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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not allow phone chargers to be on overnight?

244 replies

RamblingRita · 09/12/2018 01:19

Massive issues with adult and teen DC over this. Not only phones but ipads as well.

I have told them I do not want them to be charged overnight as the plugs heat up and they are a fire risk.

They are arguing as they never let devices charge enough in the day as they're always on them.

Sick of same old bullshit argument every night when I just want to get into bedAngry.

So AIBU?

Just to add I am the type to unplug everything but the fridge overnight after a relatives house was burned down due something being left plugged in and fire officer said always unplug everything it's possible to at night.

OP posts:
Nenic · 09/12/2018 06:55

I charge overnight. Always have. It’s the cheap and nasty chargers that are the fire risk. My cousin is a fireman

drquin · 09/12/2018 06:58

@Poodles1980 you've just proved the point about risk.

You associate risk with the tumble drier being on overnight so you don't use it then.
But you don't switch off Sky or oven, because it's a hassle to reset.

Fair enough.

But it's not that the fire WILL happen overnight.
It's that IF it does, and it's a big if, the chances of you being alerted in time are generally lower because you're likely to be asleep ..... thus the severity is potentially greater (serious injury or death) because you don't react in time to get out of the house.

Doesn't mean every tumble drier will go on fire, and will only go on fire overnight.
Nor that ovens or Sky boxes will never, ever malfunction.

Juststopit · 09/12/2018 07:03

My daughters iPhone charger (the one her iPhone 8 came with) went bang at 2am the other morning, tripping out the electrics and leaving black marks in the socket and up the wall. I will never leave anything plugged in and charging again overnight or when we are out.

dulcefarniente · 09/12/2018 07:09

If you put your washing machine/tumble dryer on overnight or put them on and go out you invalidate your house insurance. There was a item about this on the radio. It's due to the appliances being a known fire risk.

Caprisunorange · 09/12/2018 07:10

I’m a bit confused by the comments that a charger which is plugged into a wall, but not a phone, is a fire hazard. There would be no electricity running through a charger not charging a phone, because the circuit would be broken and electricity will only run through a complete circuit. I think the fire officer is wrong on that one

FrostyMoanyWind · 09/12/2018 07:37

There would be no electricity running through a charger not charging a phone,
That depends on the charger though. My DH said that. He plugged one in to prove it to me. It became warm! My phone charger, for my new phone doesn't. The old ipad charger does.

pyramidbutterflyfish · 09/12/2018 07:49

It’s all a bit tin foil hat, OP.

NicoAndTheNiners · 09/12/2018 07:56

I use decent brand chargers, no cheap eBay/amazon ones.

I have working smoke detectors.

I'm happy with the risk of charging overnight and I say that as someone who had a friend who died in a house fire caused by a phone charger catching fire in the night.

FaithInfinity · 09/12/2018 07:58

This has set me thinking and researching!

I’m one of ‘those’ MNetters who has had a house fire, caused by an electrical appliance. We were asleep in bed and woke to the fire alarms. Found the kitchen full of smoke, vacated and called the fire brigade (who arrived in 7 minutes). The fire was put out but it did a lot of damage - mostly smoke - through the whole property. We were out for 6 months while it was refurbished, fortunately our insurance put us up in a rented house. The appliance was a food processor that was plugged in but not in use.

Now we unplug almost everything. Most things we leave plugged in (essentials) are on extension leads with fuses so they’d cut out to minimise risk. We leave on the fridge, fridge freezer, Virgin box, one alarm clock. Everything else gets turned off when not in use. It might sound paranoid but quite frankly, after a random fire, we are!

My top tips would be:

  • make sure you have smoke detectors, at least one for each floor. If you think you can’t afford them, contact your local fire service who will install them for free!
  • check your smoke detectors regularly. Ours get checked every couple of weeks
  • Have multiple exit strategies in place. We were able to get out of the front door but we have other ways of getting out.
  • If you have any queries about fire risk or exit strategies, you can ask your local fire service for a visit and they will check your smoke alarms, looks for potential hazards and help with exit strategies.

Oh and please, please, please don’t leave your Christmas fairy lights on unattended! They are a huge fire risk!

Re phones - we do charge overnight by the bed. I’ve looked up the risk and charging the phone instead is low risk, except for the phones known to be a problem. We don’t leave chargers on once we’ve finished using them though and bin any faulty cables. I found a helpful article here

ReflectentMonatomism · 09/12/2018 08:04

There would be no electricity running through a charger not charging a phone, because the circuit would be broken

It isn’t that simple. Most power supplies have a transformer to provide galvanic isolation between the mains and the device. It isn’t the huge thing you would have had 20 years ago, but even a modern switch mode power supply has a very tiny standby current. It is milli, if not microamps, but it is there.

That said, I have a house full of chargers running all the time. I avoid cheap chargers, that’s all. The risk is minute, and living in a bungalow drinking no hot hot liquids would be a far more rational approach to safety.

This is mostly fears from old houses that predate modern wiring. An electrical fire in a house with modern wiring in incredibly rare. When it happens it is high current devices failing in operation. Unplugging phone chargers is the 2018 equivalent of your gran unplugging the TV aerial in case of lightning.

LizzieSiddal · 09/12/2018 08:08

I’m paranoid about fires due to several incidents, including a fire in a primary school I was working in, it was an old Victorian building.
The smell of smoke and the utter fear when making sure every child had got out, will never leave me.
A friend of my MIL lost her 21 year old son, when his TV, left in while he slept, set on fire, the smoke killed him.
A neighbours thatched house burnt almost to the ground 2 years ago, they lost everything.
We never leave anything plugged in and changing over night, we also switch off sky/tv etc.
Dc have been brought up like this and have never left phones etc charging at night.

When you’ve witnessed fires you tend to feel spending a minute switching off appliances, every evening, is worth it.

If you do leave things plugged in overnight, Please Have Smoke Alarms Fitted In Your Bedrooms

M4J4 · 09/12/2018 08:11

@CoughLaughFart

Doesn’t that mean you have to reset things like series record every day? That would drive me nuts.

No, series record and other planned recordings will still be programmed even if you reset yoir box/unplug it.

Caprisunorange · 09/12/2018 08:13

Yes sorry, just googled to check and it seems modern chargers will draw on a tiny amount of electricity themselves if plugged in but not charging. Not really a fire risk though?

MereDintofPandiculation · 09/12/2018 08:13

Assuming that your house isn't victorian the fire risk is close enough to zero as to be forgettable. Why are Victorian houses a particular fire risk?

Caprisunorange · 09/12/2018 08:15

I expect they mean if the wiring is.

FaithInfinity · 09/12/2018 08:15

Our house had been fully rewired when it caught fire due to an electric fault so it does still happen and you should unplug things when not in use.

EvaHarknessRose · 09/12/2018 08:22

Thanks OP, due to fire risk and battery killing risk, I am going to start charging my devices at 9pm and unplugging when I go to bed, as I am trying to get in the habit of not using them late anyway. Dd also has a significant fairy light habit I need to check she is switching them off at the wall.

I also stopped charging them in the hallway - as I realised this is our main exit route in case of fire. My colleague had an awful house fire and I believe in proportionately trying to learn from others experiences. (People think we are over cautious about security, but when you have been burgled twice you tend to be - they should think about increasing security based on our experience but they think it won’t happen to them).

NigelGresley · 09/12/2018 08:24

Maybe fire chief officers and people ensconced in such matters may be just a tiny bit biased.

As though firemen are going to profit from helping people to prevent fires? Confused Confused

We don’t have any chargers on overnight here. Wondering how many of the nay sayers have had their minds changed on reading of people’s experience.

If you’re ever done fire safety training and have witnessed evidence of how quickly a fire takes hold, I think you would be persuaded to think again about risks in your own home.

While we’re on the subject those ‘block’ multi plugs are a massive fire risk too. Don’t know why they’re even still sold.

masterandmargarita · 09/12/2018 08:28

We have a charging bank. I put everything on to charge overnight. Yes officially its a risk. But we are smoke alarmed to the hilt so it's a risk I'm willing to take.

ReflectentMonatomism · 09/12/2018 08:30

As though firemen are going to profit from helping people to prevent fires?

No, they only see the exceptions. People working in child protection only see abused children. Doctors only see ill people. Etc. They are in a position to see the worst case. They are not in a position (any more than anyone else) to judge absolute risk.

ElizabethG81 · 09/12/2018 08:31

YANBU, my phone charger blew up and started a small fire in my bedroom years ago. Luckily I was just drifting off to sleep so it woke me up straight away but it was terrifying. Don't leave them on overnight.

NigelGresley · 09/12/2018 08:35

They are not in a position (any more than anyone else) to judge absolute risk.

Ok thanks, I’ll just take the advice of a few folk on mumsnet with no experience or expertise in the subject Hmm

easyandy101 · 09/12/2018 08:36

I don't leave stuff charging overnight

Fair enough if you want to do it but you're putting your life and your house in the hands of an underpaid Chinese child and hoping he's done his soldering correctly

As someone who takes a lot of electrical and electronic devices apart for repair I have seen some utter shockers, in reputable branded items as well

drquin · 09/12/2018 08:37

@masterandmargarita and that's the point ..... the risk is always going to be there (unless you remove it completely by not having mobile phones, thus no chargers etc).

But we can reduce some of the risks, by reducing the likelihood of something happening (e.g. not using appliances with frayed wiring, rewiring our old properties, etc) and / or the severity (e.g. by having some / fire alarms to alert us early IF the fire happened).

How high we perceive the risk in the first place, and what we perceive as reasonable and practicable to reduce the risk, will vary with knowledge and experience, and attitude to risk.

Caprisunorange · 09/12/2018 08:39

To be fair, house fires are extremely rare, particularly house fires for accidental reason (ie not one where the resident has fallen asleep whilst smoking or left the oven on and passed out drunk, or arson- sibling firefighter here!)

So you can’t blame people for choosing to discard advice that would inconvenince their lives for such a tiny risk