmyra area home that just refuses to get warm no matter what you do, you might be tempted to buy a portable space heater. Be very careful with these devices! They reach very high temperatures and can cause burns, fires or combustion, especially if flammable materials (like drapes, for example, or carpeting) are located within a few feet of the heater. Space heaters can cause electrical fires because they use a great deal of power. Someone could trip over the cord and (a) get hurt from the fall or (b) cause a fire. Space heaters also emit carbon monoxide, but unlike your home heating system, which vents to the outdoors, space heaters simply fill the room with this deadly, invisible, odorless and tasteless gas. If you must use a space heater, be sure it is on a hard flooring surface with several feet of clear space around it, and that it is plugged directly into an outlet (not an extension cord) using a grounded three-pronged plug. And if you’re finding it necessary to use a space heater in your Harrisburg, Hershey, Carlisle, Middletown and Palmyra area home, the most important thing you should do is to call a licensed CROH Heating & Air technician to get your home heating system running at optimum performance, in a timely and cost-effective manner.