# Hairdryer -\> Bathtub killings (are settings relevant?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547 "2026-01-11T00:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/1 "2026-01-11T00:32:12Z")
One of my many random shower-thoughts (bathtub?) … We have all seen the tv-trope of somebody killing a person who is taking a bath, by throwing the hairdryer into the tub. Which triggered the following Q of mine: Many hairdryers have different settings quite often 3: - cold blow → say 20 watts - warm blow → say 1.020 watts - hot blow → say 2.020 watts So my “Colombo Q”: does it matter in what setting the dryer is if you throw it into the bathwater? Would that potential victim laugh if the dryer is thrown in with the wrong setting? (don’t need answer fast) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/2 "2026-01-11T00:36:39Z")
It makes zero difference since the mains wires (120 or 240 depending on where you are) are in the tub as well. It’s no different than tossing a plugged in extension cord into the water. If they’re doing it in a movie, it’s for dramatic effect. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/3 "2026-01-11T02:09:19Z")
Wouldn’t a there be a GFCI somewhere that would break the curcuit almost immediately? ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/4 "2026-01-11T02:16:18Z")
A lot of those movies were made before GFCI’s were common. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/5 "2026-01-11T02:38:58Z")
In most modern houses, yes. In my folk’s house, no. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/6 "2026-01-11T02:50:54Z")
Wasn’t something like that in the opening sequence of an early James Bond movie? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/7 "2026-01-11T02:54:18Z")
I always think of the trope as with a TV - our victim is lounging in a bubble bath, perhaps with candlelight and wine, and the TV is perched nearby. I have no idea if that is a legitimate variant on the hairdryer trope, or I just have a sick imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/8 "2026-01-11T04:07:47Z")
One source noted 75 cases of bathtub electrocutions between 1979-82 in the U.S., many involving children. Maybe it’s fewer now that GFCIs are in wide use. There was a notorious Kentucky case in 1984 where a minister’s wife was killed by a hair dryer in the bathtub. The husband claimed the couple’s cat knocked the hair dryer into the tub. Before he could be arrested he fled and was on the lam for 10 years, then was brought back for trial and convicted of murder for deliberately throwing the hair dryer into the bathtub. The killer wound up with a life sentence (see linked article). > **[KY Parole Board: Life-sentences pose serious financial challenges for prisons...](https://nkytribune.com/2025/08/ky-parole-board-life-sentences-pose-serious-financial-challenges-for-prisons-facing-aging-inmate-population/)** > > Editor’s Note: Second of four-part series on Kentucky’s Parole Board By R.G. Dunlop Special to NKyTribune Sentences of life without parole and others requiring decades of incarceration pose serious challenges not only for inmates but also for the... The Lord works in mysterious ways. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/9 "2026-01-11T04:10:20Z")
Correction: The Lord’s _believers_ work in mysterious ways. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/10 "2026-01-11T04:24:57Z")
Many moons ago I had my own business. I had a team of admins, contracts folks, and graphic designers who did proposals for Government Contractors. We were a crack team who could come in to save a process that was failing. It’s the sort of job where you work 70 hours a week, then not at all for a while. One night after two 80 hour weeks in a row I was groggily brushing my teeth before bed, and I accidentally dropped some toothpaste on my hairdryer. The only thought in my head was what a pain that would be to clean up in the morning, so I grabbed the hairdryer and stuck it under the running water. Then I was jolted to fully awake status, thankfully by the POP!! of the internal breaker going off, rather than by an electrical shock. I could easily have died of exhaustion that night. But exactly the kind of redundant safety gadget that I had always laughed about - saved my butt. I’ll never laugh at safety warnings again. In answer to the OP - the settings were all at the “off” position. They would have had to cycle through “cold” and “warm” to get to “high,” but none of that mattered because the water completed the circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/11 "2026-01-11T12:42:28Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Wouldn’t a there be a GFCI somewhere that would break the curcuit almost immediately? Whether or not there’s a GFCI on the circuit somewhere is irrelevant to the OP’s question as to if the amount of danger you’re in varies with the hair dryer’s setting. While you’ll be in less danger if there’s a GFCI present, said danger won’t change if the dryer is on high, low or off. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/12 "2026-01-11T13:07:10Z")
Hopefully this will be considered a relevant side tangent question rather than a hijack, but it appears the OP’s question has been answered, so I’ll ask— I’ve wondered, how instantaneous are GFCI circuits? If you’re in the bathtub and someone throws in a hairdryer that’s plugged into a GFCI, do you still feel a brief jolt, or nothing at all? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/13 "2026-01-11T13:28:42Z")
On the order of milliseconds. I’ll have to check to see how much Electro-Boom flinches when he’s zapped by something protected by one. Also, it should be noted that, if the drain plumbing in your house is PVC (and you’re in a non-conductive tub and otherwise insulated from ground), the GFCI won’t do anything. It needs a path to ground to work. The breaker will still blow, hopefully, but the GFCI won’t even notice it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/14 "2026-01-11T13:41:38Z")
This should be cued up to him tripping a GFCI outlet by sending mains power through a bathtub to the drain/ground with his leg in it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SHGo-52wCDc/maxresdefault.jpg "Why Charging Phones Take Victims") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGo-52wCDc&t=98) If you’re not familiar with ElectroBoom, he’s made a career out of giving himself shocks. He has stated that electrical shocks don’t bother him that much, but he still normally flinches, often violently, when he gets shocked. Here, I think he’s flinching more due to the sound of the GFCI tripping. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/15 "2026-01-11T14:14:08Z")
> [@solost](#): > > how instantaneous are GFCI circuits? According to UL standard 943, a Class A GFCI must trip when it senses a current difference (between hot and neutral) of 5 mA ± 1 mA. In other words, it must not trip if the current difference is less than 4 mA, and it must trip if the current difference is 6 mA or greater. As for max allowable response time, it depends on the magnitude of the current difference. For most scenarios it would be less than 25 ms according to the standard, but actual GFCIs are much faster than that. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/16 "2026-01-11T14:25:31Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ll have to check to see how much Electro-Boom flinches when he’s zapped by something protected by one. Thank you for the later video follow-up; before you posted the video I was completely mystified by ^that sentence 😏 Speaking, of, interesting video. RE: the premise he was testing, that a woman was supposedly electrocuted when her charging phone dropped into the tub, I thought, can that really happen? I would have thought the phone adapter reduced the voltage to a tiny, harmless fraction of the main. It seems like Electroboom was bearing this out, “still nothing should happen because the output of the adapter is isolated from the live wires”. Then he tests it: “…because the charger out with a live wire are isolated If I short them there is no current running between them and the edge of…” \*BZZZZAP\* “SHIIIH!! Fuhhhh!” (repeated facepalms) “the probe ground is connected to Earth-- why do I keep forgetting?!?” How is this guy not dead yet? Also, uhh, brave of him to not edit that embarrassing part out of his video…I guess? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/17 "2026-01-11T14:27:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Wouldn’t a there be a GFCI somewhere that would break the curcuit almost immediately? Since the early 90s handheld hair dryers (in the US at least) have been required to have their own GFCI built into the plug. So yes unless you have a really old hair dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/18 "2026-01-11T15:14:19Z")
> [@solost](#): > > RE: the premise he was testing, that a woman was supposedly electrocuted when her charging phone dropped into the tub, I thought, can that really happen? I would have thought the phone adapter reduced the voltage to a tiny, harmless fraction of the main. I didn’t rewatch the video, but, no, it shouldn’t happen if the power supply is designed correctly. If you go over to BigCliveDotCom’s youtube channel, he can show you plenty of USB chargers that, under the right circumstances, will send full mains voltage though you. > [@solost](#): > > Also, uhh, brave of him to not edit that embarrassing part out of his video…I guess? It’s part of his whole thing. The guy is an electrical engineer, despite the show he puts on, he really does know what he’s doing and most, not all, but most, of the shocks are on purpose and he knows they’re coming. OTOH, I really don’t think he meant for the Jacob’s Ladder to fall on him. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_g1z47U_kZQ/hqdefault.jpg "ElectroBoom Dies From A Jacob's Ladder") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g1z47U_kZQ) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/19 "2026-01-11T15:23:46Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Speaking, of, interesting video. RE: the premise he was testing, that a woman was supposedly electrocuted when her charging phone dropped into the tub, I thought, can that really happen? I would have thought the phone adapter reduced the voltage to a tiny, harmless fraction of the main. This happened a few years ago, and it was in Asia (of course…). The victim was a child who was charging her phone with a cheap knock-off charger. The charger had a primary-to-secondary short, and electrocuted her. This sort of failure would normally be unnoticeable, until you handled the phone when your body was well grounded. Without a GFCI in the circuit, the fault was fatal. (On looking for a link to the original story, it turns out that there are a LOT of cases. You can take your pick. They all involve cheap, knock-off chargers). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547/20 "2026-01-11T15:40:53Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > As for max allowable response time, it depends on the magnitude of the current difference. For most scenarios it would be less than 25 ms according to the standard, but actual GFCIs are much faster than that. I did a little more research on this, and this comment of mine is not accurate. Here is a plot I found that explains it better (with annotations added by me): [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55034587692_d4b484f80c_c.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55034587692_d4b484f80c_c.jpg) As can be seen, the maximum allowable response time for low magnitudes of current difference can be quite high based on the UL standard (yellow curve). At 6 mA it can be around 4 seconds! Interesting. Most actual/cheap GFCIs are not sophisticated enough to follow UL’s curve (beige curve). They use simple circuitry that trips much faster. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairdryer-bathtub-killings-are-settings-relevant/1026547.md?page=2)