Leaving the tumble dryer/washing machine on when going out

[DustyLee123]

I came home the other day to find that DH had left the tumbler/washing machine on and gone out for 30 minutes or so.
It makes me so mad that the house could have burned down due to his laziness, yet I get looked at like I’m nagging.
And we both know a couple whose garage went on fire due to the tumbler being left on.

YABU - stop nagging and be grateful he did some washing.
YANBU - everyone knows you don’t go out and leave the tumble dryer on.

Seriously, I do this all the time. 😩

We never leave the house with the dryer on, ever. If there was a fire and my animals died because of it I'd never forgive myself.

I leave washing machine and dishwasher on. I’ll leave tumble on if just doing school run for example (2 mins away) but not for longer.

our hotpoint tumble caught fire a few years ago so I’m wary.

But not all of us have the opportunity to be home to do washes. It rains a huge amount where I live, these few days have been pretty much our only sunny ones of the year. I have a washer-dryer that takes 3-4h to do a cycle. I do hang where possible, but if inside quickly run out of space. Can you do one wash a day during potty training and all have clean clothes? I can’t. The only way to keep up is to put it on while I’m out and come back to sort the clothes. I often have to do a good few washes a day, especially on days where kids are swimming etc.

Knowing a family who were left homeless on Christmas Eve after a catastrophic house fire caused by their tumble dryer, I would never leave a tumble dryer unattended. I do leave my washing machine on when out though as I don't feel there is any significant risk of this being a fire hazard.

I woukd never leave a washing machine or tumble drier on when I went out or overnight. I have occasionally left the dishwasher on at night but turn it off if I need to go out. I remember my mum's washer/drier catching fire a few years ago, and how terrifying thst was for her.

We put our dishwasher on once and went away for the weekend. When we came home 2 days later it was still running. We were lucky to have a house to come back to! It was only a couple of years old too (as was the house!)
Never done it again since.
It worries me that energy companies are encouraging people to use cheap off peak electricity by putting on their appliances at night. Thankfully I've got solar panels and I'm at home most of the time so I use free electricity as soon as the sun shows it's face.

I would never go out and leave the tumble dryer on, but I have gone out and left the washing machine on. I think the risk with the washing machine is much lower and am more worried about a flood than a fire.

Edited: we often run the dishwasher as we go to bed.

But please please don't leave your tumble dryer on if you are not there, or in bed!

There is a significant risk. Problems with electrical appliances are usually those with electric motors due to overheating. I've seen many.

Ok, but if someone is then unable to actually get the washing done (or in this situation, the drying and the dishes as well), then what’s the solution?

Potty training, urinary conditions, bladder/bowel weakness due to stroke are all current issues in my family atm. There’s seperate washes to general clothes eg. bibs/wool clothes/coats/soiled clothes etc. The cycle takes 3-4:30 hours, usually longer as the machine gets stuck on 11 minutes for about half an hour (and definitely longer if a hot wash). If someone is out at 8:30am and back around 6pm, how does more than one load get done a day? When do they fit in a drum clean if not overnight?

Just genuinely wondering how people fit it in? I work from home, but regularly have meetings out of home and other commitments during the day with my children so I’m not ‘at home all day’ if that makes sense. Some of those meeting days are really long - 16h the other week - so how do I keep up with laundry if only using when I’m home the entire time?

I'm sorry, but as a retired firefighter, I have seen too many fires caused by faulty appliances. Homes damaged and unnecessary injuries. The things you mention do not justify taking risks.

This (tumble dryer fire) happened a few days ago to a friend, she'd only popped out for 30 mins and came home to fire engines. Please ,please, please never leave a dryer on when you're not home everyone.

That’s fine, I appreciate your opinion based on experience, but what solution is there? If I don’t take the risks, we don’t have clean clothes.

Our dishwasher started smoking at the plug and would've caused a fire if we'd been out. Ever since then I turn off appliances when I go out, particularly because we have dogs and I'd never forgive myself.

Same question here.
Winner what the stats on car accidents are and how they compare to the stats on appliance fires etc... We're all still driving around though, should we avoid that too, because there are no reasons to use a car that justify that risk?

You make your own choices, and take your own risks.

Someone upthread posted about a fridge catching fire - you can't completely eliminate the risk.

Of course it's devastating when it happens but the chances are still absolutely tiny - less than 0.1%.

30 years ago, I went out for half an hour leaving the dryer on in the garage. Came home to fire fighters putting out a fire! One of the fire fighters said they would never go out and leave a dryer on and I’ve never done so since.

Indeed, but statistics show that driers have a higher risk of catching fire than a fridge. Anything electrical has a higher risk of catching fire without external influences than something that isn't such as a sofa! Different electrical appliances have differing risks as to catching fire.

Most people have to travel so it's a meaningless comparison. Few people "have to" leave the drier running when they're out of the house.

@taxguru but there are plenty that do.
My point/question is what is the threshold of risk where we (attempt to) avoid all exposure to it and bend our life far out of shape in that attempt?

Where did you get that statistic from?

Someone linked it upthread.

0.00002% of houses in the UK had a WM or TD fire in a recent year (can't recall which, maybe 2022). The risk is tiny, and people can decide how risk averse they are, based on stats and experience.

Where are these statistics published? I'd rather be cautious relying on my experiences.