5 Ways To Keep Your Resident From Catching Fire
Residential fires account to be one of the most common fire hazards and incidents annually. Out of these, improper cooking practices and electrical malfunction is the prime reason behind such disastrous situations. Electrical fires happen due to a variety of reasons, ranging from damaged wiring to overloaded extension cords. Almost everybody utilizes the power cords to use multiple appliances like chargers and dryers simultaneously. However, not many of them take care of the critical issues related to these cords. From knowing the power limits to plugging in only the small appliances, you need to take care of everything while using the extensions.
Keep reading to know more about the power cords and the tips to prevent frequent fires related to them.
What Is a Power Strip?
Power strip or power cord contains multiple AC outlets that make it possible to charge multiple devices at once. Some power strips also come with an inbuilt USB port for devices with specialized needs. Every house requires these cords to fulfill the basic electricity needs daily. It ranges from charging mobile phones, laptops, using small household appliances, and many more. You need to connect the main plug to a well-functioning outlet before using it for essential purposes.
Types
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Common Power Strips are the traditional ones containing only AC Outlets. You might consider this one for charging multiple mobile phones or laptops at once.
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Smart Power Strips comes with both the AC Outlets, as well as USB Ports for running the smart speakers, headphones, and other electronic items.
Power Strips & Fire Safety
Along with the enormous uses of advanced power strips, specific hazards might occur. Every year, a damaged, malfunctioned, or overloaded power strip contributes to 3,300 electrical fires in the residential areas. Hence, you must adhere to the precautionary measures while making the most of these ecstatic electronic aids. Make sure not to overload the cord with innumerable devices at the same time. Also, keep the cord limit in mind before plugging any appliance in. This is because heavy appliances require much more power than the extension cord's threshold, leading to potential damage and fires. By arranging the power strips properly, you can reduce the occurrence of such artificial disasters up to a significant level.
Keep reading to know the essential safety tips that reduce the chances of power cord related electrical fires considerably.
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Never Plug-In Heavy Appliances
Large appliances like refrigerators or heaters might overload the power strip, which is the first step towards fire hazards. Hence, you must keep such appliances away from the power strips. Instead of using the extensions, reserve main wall switchboards for the essential household items like heater, microwave, coffee makers, etc.
Heavy Appliances
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Kitchen Appliances like microwaves, coffee makers, toasters, and heaters require an enormous amount of power to function. This calls for a dedicated wall outlet that provides unlimited power and possesses optimum grounding features via the third-prong plugs.
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Hair Care Items, mainly dryers, straighteners, and washers, lead to potential fire risks when plugged into the power strips. Make sure to use them with proper grounding and main wall outlets only.
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Portable Heaters & Air-Conditioners require one of the most massive power supplies in your household. Plugging them in the power strips might turn out to be havoc due to the cord overload.
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Say No To Daisy-Chaining Of Strips
Daisy chaining is merely creating a network of power strips connected. This turns out to be havoc in many ways and is responsible for electrical fires considerably. In this case, a single wall receptacle has to regularly supply the massive power requirements of the many power strips that you daisy-chain. Not only does this lead to overloading of the wall receptacle, but also damages the house wiring due to excessive heat.
If you don't have enough outlets in your home to meet the household needs, it's always better to get more installed. All you need to do is call a skilled electrician and ask him to connect more wall receptacles.
Alternatives
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Relocation of the extra household amenities near the wall receptacles to our main outlets. This decreases the overloading of the main wall switch that might cause house fires.
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Replacement of the power strips with power cords that contain a higher length of cables. That way, the cord can easily reach the main outlet.
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Installation of a higher number of outlets instead of plugging multiple strips to each other is the permanent solution.
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Know The Power Limits Beforehand
In case, using the heavy appliances via the power strips is inevitable, you must know the power limits first. That way, you can evaluate how many devices can be plugged-in simultaneously. However, stick to the primary wall receptacle for hefty ones like the Heaters or Air-Conditioners. Most of the power strips come with a current load of around 15 amperes. Determine the power limits of a 15 amp strip using the values of watts, amps, and volts. All you need to do is multiple the volts by the amps to get the power limits in watts.
Hence, make sure to determine the power based on the maximum current drawing levels of an appliance. In case any device requires a variable current load, consider the highest level to stay safe and secure the strip.
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Excessive Appliances Plugged Simultaneously
Apart from using heavy appliances, you might also deteriorate the power strip using multiple small appliances. It all comes down to the total power limit and whether the number of appliances comes under the limit. Often, we tend to plug in too many adapters, chargers, and appliances at the same time. This induces an overload and might lead to the fusing of the circuit.
Effects
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Fuse Blowing is the prime result of overloading the power strips with too many electronic devices.
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Overheating of both the appliance, as well as power strip might occur due to current overload. This happens as a result of the resistance that each cable possesses against the overload.
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Electrical Fires, the final result of an overloaded power strip, proves to be a disastrous incident.
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Consider The Environment Suitability
Power strips must be used according to the suitability of the environment. Make sure to keep the indoor power strips inside your house only. This is because the material used to craft these cords are unsuitable outside and might lead to electrical fires. Another reason behind adhering to the indoor vs. outdoor specifications is exposure to water. In case an indoor power strip comes in contact with the outside water, you might undergo electrocution. Since the saltwater conducts electricity quite well, you might catch the current by stepping into the water.
Final Verdict
Every household requires power strips to run multiple appliances efficiently. However, this boon might turn into a curse real soon if you don't adhere to the basic rules. Make sure not to daisy-chain the power cords as that causes overloading, as well as electrical fires. Also, calculate the power limits of your appliances and the power strip to connect them wisely. Refer to the tips mentioned above to prevent the fires and related incidents related to an overheated, damaged, or overused strip.
