To wonder why a kettle would be a fire risk?

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

I've just had a new kettle delivered and on the cord is a warning label saying to unplug it after every use as it's a fire risk. Can this be right???!!! I've never unplugged kettles before and never heard they are fire risks, although admittedly it was probably ten years ago I last bought one ...

[Alexa444]

They have to because some people are stupid and will go away for weeks on end leaving things plugged in. Unfortunately their is nothing preventing stupid people from claiming compensation. Kettles are no more of a fire risk than anything else electrical that is plugged in. There is always a risk but they are not higher risk than anything else.

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

Cheers Alexa! Off to make myself a cuppa with me new shiny kettle right now!!

[PaulAnkaTheDog]

Well yes. Anything that is electrical is a fire risk. How much of a risk is a different matter. Manufacturers cover their asses with these warnings.

[Alexa444]

Ffs, posted about stupid people and used the wrong there. On a site that doesn't let you edit. Gives myself a

[amarmai]

plugged in electricals can be a fire risk . I have had 2 examples. A brand new fan started smoking as soon as plugged in-obv the wiring was faulty. A 2nd hand Bernina sewing machine 's pedal got so hot i cdn't touch it . Read on their web that it was an accepted manufacturing defect -was missing a heat sensor . if i had not been right there to unplug in both instances , there wd have been a fire.

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

Alexa

[LurkingHusband]

Anything that is electrical is a fire risk

And almost anything which isn't electrical is a fire risk ....

[PaulAnkaTheDog]

Well yes Lurking but the op was asking specifically about an electrical product.

[LovelyBranches]

I was at a dementia awareness event the other day which talked about some people putting their electric kettle on the hob to warm. That would obviously be a fire risk, but I agree with pp that lots of things could be.

[Topseyt]

I once had a kettle turn black and begin smoking before it finally tripped the ring main circuit out.

It happened very quickly. It wasn't on. Just plugged in.

I always switch them off on the wall now, and will always unplug them if we are going away.

[ifgrandmahadawilly]

I was at a dementia awareness event the other day which talked about some people putting their electric kettle on the hob to warm. That would obviously be a fire risk, but I agree with pp that lots of things could be.

Oh crikey, I've done this! On the one hand, I was in a sleep deprived, ill, teething baby haze. On the other hand, I've never even owned a stove top kettle!

I reckon it might be dangerous to leave a kettle plugged in in case something knocks the boiling switch thingy (e.g. a cat, something falling on it) and it boils dry and catches fire. I don't think it's generally a fire risk to leave electrical appliances plugged in (when the fire-service did a talk at the Childrens Centre I asked about leaving a fan on overnight in my daughter's bedroom and the extremely hot fireman said this was probably fine, as long as it wasn't an old fan).

[Remiggio]

Where I live, when you have a baby you can get a visit from a fireman to go through fire safety & he'll assess your home. He said 2 most dangerous fire hazards (electrical) are phone chargers & kettles. Kettles because the electricity is constantly surging around the base which, 9 times out of 10, are cheaply made in a foreign country. All it takes is for one power surge & it can ignite.

I used to think the circuit only closed once you turned the kettle on but apparently not.

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

Phone chargers? God we always leave those plugged in as well.

It would be like shutting down Sellafield going round every night turning everything off.

[Remiggio]

rebecca again because of the continuous flow of electricity. Mine was hot to the touch, never noticed! I turn them off now when not being used

[Ric2013]

Presumably because if water leaks onto the base...

Not a lot of people know that fuses only blow FAST if there is a significant overload, and RCDs only trip if there is a leak to earth.

So my guess would be that perhaps the risk is water leaking onto base creating enough current/heat to start melting plastic things and start a fire before one of the circuit protection devices is actuated?

On an aside, I today got distracted in the garden and boiled a non-electric kettle dry (it doesn't have a whistle). The handles were plastic, but a type that melts, and the smoke alarms went off just as the melted plastic handle fell into the gas flame and started to burn.... Smoke alarms are great!