By Roxanne Prather, Sales

Roxanne’s Sales Talk

As I’m writing this, I’m thinking about all the fires in California for how blessed we are to not go through what they are going through. My heart breaks thinking about all they have lost. I can’t imagine what they are going through. This all makes me think of all the house fires that happen in the winter. Most of these fires can be prevented by cleaning your dryer lint vent trap every time you use it. Believe it or not 20-30% of people worldwide don’t clean their vent. If you notice lint on your clothes in the dryer you might need to pull the screen, poke a lint brush into the track to clean out any lint that has gone past your lint screen.

Space heaters are another big fire hazard. All it takes to start a fire is for the heater to short out, or for someone to accidentally throw a piece of clothing on top of it. Nowadays, most space heaters have auto shut off in case they get tipped over.  The older heaters don’t have an auto option. If you must use a space heater, make sure you know which type you have. Always keep it out of the way of traffic and never put one in a child’s room.  If you need more heat in an area of your home space heaters are not the way to go. On top of that, using a space heater can be very expensive.

Here’s how to figure out what it costs to run your space heater. Look at your heater and find out the wattage. A 1500-watt electric space heater draws 12.5 amps of electricity at 120 volts (Watts = Amps x Volts).  You are charged on your bill by Kilowatt-hours or (kWh). So, take your space heater rating in watts (which you should be able to find on a sticker on the heater) and multiply it by how many hours a day you use it, then divide the answer by 1000. That will give you the (kWh)  If you’re using a 1500-watt space for 24 hours it would be 36 kWh x .13 cents a kWh = $4.68 a day or $140.40 in 30 days.

If you need more heat in your home and are looking for an affordable solution, please stop in or call the Co-op to talk to Andrew Francisco. Andrew is great at figuring out options to keep your home comfortable without breaking the bank. Also remember we offer financing to those who qualify. To qualify you just need to be current on your bill for 3 consecutive months, afterwards, you can put as little as 20% down to finance for up to 3 years. Also don’t forget to ask about rebates.