to be worried that my house might burn down in the night

[pegfin]

Posting in aibu because it might get more traffic as i need advice if anyone knows about fires, electrics or electrical fires. my oil fired radiator has been giving off a funny smell. went to unplug it to investigate to find that the plug was hot, the neutral pin blackened and covered in melted stuff and the wall outlet a bit charred.

I switched off the fuse to that circuit.

Is that enough or do I need to be worried that my wires are smouldering somewhere behind the wall? Am i right thinking that can end up being some distance from the socket?

Want to get it fixed asap anyway as that circuit powers the fridge and freezer
But mostly worried about a house fire.

It would be unreasonable to call the fire service wouldn't it? Wish they had a number like nhs 24 that you just ask for advice without turning out a fire engine.

In the past I have called my local fire station with a non-urgent query, could you try that? Sounds safe now to me with the whole circuit switched off, but it wouldn't hurt to get an expert opinion and calling your local station won't impact on any urgent 999 calls.

It would get them out of their bed though.

Having stayed awake for a bit with no fire as yet.....maybe i should just leave it until the morning. get electrician asap. (throw out the contents of freezer and book a home fire safety visit.

I can see this ending up with an expensive rewiring job. not ideal at Christmas.

I'm sure they'd rather be woken up for a "can I do any more prevention" call than later for a 999 call.

Do you have smoke alarms with working batteries? Good time to check.

Put loads of newspaper/towels under the fridge and freezer for when they start leaking due to defrosting.

Try not to dream about the house burning down :(

You may not have to thruw out your freezer contents.

Keep the door closed and if it gets fixed fast enough, it could be fine.

I hope you get it sorted quickly.

Your freezer should be fine for 24hrs if the door is not opened.

Do you gave a long extention cable? You could plug the fridge/freezer into a different circuit?

some electric fiores tke so much power that they should be wired in. it also souinds like on e of the connnections is lose and it has heated up.

we werre told aboout wiring in the fire by the elctrician. we found out about melted wires the hard way.

It was more than likely the appliance itself that was causing the problem. Is the circuit protected by circuit breakers (switches rather than wired fuses?) do you have a main rcd circuit breaker too? ( on the more modern fuse boxes, not the old black ones) if there was a problem the circuit breaker will trip if the socket is faulty. Always worth getting an electrician in to check it out and change the socket face as it will be a bit smelly anyway. But the circuit will be safe to use.

Thanks all.
I think the kids knocked the heater over and damaged it but the abnormal load means the wiring needs checking anyway as it May have been damaged. waiting for electrician to get in touch now.
I suspect my ring mains needs checking anyway as this house just was not designed for all these appliances.
Not had electrics checked since i moved in.
So no power downstairs for time being. cant even Hoover before electrician gets here but I have at least moved the thirty jars of jam, chutney and jelly away from in front of the fuse box which yes does have circuit breakers. (but these don't always trip if the socket overloads if the fuse load is higher than the wire - not expressing that very well)