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Show THE DAItT HF.RALD.Voftie Marine - Page 15. Unused fire extinguishers must be recharged often By NICK HARDER The Orange County Register Even if you have fire extinguishers in your home, chances are they won't be any good, that sit Extinguishers unused for years usually lose their charge. Try to use them when a fire does threaten your home and you may have to watch as everything you own goes up in flames. Though I have five large and four small fire extinguishers in my home, I recently checked them all and found three that needed recharging. To see if your fire extinguishers need recharging, check the small gauge at the top. Between the red zones that denote a full charge is a green area. If the needle in that gauge is in the green, chances are, the extinguisher is OK. If it's in the red, you need to get the extinguisher recharged. So how do you do this? Simple. Recharged the Yellow Pages Look in under the listings for fire extinguishers. Specifically, look for the ads that say "service." This usually means that the company will recharge. Some companies that list just a name may recharge extinguishers, also. I called several companies to ask about recharging. Most would send someone to my home to do the recharging on the spot. A few said I could bring them in if I wished. Prices were fairly compara ble. If a company comes out to recharge just one fire extin- guisher, it might run as much as $20. For two extinguishers, perhaps $15. It gets a bit lower, until the price levels off at six extinguishers or more. I have four extinguishers. They're what are called ABC extinguishers. In effect, that means they'll put out almost any type of fire. They're filled with a foam. If the fire extinguishers with this type of chemical remain uncharged, the powder solidifies. What a recharge does in a chemical fire extinguisher is to eject the chemical into a recycling device. When it is recycled into its (relatively) original state, the chemical is charged back into the extinguisher. The Knight Ridder Newspapers to take a long vacation this winter and will leave our warm-ai- r furnace on with the thermo stat set at 50 degrees. The house will be checked twice a week by neighbors and relatives. What else should we do to protect the home during our absence? Q. We're going A. Before you leave, try keep- ing the thermostat at 50 degrees on a cold day and see if that is enough to keep the base ment, where there are water pipes and appliances, at 45 degrees or more. You might need a higher thermostat setting. I also recommend shutting off the water at the main valve and shutting off the water heater. For extra safety, drain water-containin- g the water heater (put a sign on it to refill it with water before turning it back on). Also drain the water lines by opening a faucet at a low point in the system. There will still be some water in drain traps and appliances throughout the house, so that it is extremely impo:-tan- t the house is not allowed to reach freezing temperature as the result of a power failure or heater failure. I strongly advise installing an alarm system such as FreezeAlarm, a battery-operatedevice that can be hooked up to a telephone. If the temperature in the house drops below 45 degrees, the device will repeatedly dial a preset number and leave a warning signal at the home of a neighbor or relative. A basic FreezeAlarm costs about $120 and can be ordered d w i - Nestled In snuglin fun w4200 sq ft, natural maple cabinels, super plan, .40 acre lot, 3 car oarage, stone & stucco, perfection. $239,900. Come seel Call HIGHLAND- Sandra 756 B86B or Jffo-'- J wHield made of the home. to fill I A. You should be able to make the gouges virtually invisible by filling them with wood putty. Examples are . and $40-$7- Better check your fire extinguishers now. Winter is the time there are more house fires than at any other time of year, so get yourself in gear. Just say, "Charge!" Whereas my extinguishers contained a dry chemical mixture, some older extinguishers are filled with a gas called halon. This is extremely good at fires. out putting Unfortunately, it's also an so environmental hazard much so that its sale was banned a few years ago. This type of extinguisher cannot be Nick Harder is home editor of the Orange County (Calif.) Register. Write to him at The Orange County Register, PO Box 11626, Santa Ana, Calif. 92711. your air conditioner), installing lightning protection for your home's electrical system and making sure the proper-sizewires are installed and functioning. You also can ask about lightning rods and other lightning prevention strategies that work on commercial and industrial sites. Even though many of these strategies are not typically used in homes, you may find that an investment in some of them gives you peace of mind as well as a little more protection from the elements. SHEINKOPF air conditioner is fairly new, but it has been hit by lightning twice. Is something attracting the lightning to this unit? Is there anything I can do prevent it from happening again? d Q. My these gouges before repaint the doors? Wood run The Orlando Sentinel 947-909- Plastic - The price for recharging- this type of extinguisher is significantly higher. You may pay something like $22 per pound. For a small- - to medium-siz- e halon extinguisher, this could location, I asked if I could get home service. I hired South Coast Fire Protection in San Clemente, Calif. Eric Lundquist came out and gave me a bit of an education in extinguisher recharging. By KEN from Control Products Inc. in Chanhassen, Minn., (800) More sophisticated alarms, which leave voice messages, dial several phones and can be reprogrammed by telephone, are available from the same company. Q. Our dogs have deep gouges in some wooden doors of our Is there some way House call Rather than lug all four of my extinguishers to some other Basic steps protect home from lightning Travelers: Keep house warm to prevent pipes from freezing By GENE AUSTIN treated by a visit to your home. It must be done at a shop, though pickup and delivery are possible. whole process takes less than 15 minutes. Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler. If the holes are on exterior doors and exposed to weather, a good choice would be Plastic Wood UV by Bondex, (800) which is specially designed for outdoor use. 231-678- ESTFEELD A. I'm told that direct lightning strikes on home air conditioners are rare, but they do happen. Damage also can happen when lightning hits a power line near your home, carrying the charge to the house. There are some basic things you can do to help protect your home and appliances like the air conditioner against lightning. Have a qualified electrician make any changes and make recommendations for your particular needs. Without going into detail on a lot of options, consider such things as testing the grounding system in your home (and in Energy fact: In the past years, energy-efficienc- y sures in the United States have cut about $50 billion from our energy bills. Ken Sheinkopf is director of development for the Florida Solar Energy Center. Write to him at: the Florida Solar Energy Center, 1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, Fla. 32922. tssi w ism ' M 'liMI HIGHLAND- - ''- People's Cholcel Grandeous! 5300 5 bd. 3 ba. 2 family rms. new perfection. sq .56 acre lot. 4 car garage, call today! Almost Westtield complete $379,900 Sandra Fax 763-885- ft. 2 RE RE. SPRGVL-Custo- Twinhome! 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