Fighterfighters / Fireman unplug every electrical applicance

[jkwatsonft]

Hi all,

Has anyone got any information or heard of the FOAF tale / Urban Legend that people who work in the Fire Department / Fire Brigade never go to bed or leave the house without first unplugging every / all electrical appliances?

I would say a large number of us try and unplug electrical devices where they aren't being used, but items that feature clocks that would need re-setting on being reconnected to the mains supply tend to get left switched on by myself and other people I've asked. Ditto things like TiVo boxes, Sky+ boxes, Internet routers / modems and the like. [EDIT: add to that fridges, freezers, aquariums etc.]

I've often heard talk that as Firefighters get to see first-hand the damage and loss of life that electrical fires can cause, most if not all of them leave NOTHING plugged in when it's not being used or monitored in some fashion.

I heard it again recently, and it jogged my memory to try and find out if this really was true, or even something like a policy that was communicated down from Fire Brigade management, for example.

Wasn't able to really find anything conclusive on-line, nor do I know a Fire Brigade or Safety worker to ask.

Appreciate any comments.

Regards

 

[Recycled1]

Try ringing your local Fire Station, I expect someone would give you a civil reply as long as things weren't too busy.

 

[McAvennie]

I don't work in fire safety but if I am going on holiday or am away from my apartment over a long weekend I always unplug everything and turn the water off at the mains.

I don't honestly expect the house to burn down in my absence but it can't hurt to take precautions.

 

[Spookdaddy]

...Has anyone got any information or heard of the FOAF tale / Urban Legend that people who work in the Fire Department / Fire Brigade never go to bed or leave the house without first unplugging every / all electrical appliances?...

Fridges? Freezers? Aquariums? I doubt it.

It doesn't do any harm to switch stuff off where you can, and, personally, I wouldn't leave anything plugged in that generates a noticeable amount of heat on standby if I could help it - or when disconnected from its appliance (ie chargers).

That said (this is for the UK - regs differ markedly from country to country), although there may be a theoretical risk, in a recent system with a modern fusebox, which has been installed or upgraded in accordance with current regulations by a qualified individual then that risk is extremely low - (if you are in the UK then you're talking about some of the safest regs in the world, possibly the safest.) And it strikes me that part and parcel of any theoretical risk is the stability of the whole system, which means that any risk is not just limited to leaving plugs in overnight or unattended, but in using it at all.

It's also worth noting that concerns about safety can actually result in actions which increase the hazard - socket 'protectors' cause fully grown electricians to shudder, and I suspect may be somewhere on the way to being banned.

 

[RyoHazuki]

A few years ago I worked in a hospital, and H&S regs required us to attend 'fire lectures' every 2 years. The chap who ran them was an ex-fireman, and had the most incredibly militant and aggressive manner (he even had a small, square-shaped 'tache!). He'd deliberately spend several minutes droning on about safety standards until he saw someone nod off, then he'd let off a CO2 extinguisher right next to them with a beaming smile on his face. Then he'd start showing slides of all the 'violations' he'd photographed in our departments over the last few years, and yelling at us that we were all going to die horribly.

Anyway, back O/T, it was a generally known fact around the whole hospital, that every time he went on holiday with his family, upon arriving at their hotel he would carry out a full-on fire drill and time their exits from the building, rather like Ben Stiller's character from The Royal Tenenbaums. I also like to imagine that he threw the main switch on his fusebox at home every half an hour, on principle.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Overnight, I leave everything turned off apart from the fridge.

When I bought my first house, I didn't use the fridge much at all, so it was mostly left off. I had very low electricity bills in those days as a result.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

The most expensive economy would be to leave your lights off when away from home. Some swear by on-off time switches to give a more convincing appearance of occupation but I have always suspected such devices may be fire hazards themselves.

A lot of electricity-lore is inherited from parental anxieties: I habitually unplug as many circuits as I can when I set off to work, much as my father would turn off and unplug the television in stormy weather.

There may be sense as well as neurosis in the safety-first attitude. A friend of a friend (this one quite real) left on some kitchen appliances and returned to find the street filled with fire engines around her house.

This recent news has tended to reinforce the superego voice which tells me not to leave on the washer-dryer while I go to the shops. That fear is closely related to the fear that any journey includes the possibility I will not return. Somewhere between the fear of extinction and the fear of loss of property lies the horrid realm where you return from hospital to find your house burned down.

And if I did not worry about that . . .

 

[GNC]

A few years ago I worked in a hospital, and H&S regs required us to attend 'fire lectures' every 2 years. The chap who ran them was an ex-fireman, and had the most incredibly militant and aggressive manner (he even had a small, square-shaped 'tache!). He'd deliberately spend several minutes droning on about safety standards until he saw someone nod off, then he'd let off a CO2 extinguisher right next to them with a beaming smile on his face. Then he'd start showing slides of all the 'violations' he'd photographed in our departments over the last few years, and yelling at us that we were all going to die horribly.

He wasn't called Keith Lard, was he?

 

[Spookdaddy]

...He wasn't called Keith Lard, was he?

Exactly what I was going to ask.

 

[jkwatsonft]

...He wasn't called Keith Lard, was he?

Exactly what I was going to ask.

Me too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lard

Thanks all for the continuing posts.

Regards

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

A lot of electricity-lore is inherited from parental anxieties: I habitually unplug as many circuits as I can when I set off to work, much as my father would turn off and unplug the television in stormy weather.

Yep me too! Although it's the TV aerial that get's unplugged in our house during a storm - which seems sensible, although thinking about it, if your TV aerial gets stuck by lightning then an exploding telly will probably be the least of your worries......

I switch everything off at the wall whenever we leave the house to go to work and before going to bed, except the fridge freezer....and unplug everything if we go away even just for one night.

I would just switch off the fuse box but that sets the burglar alarms off!

 

[jkwatsonft]

....and unplug everything if we go away even just for one night.

Thanks for that Carlos. Without going too off-topic, can I ask what you do with the contents of the fridge freezer in those circumstances? Do you let the contents "run down" knowing you will be away, or are you able to pass it to someone else to hold for you until you return? Do you tend not to use it much?

I used to be in the habit of unplugging my computer's ADSL modem from the telephone line when a storm passed overhead, mainly because I work in IT support ("the horror!") and saw many instances of "dead" modems / hardware following storms.

Regards

JKW

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

If we're going away for longer than a couple of nights I'll run the contents down (we don't keep much in there anyway!).

Modern fridges and freezers are well able to keep down at safe temperatures for 24 hours or so with no power (as long as the doors aren't opened!) - mine is frost-free so it won't drip everywhere either.

I should add that MrsCarlos is vegetarian so we never have any meat in there. I probably wouldn't run that risk.....

 

[jkwatsonft]

If we're going away for longer than a couple of nights I'll run the contents down (we don't keep much in there anyway!).

Modern fridges and freezers are well able to keep down at safe temperatures for 24 hours or so with no power (as long as the doors aren't opened!) - mine is frost-free so it won't drip everywhere either.

I should add that MrsCarlos is vegetarian so we never have any meat in there. I probably wouldn't run that risk.....

Hi again, and thanks for the quick reply and information.

Yes, I've heard that too about the length of time it takes these devices to "warm up" during power outages, and even heard of people "wrapping" their freezers in old duvets to improve the cold retention further.

Regards

JKW

 

[drbastard]

My old dad used to think that stuff left on the radiator could go up in flames.

 

[Recycled1]

Hmmm.... I leave my Wi-Fi "hub" on all the time, and the computer on "sleep".
Ought I to be turning things off? I don't want to "mess things up".
The plug that supplies the TV, DVD player and Virgin box stays on because the socket is in a difficult-to-reach place behind furniture.
My aquarium stays on permanently, of course, and so does the fridge freezer.
Am I too casual about these things, or are some of you on the obsessive side?
I did have an up to date fuse box put installed when I moved in seven years ago, and it turns off individual circuits if necessary.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Hmmm.... I leave my Wi-Fi "hub" on all the time, and the computer on "sleep".

I'd recommend turning it on only when you need it. It only takes a few minutes for it all to boot anyway.

Ought I to be turning things off? I don't want to "mess things up".

It's up to you, but it's a good idea to turn it off when not using it. This is because when you're away, someone may try to hack your wi-fi, and rebooting your PC regularly refreshes a lot of stuff by clearing the memory. It doesn't mess things up.
Also, turning off the PC reduces wear and tear (although some may disagree with this).

 

[Recycled1]

O.K. I'll be brave and turn off the WiFi and computer tonight. (....if I remember )

 

[Ringo]

O.K. I'll be brave and turn off the WiFi and computer tonight. (....if I remember )

And they were never heard from again.

 

[jkwatsonft]

Hmmm.... I leave my Wi-Fi "hub" on all the time, and the computer on "sleep".

I'd recommend turning it on only when you need it. It only takes a few minutes for it all to boot anyway.

Ought I to be turning things off? I don't want to "mess things up".

It's up to you, but it's a good idea to turn it off when not using it. This is because when you're away, someone may try to hack your wi-fi, and rebooting your PC regularly refreshes a lot of stuff by clearing the memory. It doesn't mess things up.
Also, turning off the PC reduces wear and tear (although some may disagree with this).

Hi both, and thanks for the posts.

This is kind-of where I'd have hoped to hear from more fire personnel, as I too have a router left on 24/7. I think, and would have hoped if they did pose a real fire risk that the information / advice would be out there to say just that, and everyone would be unplugging them.

With any electronic device the "fear" and probably somewhat of an urban myth in itself is that switching off things like routers means there's potentially a chance when it comes back up, it won't be able to "find" the correct settings / make connection etc. and so not work. A case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

However, I also have been aware for many years about the whole idea of leaving computers on 24/7 as the components, many of which are susceptible to changes in temperature, are / were said to have a longer lifespan if they remain at a constant temperature. The talk was that by shutting the equipment down and booting it back up every day / week etc. would cause the capacitors, transistors and other bits to be put through a cool-down, warm up cycle, which would lead to more failures. Indeed, I heard things like "if it cools down and the solder shrinks back around component a, then you'll get a possible dry joint situation, until it warms up again. I think that's causing your issue". One "case" that springs to mind is someone I know who would power on their PC at work, and find it always "stuck" at the BIOS screen. Carrying out some basic testing / experimenting showed that if they left it on (but stuck) for 10 minutes, then rebooted it, it worked fine... suggesting some sort of heat issue as above.

Of course, nowadays, what I hear is that with modern technology this problem isn't an issue any more. I'd love to have that proven to me too.

Personally, I tend to switch off any laptops completely rather than hibernate them, unless I really do intend to use them later on that day within a few hours. Anything over an hour or two's delay, I shut them down. Like the above, it only takes 30 seconds or so to boot up a modern computer.

"Modern technology"... wonder how long the Roswell aliens' crashed spaceship's radio valves lasted for? Must try and contact Lieutenant Colonel Philip J. Corso, or Bob Lazar...

 

[Recycled1]

Well, I'm still here and the computer's working OK!
The more I looked round the house, the more I realised that I leave more or less all my sockets "on". I've just got to trust that trip switch in the fuse box.
(It did its stuff when I cut through the flex of my hedge cutters last week! :shock: )

 

[jkwatsonft]

Well, I'm still here and the computer's working OK!
The more I looked round the house, the more I realised that I leave more or less all my sockets "on". I've just got to trust that trip switch in the fuse box.
(It did its stuff when I cut through the flex of my hedge cutters last week! :shock: )

Reminds me... some time ago we had the main trip switch fuse trip thee times in a week, and so I was explaining to my wife where the switch was and what to check when the power goes off if I wasn't around.

I had some sort of luminous "tactile marker" fluid (see http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=19327&ksectionid=19327&top=15448) around, and so I "marked" the switch in a way that I thought my wife couldn't fail to see... or, in other words, I used far too much of the stuff on and around the switch.

What I found was we had a problem with the toaster and it "burnt out", or broke to the point of being unusable, and I couldn't understand why the mains didn't trip as it was happening, as it used to be so quick to trip.

Being the sort to never leave an issue I checked the fuse box, and went to make sure I could manually trip the mains fuse... only to find it incredibly solidly "stuck" in the "on" position.

Yes, as you may have guessed, the liquid marker had over-spilled, gone in the gap between the switch and the surround, and set hard like plastic filler or superglue!

In all honesty, there wasn't that much over-spill, and I was actually surprised that such a tiny amount had caused that result.

Bears thinking about how lucky we were there.

Of course, having smoke alarms and ensuring they are tested regularly goes without saying.

Regards

JKW

 

[Novena]

We tend to leave things plugged in most of the time, except for chargers and things like that, though we do unplug if we're going away. One thing I always switch off at the socket when not in use is the toaster, as I'm afraid it'll get pressed down accidentally and set fire to something in a kind of 'Jason Bourne' (if you know what I mean... ) situation!

 

[Recycled1]

I'm going to sound like an idiot here, but you've got to make allowances for my advanced age!

Ought I to unplug chargers when they are not charging anything? I wouldn't have thought they were using electricity when sitting there doing nothing.

 

[rynner2]

Grannies and old codgers:

"Always switch off the wall sockets if they're not being used
to stop the electricity leaking out!"

(That may be an Urban Legend!)

 

[Mythopoeika]

I'm going to sound like an idiot here, but you've got to make allowances for my advanced age!

Ought I to unplug chargers when they are not charging anything? I wouldn't have thought they were using electricity when sitting there doing nothing.

Years ago, there were instances of fires being caused by faulty electrical appliances (example: telly overheated and burst into flames even though it was switched off at the telly - it was still switched on at the wall). This kind of thing still happens occasionally today, although it's less likely because of better electrical design and more stringent testing.
It's always better to err on the side of caution with appliances that were not designed to be left on continually. You're generally pretty safe with 'white goods' that are intended to be left turned on (such as fridges and freezers) - although, saying that, there was a fairly recent issue with some BEKO fridges.
Depends also on the design of the charger - it may have its own power supply unit that converts from AC to DC...in which case it is still drawing some current even though it might not be charging anything. I'd turn it off at the mains when not using it.

 

[Recycled1]

Grannies and old codgers:

"Always switch off the wall sockets if they're not being used
to stop the electricity leaking out!"

(That may be an Urban Legend!)

Ah well I'm an exception -you always get one, don't you?

 

[jkwatsonft]

Grannies and old codgers:

"Always switch off the wall sockets if they're not being used
to stop the electricity leaking out!"

(That may be an Urban Legend!)

Ah well I'm an exception -you always get one, don't you?

*Grins*

I'm not exactly young myself, but this'll make you laugh; I was talking to my 80+ years-old Father about the Internet recently, and mentioned I'd got some images of the British coins he was collecting and needed off an Internet site for him.

Surprised, he said "Oh! They have pictures on the Internet, do they?"

I mean... where do you start with that one?



Oh, and just to re-iterate the above, I also unplug things like chargers when not in use. What I have done is make up a charging "station" with a 6-gang extension lead, holding 6 chargers; all I need to do is switch on the one socket that the extension is plugged into as and when, without having the hassle of plugging / unplugging all the plugs.

I know that means then all 6 chargers are running when it's turned on, but it's only for a few hours at a time etc.

Regards

JKW

 

[Mythopoeika]

Oh, and just to re-iterate the above, I also unplug things like chargers when not in use. What I have done is make up a charging "station" with a 6-gang extension lead, holding 6 chargers; all I need to do is switch on the one socket that the extension is plugged into as and when, without having the hassle of plugging / unplugging all the plugs.

I know that means then all 6 chargers are running when it's turned on, but it's only for a few hours at a time etc.

Even better - why not get a 6-gang extension lead with individual switches for each socket? I have a few of these now, and it means I can just turn off individual appliances without turning off at the wall.

 

[Recycled1]

Well, I 've virtuously turned off my WiFi and computer two nights running.
This afternoon I've been through the house (a very small one, to be fair!) re-evaluating where things are plugged in , and how I can reach sockets to switch things off at the wall.
I'm sure I shall curse you people when I go to switch on a lamp or whatever, and find I have to do gymnastics to make it work!
However, perhaps having the one or two "standby" lights off will make a pound or so's difference to my annual bills