Appliance Safety Tips

The appliances inside a home make life easier, but when you use them unsafely, they could produce significant health risks. You should care for appliances and be sure they will not become hazards by following these appliance safety recommendations from Rowe Appliance Repair.

The tips below help to prevent fires and injuries from household appliances. However, hazards might still occur. In the event an appliance breaks or starts to malfunction and becomes dangerous, hire a professional appliance repair.

Install GFCI Outlets in Damp Locations in Your Home

Kitchens, laundry rooms, basements, bathrooms, outdoor areas and garages are susceptible to wetness or dripping water. Of course, electricity and water do not go together, that means electrical cords should be plugged into ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs).

This can prevent electrocution by tripping the circuit if any imbalances in power arise.

If you don’t have GFCI outlets installed in wet locations inside of your house, it’s time to install them or call an electrician in CITY. Once that is done, for additional safety, follow the warnings of appliance manuals that note that a household appliance is not meant for outdoor areas.

Cords, Electronics & Outlets Far Away From Water

Many home appliances are specially designed for outdoor areas, like charcoal and gas grills, for example. If you use electrical appliances outside – including refrigerators, dishwashers, freezers and ice makers, power tools and others – be sure that all of the plugs and outlets are not wet. Using weatherproof electronics will help with this, in addition to GFCI outlets with gaskets that are water-tight.

Extension Cords are Only a Temporary Solution

An extension cord poses several noticeable risks, including:

The likelihood of loose connections that might create sparks and cause a fire.
The chance of power interruptions that may break the appliance.
Greater susceptibility to water penetration that might result in electrocution.
The potential for cords overheating and turning into a fire hazard when an insufficient extension cord is paired with a high-power appliance.

When choosing an extension cord for temporary use, make sure that it is the appropriate gauge for the home appliance in question. The smaller the gauge, the larger the size for the cord. For example, a basic household extension cord for a lamp could have a 16-gauge cord where a heavy-duty cord for a air conditioner unit uses a 12-gauge wire.

Length is also crucial. The longer the extension cord, the more power is used up enroute, this is known as voltage drop. Short cords are recommended for electric tools and similar equipment.

Be Sure to Read the Operating Manual for Any Appliance You Purchase

It’s easy to guess that you know how to operate your brand new dishwasher or washing machine without consulting the manual, but consulting the manufacturer instructions is necessary for a lot of reasons:

You will want to find out whether your home’s electrical wiring is good enough to support the appliance. You may have to install a new circuit to prevent overloading your existing ones.

You learn more about features you wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
You discover whether the new appliance is intended for outdoor use or not.

You don’t have the stress that can sometimes come from trying to run a new home appliance without instructions!

Unplug Small Appliances in Your Home if You Aren’t Using Them

You are able to limit unnecessary energy use by unplugging them when you are not operating them. This is because small appliances sometimes include LED signals, clocks and other energy-consuming features while in standby times.

Unplug monitors, TVs, printers, modems, routers, game consoles, cellphone chargers and more to cut back on wasteful energy use. Just remember, it’s OK to keep DVRs and similar electronics plugged in to prevent missing out on their background functions.

For extra tips on how to use appliances safely, or to call a local appliance repair service, please contact Rowe Appliance Repair. Our repairmen can repair all popular home appliances!

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