Can Iron in upright position cause house fire ?

[felix9x]

In my mom's view I have commited a sin I left iron pluged in in the upright position and left the house. The only reason why this may cause a fire is if there is a earthquacke which would cause the iron to tip over but considering that I live in NYC a probability of a strong enough quacke capable fo tiping over an iron in a 10 hour window is smaller then getting hit by lightning.

Is this just a simple case of misguided perception of overly exeggerated rick?

[pulykamell]

I can't see any way this is problematic, unless you have pets or other critters running around the house. Some people can leave the house with a simmering pot on the stove and not have an ounce of worry; others think it's insane.

[mangeorge]

Questions like this one always make me wonder; why on earth do you want to leave the iron plugged in anyway?
Most modern irons have safety devices to prevent idiots* from burning their houses down, but still advise you to unplug.
*Meant as a term of endearment.
Peace,
mangeorge

[SmackFu]

Because I'm lazy.

[mangeorge]

Originally Posted by SmackFu

Because I'm lazy.

Sound's like a brag to me. SmackFu.

[Shade]

Earthquake? What about forgetting to shut a window and a piece of paper wafting in? What about accidently knocking it over as you leave? What about burning yourself when you come back and have forgotten?

OK, none of it's likely, but it takes, like, what, 1.5 seconds to turn it off? I'm very happy-go-lucky, but I'd just turn the thing off myself.

[ltfire]

Can Iron in upright position cause house fire ?


ANYTHING left plugged in to a live receptical can cause a fire. Yes, even your TV, that's plugged in 24/7.

[Squink]

8/15/1952 A four room frame house at 830 North 17th was destroyed by fire at about 2p.m. on Thursday. occupants Mr. and mrs. R.L. Armstrong were not home when the blaze occurred. City Fire Marshal L.A. Blackwood reported that the house and it's contents were a total loss. The house was owned by the Guitar estate. He attributed the cause to an electric iron which had been left connected and had fallen to the floor in the east bedroom. An unidentified youth discovered the fire and attempted to extinguish it with a garden hose. After he thought he had put the blaze out he tried to find the Armstrong's. Meanwhile flames broke out again and engulfed the structure by the time firemen arrived at 2:05 p.m. Firemen reported high winds gave impetus to the flames. 4 truck were at the scene.

Abilene Fire Department history

The heating elements of electric irons occasionally fail, and when they fail, they sometimes short out in such a way as to get very hot.

[spingears]

Originally Posted by SmackFu

Because I'm lazy.

How stooopded can any one get.

[SmackFu]

Originally Posted by Squink

The heating elements of electric irons occasionally fail, and when they fail, they sometimes short out in such a way as to get very hot.

Can't you say that about anything electrical though? How is an iron worse than a toaster or a hair dryer? Do people actually unplug those every time they use them?

[Squink]

Irons tend to get left on for long periods of time, and, unlike toasters and hairdryers don't give much sign of being on.
There's no need to unplug an iron, as long as you can turn it off, and be certain it will stay off when, for example, the cat knocks it over.

[libwen]

Originally Posted by SmackFu

Can't you say that about anything electrical though? How is an iron worse than a toaster or a hair dryer? Do people actually unplug those every time they use them?

I don't know about other people, but I've never left a hair dryer or toaster plugged in when it wasn't in active use.

[friedo]

Originally Posted by SmackFu

Can't you say that about anything electrical though? How is an iron worse than a toaster or a hair dryer? Do people actually unplug those every time they use them?

Because an iron's heating element is directly exposed to whatever it's touching. Worse, it's specifically designed to turn on when facing down, which would be the worst case if an iron were to fall onto the floor.

Toasters and hair dryers all have contained heating elements that are unlikely to set anything on fire, unless you're making a burrito and forgot the tray.

[casdave]

There is, of course, always the possibility of the cable failing when you are not in attendance.

Electric irons are unusual in terms of household appliances because they have a high current demand combined with a need for flexibility due to the way they are used.

Other handheld high current demand items tend not to be used for long periods of time in the way an iron is.

The power cord is usually a number of fine stranded cores, each bundle of cores is wrapped in a soft silicone rubber casing, which is not as mechanically strong as pvc insulation.
This type of insulation is required for heat resistance and flexibility.

The outer casing is usually a braided mesh tube, which is also very flexible and strong.

When an iron is in use, the outer braid over time will very often develop openings near the handle of the iron, and the inner cores force their way out, bulging at this point.

It is not unusual for the inner cores to slowly wear away and for the actual conductors to be bared, possibly shorting out against each other- good because it trips the circuit- bad if it just causes a partial short, because then heat will be developed around the cable entry and a fire can result.

The other reason why it is not a good idea for an electric iron to be left on is the action of the thermostat.

Temperature of an iron is nearly always controlled by a bi-metallic heat sensitve switch. As the two dissimlilar metals expand with heat, one will expand more than another, causing the strip to bend away from the more expansive material, this metallic strip is used to move a contact which makes and breaks the main circuit.

Unfortunately, over several years, the constant on/off action of the thermostat will erode the contact, whose surface will become pitted, and eventually it will weld itself onto its opposite countepart.
Once that contact has welded the iron is permanently on, and it will continue to get hotter and hotter.

Manufacturers do fit a high temperature safety cut out, but this does not permanently break the circuit, as soon as the iron turns off using the safety cut out, it will cool a little, and the iron will be turned on again.
The safety cut out is not desgned to operate this way, and is much more likely to weld closed, when this happens that is absolutely nothing to limit the rise in the temperature of the iron, sooner or later something will melt, and a fire is a high probabilty.

If you are in attendance, you would very soon notice something was amiss if the iron was working only on the safety cut out, it would be very much hotter than normal, it would damage any clothes it came into contact with, it would have that characteristic electrical overheat smell, in short, you would soon turn it off.

If you are not in attendance you of course cannot do this.

Leaving an iron on when not in attendance is an extremely bad idea.

In the UK our electrical system does make this less likely, our plugs are physically large compared to the US counterpart.This is because our plugs contain a fuse that is suitable for the particular appliance it supplies, whereas in the US the fuse is in the supply box and is rated for all the appliances likely to be connected to that circuit.

The result is that the UK device will have something like a 10Amp or 13Amp fuse, whereas the US will be protected by a far larger value fuse.
The UK device will be more likely to trip the fuse in its power cord plug than the US device will trip the fuse in the supply board.

[Cerri]

Um, it's maybe 40 bucks tops for an iron with an auto shut-off feature. Go for it, imo.

[ftg]

Love casdave's post. Very nice.

I want to address the psychological aspect of these issues.

Accidents are usually a sequence of events. X happens, then Y, then Z and your house is burning down.

People who are safety aware understand that should be prevent Y from happening since X may have already occurred and you don't know if Z will happen or not.

People who are safety boobs think "What's the harm if doing Y, after all, what are the chances of X and Z happening?" I don't understand why people think that way at all. It's just seems to me to be admitting you are stupid to one and all.

In the case of the issue in the OP:

Just turn the thing off! Presto, whether X or Z happens no longer matters. It is so trivial and removes so much danger, how can anyone possibly argue against not doing it????

Secondly, it's an iron. A small household appliance. They are made so cheaply that failures happen early and often. They don't last at all. And when they fail, it's not always in a "good way." You shouldn't trust any component in such a cheaply made device at all. You should assume that X has already happened and Z is about to fail any second.

As to the issue of autoshutoff. This reduces the chances of fire a bit, but not entirely. Many times these switches are the first thing to fail on an iron. And I bet 95% of iron owners don't even know whether their iron has this switch or not.

In short, don't leave it sitting upright, even if it has a shutoff switch. Don't even leave it "off". Unplug the thing.

felix9x, your mom's a smart person. Learn everything you can from her. You'll have a much nicer life.

[talking head]

If you are forgetful, invest in an iron which will turn itself off if you're not using it. Best adhere to mom's wishes. My child didn't in younger years, but now that he's older, he wonders how I suddenly got so smart! The rule of thumb around my place is-if it has a heating element, we unplug it. You just never know if you have a defective appliance until it's too late. I've heard of coffemakers that are "off" catching fire because they're plugged in.

[Eats_Crayons]

Originally Posted by talking head

The rule of thumb around my place is-if it has a heating element, we unplug it. You just never know if you have a defective appliance until it's too late.

Same here. Toasters, coffee makers, hair dryers, and certain tools with heating elements are always unplugged when not in use. Standard procedure in the Crayola box.

[casdave]

Toasters, coffee makers, hair dryers, and certain tools with heating elements are always unplugged when not in use

UK sockets usually have a switch built in, you don't need to unplug, just turn off the socket switch.

There are extremely unusual circumstances whereby a switched off socket with a device plugged in can be a safety risk, but it is so unlikely that the risk is virtually theoretical.

[Jaade]

Originally Posted by Shade

Earthquake? What about forgetting to shut a window and a piece of paper wafting in? What about accidently knocking it over as you leave? What about burning yourself when you come back and have forgotten?

OK, none of it's likely, but it takes, like, what, 1.5 seconds to turn it off? I'm very happy-go-lucky, but I'd just turn the thing off myself.

This happened to me as a child. My best friend's mom had left their iron on, and I walked into it at their house. Third degree burns make for a good lesson.

[WernhamHogg]

I find it interesting that a person who claims to be so lazy they won't bother turning off an appliance bothers to use that appliance in the first place. I mean, who irons?

[felix9x]

I didn't notice there where so many replies to the thread.

I like to make a few notes on the psychology involved here.

First I am not a kid I am an adult, the fact that I am living with parents is another issue. I already know I was supposed to turn it off I just forgot. I was in a rush I ironed my shirt and ran out the house. The iron was "On" and plugged in.

The point of my question was weather there was an overeaction to this. My mon didn't just say "hey dummy you forgot the iron" it was more like "Hey idiot you almost killed us".

The fact that iron was left on does not mean that the likelyhood of total house destruction or death was increased by multiple orders of magnitude. The Y and the Z would still had to have happened even though I already did X.

Should I have been sujected to a beating for such a mistake I dont think so.