Are Kids Safe Around Electric Heaters?

5 min read

One important question that we frequently get from our customers is: Are Cadet heaters safe to use in homes with children and pets? And the answer is yes.

Our heaters are designed with the safety and comfort of your family in mind. But the surface temperatures do get hot to the touch and proper clearance requirements should be maintained at all times to keep you safe and keep your heater operating normally. And just like other appliances such as your stove, toaster or grill, children and pets should not be left unattended while your heater is in use.

The reality is that many of us, including myself, have young children and pets. When you have a little one around the house you change your habits for the sake of safety, whether it's childproofing cabinets, putting outlet covers in unused sockets, locking windows, securing your TV to the wall or all of the above. Those little ones are your number one priority. Here at Cadet, they're ours too.

If you have a home with children or pets, here are a few ideas for extra precautions you can take when using our heaters:

Install your heater up, out of reach

Our new Apex72 heater was designed specifically to be placed 72-inches or higher on the wall. That puts it out of reach of little hands and paws. In general, picking a wall heater over a baseboard gives you a little more flexibility on what height you place the heater on the wall. And our basic Com-Pak (CS) heaters, 1,500 watts or less, can be mounted in the ceiling.

Take control with programmable thermostats

If you have children or pets you might want to consider using a programmable thermostat. Programmable stats give you the option of not heating a room when junior is likely to be in there playing. Our Energy Plus heaters come with built in digital stats that allow adults to set maximum and minimum temperatures for these heaters. That means no matter how much little ones push buttons, the room won't overheat or freeze.

SoftHeat is cooler to the touch than traditional baseboards

Our SoftHEAT baseboard heaters have lower surface temperatures and have a more enclosed heating element that is harder to get to than our traditional baseboards.

Lower wattages usually have lower surface temperatures

Lower wattage heaters are generally not as hot to the touch than higher wattage heaters. If your room needs 1,000 watts of heat, you can always get two 500-watt heaters instead of one 1,000-watt one.

Always follow clearance requirements

We have clearance requirements for a reason, they help your heater perform at its best and prevent items from getting too close to the heat source. As a rule of thumb you should allow for 3-feet of clearance in front of the heater and 6 inches to either side and above the heater. Specific requirements may vary from product to product. For more detailed safety information, please consult the owner’s guide for your heater.

Keeping these tips in mind, we're confident that you can rest easy when using our products in houses with children and pets.