Recommendations on provision of heaters or cash for heating Turkiye Earthquake Response, 2023 – Türkiye

Introduction:

The four provinces most affected by the EQ (Adiyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, and Malatya) have average low temperatures down to around 0°C during winter. Containers (especially foldable containers) and tents provide very little insulation and are not livable during the cold winter months without interventions such as heating, insulation, rain protection etc. Shelter partners are providing heaters to households in coordination with authorities. In addition, BNWG (Basic Needs Working Group) partners are providing multipurpose cash assistance (MPCA).

It should be noted that even if affected HHs are not directly provided with heaters by humanitarian organizations, they will find a way to obtain heaters which may not be safe for use in their shelters. Therefore, it is important for partners to supply heaters (or cash for heaters along with educational materials) taking safety measures into consideration.

Risks:

• The electrical supply of container sites or informal clusters may not be sufficient to supply all the HHs using their heaters at once.

• Electrical overload can also take place if heaters and ACs are used at the same time (in container cities where most AFAD standard type containers are fitted with ACs).

• The wiring inside the containers (especially foldable) themselves may not have the capacity for the power required by the heaters, i.e. rewiring could be required with larger cross section wires (to be confirmed by assessment of an electrical engineer).

• Containers (especially foldable) might not have circuit breakers inside them to prevent overloading the electrical system. • Heaters in close proximity to flammable materials pose a large fire risk and should be kept at least 50 cm away from walls, furniture fabric, etc.