Appliance safety

Now that we are officially in the holiday season, your appliances might be getting more use. With company coming and entertaining to be done, you might have more laundry and dishes to wash. Here's an important tip that I am finding is not well known.

Don't use your washer, dryer or dishwasher unless you are home and near enough to monitor them.

The arguments against this are many. These appliances make noise, so it makes sense to run them when you are sleeping, outside or not at home. They also use energy, so it makes sense to run them at night when demands on the power system are less and power is cheaper. They may drain your hot water or natural gas, leaving less available for other purposes like showers. They may cause scheduling difficulties - my dishwasher takes 2 hours to run, during which I can't use the washer and probably shouldn't shower.

So why not use them when it "makes sense?" There's a risk of fire or flood damage which you can catch and address quickly if you are nearby. Yes, it's a fairly small chance, but fires and floods do happen. A good friend of mine had a short in the wiring under his dishwasher. Because he was nearby and had a fire extinguisher, it was not a big deal. Had he not been nearby, the fire could have grown, and mixing fire, water and live electricity could be disastrous.

Your dryer is also a fire risk, especially if it is not maintained properly. One of the bigger risks is not cleaning the duct of lint, which can catch fire.

It seems that I hear more about flood damage from the washer or dishwasher. A burst hose caused a 3 story flood in the condo where I once lived. A friend had a dishwasher flood that caused the need for extensive repair in the kitchen including a new floor. Consider how the two scenarios would play out. In the first scenario, you aren't home when the washer is running. The water hose bursts while the washer is filling. The water runs into your kitchen for hours and sits pooled for hours. The damage could be very extensive. In the second scenario, you are home and hear the flowing water right away and shut it off. A few gallons are on your floor, which you clean up immediately and there is no damage.

So what about your schedule? How do you do it if you work outside the home 8+ hours a day, plus commute time, errands, social time, exercise, appointments, etc? Here's a few hints that helped me. I put a load of wash on before bed (with enough time to complete the cycle). The next morning, I put that same load in the dryer as soon as I get up. By the time I finish some of the rest of my morning routine, the laundry is dry and ready to fold. I also use the Flylady "one load a day" principle, so I am never trying to find more than an hour at a time for laundry. For the dishwasher, I run it as soon as I get home and unload it before bed or in the morning. I prefer to unload it in the morning as the dishes are much drier then.

Yes, the chances of either a fire of flood happening are small, but when they happen the damages can be great. Consider what would happen to your indoor pets if either fire or flood should happen while you are out. The way to mitigate the risk is simple and has minimal cost. That's why I only run appliances when I am home and nearby.




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