Unplugging electrics overnight..

[Crosser 10]

Actually it could have the opposite effect as turning stuff constantly on and off increases the likelihood of component failure over time.

 

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Especially Electronics with many Discreet components.

[I1L2T3 10]

Most things are switched off at the wall. We don't unplug everything though.

 

The only things not on standby are the beer fridge, the regular fridge, the alarm clock (the non-Tory tribe on SF have to work), and I sometimes charge my phone overnight. When me or the wife are on-call for work we sometimes leave the broadband router powered up - firing it up at 3am can be a pain. Obviously the heating control system is still powered too.

 

That said I did go to a safety talk from the fire brigade once and the guy strongly recommended physically unplugging everything except the fridge and the heating controls. Very strongly recommended it. Unplugging everything every night would take ages though

[melthebell 862]

I only unplug stuff during lightening storms. Chargers I only plug in when needed

[chipspice 10]

Talking about a computer to a mate this morning, I happened to mention that I unplug everything electrical (bar the fridge) every night - always have done.

To be clear, when I say 'unplugged', I mean just that - every plug is removed from their socket after the item is switched off.

He reckoned that I must be the only person to do it!

Really?

 

I unplug everything but the fridge and the washer (can't reach the back of the washer)

[BluePolo 10]

What the chance that the sockets will eventually wear out due to the constant plugging/unplugging and cause a fire due to a bad connection.

 

After 10 years in the (new when we bought it) house, I've had to change two sockets due to intermittent connection. Both where the vacuum cleaner gets plugged in and out - both MK sockets by the way.

[Cyclone 10]

If I unplugged everything I imagine it would take about 30 mins. I can't think of anything more pointless to do on my way to bed.

[Guest]

Everything unplugged except for fridge /freezer . Friends husband was safety officer for Fire brigade and he advised us to do so .

 

Probably shouldn't be in that role really. In what way does unplugging your TV and leaving your fridge/freezer plugged in somehow protect you from fire? What it is it about this that you think is somehow logical and sensible?

 

And as Ghozer says for routers...

 

Turning off your internet modem/router often can cause your speed to drop also, as the exchange detects it going off, and coming back on, and thinks there's a stability issue, so lowers the speed to try and stabilize it...

 

Most things are meant to be left on or in standby, they do not like being constantly turned on and off.

 

Personally the thing to be worried about is the house wiring itself and making sure that is safe. Electrical items cannot be sold if they're going to blow up through being left on.

[Cyclone 10]

What % of house fires are caused by faulty electrics or electronics?

 

only six per cent of accidental dwelling fires were caused by

smokers’ materials in 2014/15.

Cooking appliances caused 50 per cent of accidental dwelling fires in 2014/15, and

was by far the largest ignition category.

36 per cent of accidental dwelling fires in 2014/15 were caused by “misuse of

equipment or appliances”, the same percentage as in 2013/14. The second largest

cause category was “faulty appliances and leads” which caused 16 per cent of all

accidental dwelling fires.

 

So there we go, 16% started by faulty appliances or leads.

 

Electrical distribution is actually 12% and "other electrical appliance" about the same.

 

Statistics for fatalities vary considerably from this though (for example cooking related fires kill very few people, probably because you're generally awake and alert when cooking).

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/532364/fire-statistics-england-1415-hosb0816.pdf

[L00b 441]

I think you are mad for doing it. Check your equipment, see that CE mark? It stops things frying when switched off.

If the item was manufactured in China, chances may be that this CE mark is worth less than the ink it's made from.

 

I have seen how some Chinese manufacturers and their UK customers "handle" CE marking for small electric appliances and plug trays with my own eyes. Though admittedly, that last was 5 or 6 years ago. In a nutshell, that was a pence per unit dearer to put the CE mark sticker on, but no difference in components, QA/testing or anything else relative to non-CE marked units.

 

I'm certainly hoping things (regulatory checks and compliance enforcement) have changed since.

 

As for unplugging electrics overnight...same as geared and Cyclone, here. I'd only switch the plug off if whatever's connected to it isn't going to get used for a while (week or longer), and would only physically unplug stuff in case of a thunderstorm. IMHO, a better mitigation strategy for electrically-related fire hazards is to buy quality/branded appliances/chargers/etc. with 'proper' or moulded UK plugs, instead of cheap(est) clones and/or requiring a plug adapter (e.g. US>UK) or stepdown transformer or somesuch.

Edited August 16, 2016 by L00b