# Do you keep your toaster unplugged when not in use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2019, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587 "2019-10-28T12:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/41 "2019-10-28T21:14:23Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I use it so often, it would be a pain to put it away in a cupboard somewhere. So if I leave it out on a counter, why would I unplug it? Because you have too few outlets for electric appliances. It’s easier to unplug one than hire an electrician to install additional sockets or circuits. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/42 "2019-10-28T21:24:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I think the real concern is faulty design or electrical malfunction within the toaster causing it to turn on, get real hot, and ignite the NY Times crossword someone carelessly left near the appliance. Exactly. We no longer subscribe to the paper to mitigate that risk. Still have to be careful of neighbors leaving news clippings. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/43 "2019-10-28T21:36:49Z")
Yes, because due to my very odd kitchen configuration, the best place to plug in the toaster is directly over the sink, which freaks me out. So, it gets plugged in; it toasts things; it gets unplugged very quickly before something goes horribly wrong with water and electricity. If I had more counter space (or better outlet placement), I would probably leave it plugged in. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/44 "2019-10-28T23:11:50Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I think some of you are envisioning a cat knocking an apple from a high shelf that bounces off the blender and lands squarely on the toaster level, depressing the level and thereby heating up the coils. Well, this is similar to how my parents’ kitchen fire started. They had little cupboards at the back of their counters with roll-up doors, and one time they left the toaster in just the wrong spot. The door fell down on its own (or perhaps with a cat’s help) and pushed the knob on the toaster. With the door holding the knob down and the top of the cupboard not too far above the toaster, it eventually caught the cupboard on fire. They woke up to the smoke alarm and managed to put it out before there was too much damage. It still was a couple thousand $ in repairs, and could have been the whole house if they weren’t home. Yeah, I know, your toaster is in a totally different spot and nothing could ever fall on the knob. But unexpected things happen. Unplug your toaster. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/45 "2019-10-28T23:16:08Z")
No. My Dad unplugged everything not in use or very soon to be in use (vampires, ya know) but I never got the habit. Besides, these days with all the crap we have, it just isn’t worth unplugging anything unless I need the socket for something else. (vampires was the old name for “instant on” and “built in clocks” and stuff. From some old campaign about vampires sucking the electricity from your wires and money from your pocket.) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/46 "2019-10-29T01:49:06Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I could be wrong, but I’ll bet that even if you held the switch down, either nothing would happen (other than getting hot) Are you familiar with that esteemed scientist, [Dave Barry](https://www.davebarry.com/misccol/poptarts.htm)? I have a toaster oven; use it more as an oven than a toaster but one needs to turn a knob counter clockwise to engage it. Not something that could be activated accidentally I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/47 "2019-10-29T02:10:40Z")
I need the socket free for the blender so it usually only gets plugged in when I need to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/48 "2019-10-29T02:14:31Z")
The toaster goes in the cabinet along with the can opener and the coffee maker. None of them gets used often enough to keep them out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/49 "2019-10-29T10:55:22Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > The lesson is: drinking and toasting do not mix! Hear, hear! ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/50 "2019-10-29T11:06:19Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > One of my friends was in an absolute panic one day because she fell asleep (for the night) with a pizza in the oven and she was flipping out because she could have caused a fire. I couldn’t get it through to her that a pizza isn’t all that likely to catch on fire in a 350 degree oven and if you’re going to have a fire in your house, inside of an oven is about the best place to have it. It’s designed to contain heat. I recently discovered, not on purpose, that if you leave a bamboo steamer in a dry wok all night, with the gas burner still on underneath it (lowest setting), that also won’t catch fire and burn the house down. However, I don’t advise this behaviour as a deliberate experiment :o (one vote for “don’t unplug the toaster” here) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/51 "2019-10-29T21:58:19Z")
I’m afraid regular plugging and unplugging would wear out the receptacle, plug, or the wires where they flex, which could be as likely a mechanism for starting a fire as something malfunctioning inside the toaster. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/52 "2019-10-30T13:00:02Z")
No, but I have it on a switched jill. When the toaster is not in use, the plug is switched off. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587/53 "2019-10-30T13:22:29Z")
Toaster oven, not a toaster, but it is unplugged. My mother insists upon it. She lived 200 or so miles away, but she insists upon it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-keep-your-toaster-unplugged-when-not-in-use/842587.md?page=2)